In The Blue Frontier: Maritime Vision and Power in the Qing Empire, Ronald C. Po challenges the long-standing assumption that the Qing Empire was a land-based empire, with little interest in the maritime world. He argues that “the Qing was not a landlocked state, nor was it inward looking. In fact, since the late 17th century, the empire had been integrated into the maritime world through its maritime militarization and seaborne shipping” (pp. 4–5). Po asserts that scholars – both historians of China, and scholars of maritime history – have been distracted by a presumption that empires must be either land- or sea-based. Moreover, the failure of the Qing empire in naval battles with Britain, France and Japan during the 19th century, led both Chinese and foreigners to unfairly project on China's past both a sense of disinterest and incompetence in dealing with naval affairs.
Po approaches his task by focusing on the Qing government's policies towards naval affairs and the management of maritime from the time of the conquest of Taiwan in the mid-1680s to the end of the Qianlong reign. This period, sometimes called the “high Qing,” was marked by rapid population growth, commercial development and imperial expansion into central Asia. Efforts to understand the geopolitics of this era, by Peter Perdue and others, have focused on this land-based expansion. By contrast, the assumption has been that following the destruction of the Zheng regime and the annexation of Taiwan, “the Qing empire had nothing to worry about in terms of aggression coming across the Maritime frontier” (p. 19). Po posits that to the contrary, under the Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperors, Qing leadership remained concerned with possible threats from the seas. While there has been attention to aspects of Qing China's maritime history – there is excellent work on pirates, and on aspects of trade – the focus on Qing naval policy in the 18th century marks a new departure.
The book consists of five chapters, plus a substantial introduction and conclusion. Following a brief chapter on the geographical setting, the second chapter “Modeling the sea” sets out the core analysis of the book. Looking at memorials by senior officials, and imperial edicts across the time period studied, Po argues that Qing leaders conceptualized the seas into two zones “inner” and “outer.” The inner oceans were accessible areas the state could claim ownership of resources and sought to regulate economic activity. The outer oceans were “an uncertain and changeable domain beyond administrative dominance and economic extraction” (p. 46). Po contrasts this zonal modal with the engagement of early modern European maritime empires’ efforts to obtain access to commodities and resources far from home waters.
In the ensuing chapters, Po explores how this model of understanding the sea was integrated into government. The third chapter offers a detailed analysis of the Qing navy in the 18th century, approached by geographical region. He shows convincingly that the Qing state invested heavily in naval defence: Qing navies were actively involved in maintaining order in China's inner oceans, and naval forces were balanced with extensive coastal fortifications. Even challenged by piracy and sapped from within by diminished resources, this system continued to function into the 19th century. The fourth chapter looks at the system of Customs revenue collection (haiguan) created in the Kangxi era and revised under Yongzheng. To Po, this system was not an effort to stop trade and foreign contact, but rather a pragmatic effort to allow it to prosper while keeping it under “guarded management.” Customs houses were expected to keep a close watch on trade, and licensed merchants were given an important cooperative role in overseeing foreign merchants.
In the fifth chapter, Po seeks to balance the focus on government attitudes by looking at three influential writers on maritime affairs who were not officials – Chen Lunjiong, Wang Dahai and Xie Qinggao. Po thoughtfully relates their work to Qing geographical writings pioneered by the likes of Gu Zuyu and Gu Yanwu. He concludes that mid-Qing writings on the maritime world were more substantive than most scholarship gives them credit for, and formed an important basis for Wei Yuan's work in the 1840s, which is generally as the first Qing effort to grasp the larger world.
This is an impressive book that should be widely read both by Qing historians and scholars interested in maritime history and naval strategy. Po makes a convincing case that Qing government maritime policy deserves greater attention and respect. He supports his arguments with an abundance of primary sources (almost all Chinese) and draws broadly upon scholarly work in Chinese, English, Japanese and German. His Introduction skillfully connects his work on China to scholarship on maritime history in other parts of the world.
Inevitably this book has limitations. Most importantly, this is a study focused on the “blue frontier” as emperors and the most senior officials saw it. We don't see much of the practices of Qing state agents in either the inner or outer oceans. Important questions remain: how did Qing naval forces actually operate? How did they assert Qing authority? In what respects did the Qing naval defence strategy influence the Empire's relations with other states in East and South-East Asia? Po's overview needs to be complemented with work focused on case studies closer to the ground (and sea). Nevertheless, it is to Po's credit that these questions now seem urgent. One hopes that Blue Frontier will inspire new attention to Qing naval policy and practice.
