07.05.2026

Lecture: Ronald C. Po, "Shark Fin in Late Imperial China: A Cultural History"

On Tue, May 12, Dr Ronald C. Po will talk about the culture of shark fins in China

Dr. Ronald C. Po (London School of Economics and Political Science)
“Shark Fin in Late Imperial China: A Cultural History”

Tuesday, 12 May 2026, 16:00 (4 PM).
Wilhelmstr. 133, Raum 30
or Zoom Meeting ID: 936 0056 4476 Passcode: 928919

Abstract Shark fin is often associated with Chinese cuisine as a luxury delicacy. Little is known, however, about its historical trajectory. This talk examines the cultural history of shark fin consumption in Ming and Qing China, tracing its transformation from a marginal marine commodity into a prominent feature of elite dining and social practice. By analysing poems, paintings, gazetteers, medical treatises, cookbooks, and travelogues, this talk will argue that shark fin became one medium through which literati expressed status, taste and cultural value, and understood it in terms of nourishment, rarity, and refinement. In doing so, it places this consumable commodity at the centre of interactions between environment, economy, and culture, and shows how late imperial China’s engagement with the sea shaped everyday practices of consumption.
Bio Dr. Ronald C. Po is an Associate Professor in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of The Blue Frontier: Maritime Vision and Power in the Qing Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and Shaping the Blue Dragon: Maritime China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (Liverpool University Press, 2024). His forthcoming monographs include The Silver Thread of the Deep: A Cultural History of Shark Fin in China and Beyond (Harvard University Press, 2026) and The Camphor War: Taiwan in the Age of Imperial Realignments (Columbia University Press, 2026).