China on the sea: How the maritime world shaped modern China

摘要

The author's premise in this book is that the historiography of China, especially during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), has been dominated by two related assumptions: that China has been isolated from the rest of the world, partly by geography, partly by cultural preference; and that China's history can best be described by focusing on the interaction between the Chinese and the peoples living on China's northern and western frontiers. These assumptions have strong points in their favour: two of China's last three dynasties, the Yuan (1260-1367) and the Qing, were formed by invaders from the north, and China placed rigid restrictions on the freedom of Westerners to enter and travel within China.