Preface

The essays collected in this volume are revised versions of chapters originally prepared for publication in volumes 8 and 9 of The Cambridge History of China. The authors have undertaken this separate publication because they believe their subjects are connected with each other in ways that might not be apparent in the contexts of the two Cambridge History volumes and because they wish to make them more accessible to scholars who might not notice their appearance in those volumes and would appreciate having access to them in this more compact and convenient format. We have particularly in mind our colleagues in various areas of study of early modern European relations with Asia who do not specialize in the study of China – scholars of the Islamic world, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea – including historians of Christian missions elsewhere in Asia. All of these studies are in the midst of vigorous revivals. Specialized conferences and publications abound, so that we are likely to meet these intellectual collaborators at a meeting in Macao or Pondicherry, at a Vasco da Gama quincentenary conference in Australia, or at a meeting in Europe focused on the career of a particular missionary. Our studies and those of all these colleagues are contributing more or less deliberately to the very exciting efforts to develop a non-Eurocentric historiography of the early modern world.

Our chapters offer much context, data, and bibliographic guidance for those who wish to make further contributions to the already flourishing literature on early modern world trade, in which China’s provision of high-quality manufactures and tea and its nearly insatiable appetite for silver were important driving forces. They will also be of use to others working on world history topics that have been energetically discussed only very recently, such as the comparison of the internal authority structures and foreign relations of state systems, the indigenization of religions of foreign origins, and the dynamics of multiethnic societies, especially those in port cities. We hope that our colleagues working on all these themes in relation to China and other parts of Asia will find in this book some small payment on the great debt we owe them for their recent sophisticated studies and summaries. Finally, we have enjoyed contacts with and encouragement from colleagues in the People’s Republic of China in ways we could scarcely imagine when we began work on these chapters in the 1980s. Chinese scholars long were frustrated by the difficulties of learning foreign languages and obtaining access to non-Chinese sources, but a younger generation is overcoming these obstacles and becoming full participants in the international networks of scholarship on the topics discussed in this volume. Here too we hope the volume will be of use in maintaining dialogue and establishing some sound basic narratives.