Description
Discover the groundbreaking exploration of colonial dynamics in 'Distant Shores'. This brand-new publication unearths China's underestimated maritime legacy during a crucial period of economic transformation. Written by renowned historian Melissa Macauley and published by Princeton University Press in 2021, this trade binding book delves into the intricacies of southeastern China's economic interactions, revealing how the region's ambitions paralleled those of European colonial powers. Through meticulous research, Macauley traces the journeys of Chaozhouese laborers and merchants, illustrating their significant role in the South China Sea's commercial evolution. This captivating narrative redefines our understanding of how Chaozhou contributed to modern development and capital accumulation across global trade networks, enriching our perspective on colonial-era history. Ideal for scholars, history enthusiasts, and anyone interested in maritime trade, 'Distant Shores' is a must-have addition to your collection. Plus, enjoy free shipping with your order. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be canceled.
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691213484
Format: Trade binding
Year: 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Description:
A pioneering history that transforms our understanding of the colonial era and China's place in it.
China has conventionally been considered a land empire whose lack of maritime and colonial reach contributed to its economic decline after the mid-eighteenth century. Distant Shores challenges this view, showing that the economic expansion of southeastern Chinese rivalled the colonial ambitions of Europeans overseas.
In a story that dawns with the Industrial Revolution and culminates in the Great Depression, Melissa Macauley explains how sojourners from an ungovernable corner of China emerged among the commercial masters of the South China Sea. She focuses on Chaozhou, a region in the great maritime province of Guangdong, whose people shared a repertoire of ritual, cultural, and economic practices. Macauley traces how Chaozhouese at home and abroad reaped many of the benefits of an overseas colonial system without establishing formal governing authority. Their power was sustained instead through a mosaic of familial, fraternal, and commercial relationships spread across the ports of Bangkok, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Swatow. The picture that emerges is not one of Chinese divergence from European modernity but rather of a convergence in colonial sites that were critical to modern development and accelerating levels of capital accumulation.
A magisterial work of scholarship, Distant Shores reveals how the transoceanic migration of Chaozhouese labourers and merchants across a far-flung maritime world linked the Chinese homeland to an ever-expanding frontier of settlement and econom
Note: Shipping for this item is free. Please allow up to 6 weeks for delivery. Once your order is placed, it cannot be cancelled.
Condition: BRAND NEW
ISBN: 9780691213484
Format: Trade binding
Year: 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Description:
A pioneering history that transforms our understanding of the colonial era and China's place in it.
China has conventionally been considered a land empire whose lack of maritime and colonial reach contributed to its economic decline after the mid-eighteenth century. Distant Shores challenges this view, showing that the economic expansion of southeastern Chinese rivalled the colonial ambitions of Europeans overseas.
In a story that dawns with the Industrial Revolution and culminates in the Great Depression, Melissa Macauley explains how sojourners from an ungovernable corner of China emerged among the commercial masters of the South China Sea. She focuses on Chaozhou, a region in the great maritime province of Guangdong, whose people shared a repertoire of ritual, cultural, and economic practices. Macauley traces how Chaozhouese at home and abroad reaped many of the benefits of an overseas colonial system without establishing formal governing authority. Their power was sustained instead through a mosaic of familial, fraternal, and commercial relationships spread across the ports of Bangkok, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Swatow. The picture that emerges is not one of Chinese divergence from European modernity but rather of a convergence in colonial sites that were critical to modern development and accelerating levels of capital accumulation.
A magisterial work of scholarship, Distant Shores reveals how the transoceanic migration of Chaozhouese labourers and merchants across a far-flung maritime world linked the Chinese homeland to an ever-expanding frontier of settlement and econom