The Blue Frontier: Maritime Vision and Power in the Qing Empire

In this revisionist history of the eighteenth-century Qing Empire from a maritime perspective, Ronald C. Po argues that it is reductive to view China during this period solely as a continental power with little interest in the sea. With a vast and extensive coastline, the Qing was far from being a landlocked state. Although often regarded as an inward-looking empire, Po contends that the Qing was actively engaged with the maritime world through naval development and the institutionalization of the customs office. Contrary to the orthodox view, the Manchu court deliberately interacted with the ocean, not only politically and militarily, but conceptually as well. The Blue Frontier presents a more comprehensive picture of the Qing as an Asian giant, responding flexibly to challenges and maintaining extensive connections on all its frontiers—both land and sea—throughout the long eighteenth century.