23.06.2023

Lecture: Chen Boyi, "Coastal Defense in South Zhili, 1368-1644"

Prof. Dr. Chen Boyi (Xiamen University), "Coastal Defense in South Zhili, 1368-1644", a lecture in the colloquium "History and Culture of China"

Tuesday, 27. June 2023 at 4:15 pm online via Zoom:
Meeting Link: https://zoom.us/j/93395789055?pwd=aFlvUlBiOWQyc0NSYm85RHFaVW0xZz09
Meeting ID:  933 9578 9055
Passcode: 093343

Abstract In this talk, Prof. Chen Boyi focuses on the coastal defense of the Nanzhili region in Ming China (1368-1644). He will show how the Ming state responded to the marine challenges from the wokou (Japanese “dwarf” bandits initially) and how the coastal defense was built along with the process of the war (1549-1564/1565). He will analyze the reason for the defense limitation and the adjustments. The Jun/Bing (Military/Militia initially) structure established at the beginning of the dynasty restricted many of the forces in transferring and leading. His research deals with the duties and relationships of multiple layers of official organizations, and organizations of military administration in this special region, including the garrison army system, prefectures, and counties, as well as the Guards and the Battalions. The whole discussion focuses on how a pre-modern state defended the southern region under its direct control against the coastal threat.

Bio Chen Boyi is Associate Professor in History at Xiamen University. He obtained his PhD at Washington University in St. Louis, and has been Overseas Editor of Qing History Research Correspondence since 2012; Vice Editor of Studies of Maritime History since 2017; Book Review Editor of Crossroads – History of Interactions across the Silk Routes (Brill) since 2019. His research interests include: early modern frontier history, maritime history, and socio-economic history. His publications include: Xiange shanhai (Borders and Orders: Coastal and Maritime Northeastern South China Sea in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries) (Jiangxi Colleges and Universities Publishing House, 2019); Mingdai Nanzhili haifang yanjiu (Coastal Defense of South Zhili in Ming China) (Master Thesis, Peking University, 2011; revised version published by Social Science Academic Press, 2023); Beyond the Land and Sea: Diasporic South Fujianese in Hội An, Batavia, and Manila, 1550-1850 (Ph.D. Dissertation, WUSTL, 2019).