Distant Shores: Colonial Encounters on China's Maritime Frontier

China has traditionally been considered a land empire with a lack of maritime and colonial reach, but Distant Shores challenges this view by showing that the economic expansion of southeastern Chinese rivaled the colonial ambitions of Europeans overseas. Melissa Macauley's book focuses on Chaozhou, a region in Guangdong, where Chaozhouese at home and abroad reaped the benefits of an overseas colonial system without establishing formal governing authority. Their power was sustained through a mosaic of familial, fraternal, and commercial relationships spread across the ports of Bangkok, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Swatow.

Format: Hardback
Length: 376 pages
Publication date: 18 May 2021
Publisher: Princeton University Press

China has long been perceived as a land empire with limited maritime and colonial reach, which contributed to its economic decline after the mid-eighteenth century. However, Distant Shores, a groundbreaking work of history, challenges this notion by demonstrating that the economic expansion of southeastern Chinese rivaled the colonial ambitions of Europeans overseas. The book, written by Melissa Macauley, traces the story of how sojourners from an ungovernable corner of China emerged as the commercial masters of the South China Sea.

The focus of the book is on Chaozhou, a region in the great maritime province of Guangdong, whose people shared a repertoire of ritual, cultural, and economic practices. Macauley explores how Chaozhouese at home and abroad reaped many of the benefits of an overseas colonial system without establishing formal governing structures. Instead, their power was sustained through a mosaic of familial, fraternal, and commercial relationships spread across the ports of Bangkok, Singapore, Saigon, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Swatow.

What emerges from the book is a nuanced picture of Chinese modernity that does not depict a divergence from European traditions but rather a convergence in colonial sites that were crucial to modern development and accelerating levels of capital accumulation. Distant Shores is a magisterial work of scholarship that reveals how the transoceanic migration of Chaozhouese laborers and merchants across a far-flung maritime world linked the Chinese homeland to an ever-expanding frontier of settlement and economic extraction.

In conclusion, Distant Shores offers a fresh perspective on China's place in the colonial era, challenging traditional narratives and revealing the complex and multifaceted nature of Chinese modernity. Macauley's meticulous research and insightful analysis provide a valuable contribution to the field of history, shedding light on the overlooked contributions of marginalized communities and their role in shaping the world we live in today.

Weight: 762g
Dimension: 167 x 246 x 40 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691213484