Book Launch
The International History Department hosted Dr Ronald C. Po’s book launch on 22 November. Dr Po was joined by Professor Hans van de Ven (University of Cambridge), Professor Leigh Jenco (LSE), and the event was chaired by Professor David Stevenson (LSE).
Dr Po’s book The Blue Frontier: Maritime Vision and Power in the Qing Empire discusses the eighteenth-century Qing dynasty from a maritime perspective. The book challenges the orthodox view that China over this period was exclusively a continental power. Through deep archival research focusing on the "official mind" of the dynasty, Dr Po concludes in the book that it is unsustainable to retain the view that the Qing dynasty lacked a maritime consciousness.
Dr Po argues that this maritime consciousness of the dynasty was different to that of European empires as it was not conceived for expansionism, but for defence and coastal trade. He underlines that this desire for defence was more from the threat of pirates and illegal smugglers than from foreign powers. There was additionally a realisation by the elites of the Qing dynasty of the necessity for sea-born trade to bring economic development.
Professor van de Ven and Professor Jenco, who were commentating on The Blue Frontier, agreed that Dr Po’s new work is a significant addition to the field in prompting new questions and new ways of thinking about eighteenth-century China, as well as the very concept of empire. Professor van de Ven concluded in stating that Dr Po has successfully returned maritime awareness and agency to the dynasty.
This event will not be available as a podcast.
See images of the event.
Commentators
Professor Hans van de Ven (University of Cambridge) - Educated in the Netherlands at Leiden University and in the USA at Harvard, Professor Hans van de Ven is an expert on the history of China. He has written on China’s military history as well as the history of China’s globalization, including From Friend to Comrade: The Founding of the Chinese Communist Party, 1920–1927 (1991), Breaking with the Past: The Maritime Customs Service and the Global Origins of Modernity in China (2014), and China at War: Triumph and Tragedy in the Emergence of the New China 1937-1952 (2018).
Professor Leigh Jenco (LSE) - Before coming to the LSE in 2012, Professor Leigh Jenco (PhD and MA, University of Chicago, 2007; BA Bard College, 1999) taught at the National University of Singapore and Brown University. She situates her work and teaching at the intersection of Chinese and contemporary Euro-American theories of politics. Her current research compares Chinese, Dutch and Japanese colonial discourse on Taiwan, from the 17th century to the present.
Chair
Professor David Stevenson (LSE) - Stevenson Professor of International History at LSE.
The Department of International History (@lsehistory) teaches and conducts research on the international history of Britain, Europe and the world from the early modern era up to the present day.