Introduction; 1. Setting the scene; 2. Modeling the sea; 3. The dragon navy; 4. Guarded management; 5. Writing the waves; Conclusion; Appendix 1. 'Inner sea' and 'outer sea' in imperial documents; Appendix 2. A chronicle of sea patrol regulations in the long eighteenth century; Appendix 3. Glossary of Chinese characters.
Argues that Qing China was not just a continental empire, but a maritime power protecting its interests at sea.
Ronald C. Po is Assistant Professor in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
'Ronald C. Po's well-researched monograph about the Chinese naval
forces in the early modern period finally provides maritime China
with the history it deserves.' Leonard Blussé, Universiteit
Leiden
'This engaging study, rejecting common assumptions of China's
inwardness and isolation, stresses the significant attention that
the Qing paid to sea power. The author provides a refreshing new
look at China's coastal military strategy. Recommended for anyone
interested in the roots of China's engagement with the world
today.' Peter C. Perdue, Yale University, Connecticut
'The Blue Frontier opens our eyes to the Qing's management of its
maritime frontier, a management that was crucial to China's
economic success during the High Qing. Showing that it had a deep
and sustained engagement with the sea, the book makes clear that it
was never just a continental power. Now that China is recovering
its maritime role, this book is timely and important.' Hans van de
Ven, University of Cambridge
'The temptation to read back from a major triumph or disaster and
rewrite history to account for that outcome is irresistible. The
rapid decline of late Qing Chinese power has produced some
spectacular rewrites. Ronald C. Po takes on the myth of China's
neglect of maritime affairs and explores the careful thinking
behind Qing policies. Through meticulous scholarship and
unrelenting questioning, he discovers how simplistic it was to
attribute China's fall to its inattention to threats from the sea.
His close examination of contemporary records provides us with a
major corrective to the received wisdom laid down by our
teleological urges.' Wang Gungwu, National University of
Singapore
'The author is successful in shedding light on the maritime
policies of the Qing navy and the theories behind it.' Jacob Bart
Hak, The Northern Mariner / Le marin du nord
'This is an impressive book that should be widely read both by Qing
historians and scholars interested in maritime history and naval
strategy. Po makes a convincing case that Qing government maritime
policy deserves greater attention and respect. He supports his
arguments with an abundance of primary sources and draws broadly
upon scholarly work in Chinese, English, Japanese, and German. His
introduction skilfully connects his work on China to scholarship on
maritime history in other parts of the world.' Richard S. Horowitz,
The China Quarterly
'This book is solid scholarship that corrects misconceptions about
the Qing's approach to maritime matters. In the process, Po has
reconstructed a history of maritime consciousness and practice
during the long eighteenth century that is insightful, clearly
written, and carefully researched. Geared towards a scholarly
audience (who will likely be grateful for the footnotes and
appendixes), historians of China and other scholars with an
interest in global and Asian maritime history will particularly
value this book's findings. Those seeking to better understand
China's current claims to the South China Sea and the Belt and Road
Initiative may also find useful historical antecedents in this
work.' Laurie Dickmeyer, Global Maritime History
'The Qing's consecutive setbacks on the sea have led historians to
believe that the Manchus managed the empire on horseback but
neglected the maritime world. However, The Blue Frontier challenges
this conventional view. Drawing on abundant primary sources from
the Qing dynasty, Po reminds us that it would be wrong to assume
that the Qing court ignored sea management due to its westward
expansion inland … Po [also] challenges our simplistic perception
of 'sea power' - a term we instinctively link to European countries
who colonised the globe with their navies.' Kuan-jen Chen,
Frontiers of History in China
'By presenting his work as laying the foundations for a new lens of
analysis called 'New Qing Maritime History,' Po's book clearly
demonstrates this historiographical power … His work means that the
hackneyed narrative of the eighteenth-century Chinese empire as one
of the great land empires that unfortunately turned its back on the
maritime realm and refused to engage with anything that lay beyond
the coastal boundary of the empire will have to be revised … Po
convincingly shows that certainly between the annexation of Taiwan
in 1693 and the end of Qianlong's reign in 1795, the Qing rulers
did care about control over its inner seas.' Anne Gerritsen, The
English Historical Review
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