University of Heidelberg

Contact information

Bergheimer Straße 58, Building 4311
Room 102
69115 Heidelberg
Germany

Pembroke College
Trumpington Street
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB2 1RF
United Kingdom

Email:

po@asia-europe.uni-heidelberg.de

About Ronald Chung-Yam Po

Ronald Po (布琮任), a native of Hong Kong, is currently undertaking the doctoral program in the History Department (Historisches Seminar) under the supervisions of Professor Harald Fuess and Professor Joachim Kurtz. His research interests focus on the history of Late Imperial China, maritime history, Sino-foreign relation, global studies, the history of frontier, and the social history of medicine. He has published in the past few years a couple of articles on these topics in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, England and the United States. Prior to his research in Heidelberg, Chung-yam received the B.A. and the M.Phil. degree in History from the Hong Kong Baptist University in 2007 and 2009 respectively.

Aktuelles Forschungsprojekt

Title: 'Sea-Strokes: Conceptualizing the Maritime World in Early Qing China'

This project ventures to reconstruct how Chinese cultural elites conceptualized the maritime world in both geopolitical and geographical terms during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Given that there is a solid body of private writings reflecting maritime consciousness in the early modern period, I discern that quite a number of early Qing scholars, in their attempt to remap a picture of the world, intended to assemble a "global" system of knowledge related to oceans and continents. Contrary to conventional views, Chinese intellectuals did not isolate themselves from the maritime world before the age of high imperialism.

This research, while fleshing out the dialectics between frontier studies and maritime awareness in the pre-Opium War era, will also address the following questions: (1) On what kind(s) of sources and materials did the early Qing scholars base when conceptualizing “their ocean?” (2) For whom were these “maritime works” written? (3) In terms of circulation, how far did these works reach and penetrate officialdom? (4) What are the impacts of these works on Chinese geopolitical knowledge? (5) What is the relationship between maritime awareness among early Qing scholars and the Self Strengthening Movement took place a few decades later?

Finally, by questioning the influences of the “Chinese maritime models” on Korean and Japanese scholars before the Opium War, this research unifies the asymmetrical experiences of China, Korea, and Japan, thereby, imbuing the fractured, yet inseparable, maritime histories of East Asia with a sense of wholeness.

Projects

• C12 The Asian Sea
• HRA 5 Modern Chinese Scientific Terminologies
• Professorship Cultural Economic History

Selected publications

1."Merchants, Artisans, Grangers and Intellectuals: Xue Fucheng's Re-conceptualization of the Social Stratification in Late Imperial China 商、工、農、士：薛福成在西力衝擊下對「四民」的表述與解構," Chinese Culture Quarterly 九州學林 (accepted to be published).  

2. "Haiyangshi shijiao xia de Zhongwai guanxishi 海洋史視角下的中外關係史 (The history of Sino-foreign relations from a maritime historical perspective)," Hanxue yanjiu 漢學研究 (Chinese Studies), vol. 30 no. 1 (March, 2012).

3. "(Re) Conceptualizing the World in Eighteenth Century China," World History Connected, volume 9, no. 1 (February 2012). (Link to the article) 

4. "Book Review: Old Worlds, New Worlds: European Cultural Encounters, c. 1000-1750 edited by Lisa Bailey, Lindsay Diggelmann, and Kim M. Phillips," Journal of the Oxford University History Society, Issue 8 (Hilary, 2012).

5. "The Great Qing and the Third Frontier in the Eighteenth Century," Asian Studies Newsletter (The Association for Asian Studies), vol. 56, no. 3 (October, 2011), p. 22.

6. “Zuozhu weizhi: Ding Richang 1843 nian zhi 1864 nian de zaimu shengya 佐主為治: 丁日昌1843年至1864年的在幕生涯 (Assisting the Patron: Ding Richang as a muliao, 1843-1864),” in Modern History Research Center (ed.) Ding Richang yu jindai Zhongguo 丁日昌與近代中國 (Ding Richang and Modern China) (Hong Kong : Zhonghua shuju, 2011), pp. 17-36.

7. "The East Asian Mediterranean?: The "Braudelian Framework" and Maritime History in East Asia," Asian Studies Newsletter (The Association for Asian Studies), vol. 56, no. 2 (May, 2011), p. 20.

8. "Shijie shi shiye xia de Zhongguo tiyushi - Xu Guoqi de Olympic Dreams: China and Sports, 1895-2008 世界史視野下的中國體育史 - 徐國琦的 Olympic Dreams: China and Sports, 1895-2008 (Global History and the History of Sport: Review on Xu's Olympic)," Hanxue yanjiu tongxun 漢學研究通訊 (Newsletter for Research in Chinese Studies), vol. 30, no. 2 (May, 2011), pp. 59-60.

9. "Report on International Symposium: Globalization, Identity, and Regional Integration in East Asia, 1861-2011," Asian Studies Newsletter (The Association for Asian Studies), vol. 56 no. 2 (May, 2011), p. 24.

10. “ ‘Zeng Zuo Li’ yi jiancheng de youlai yu neirong hanyi zhi yanbian 曾左李一簡稱的由來與內容涵義之演變 (The Triumvirate in Late Imperial China: A Discussion on the Abbreviation “Zeng-Zuo-Li”), Si yu yan 思與言 (Thought and Words: Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences Quarterly), vol. 48 no. 3 (September, 2010), pp. 1-36.

11. "Report on Annual Conference of the Cluster of Excellence: Asia and Europe in a Global Context, Heidelberg University," Asian Studies Newsletter (The Association for Asian Studies), vol. 55 no. 4 (December, 2010), pp. 12-14. 

12. “When the Sea Dragon Roars: Hydrological Disasters and the High Qing Emperors,” The School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University: Postgraduate Forum E-Journal, edition seven (2010), pp. 1-9.

13. “Keji, yiliao de renwen guanhuai: Keji, yiliao yu shehui xueshu yantaohui lunwenji 科技, 醫療的人文關懷: 科技, 醫療與社會學術研討會論文集(Book Review: Keji, yiliao yu shehui xueshu yantaohui lunwenji),” Hong Kong Journal of Social Sciences, no. 38 (Spring/Summer, 2010), pp. 147-152.

14. “Book Review: Leprosy in China: A History,” Twenty-First Century, vol. 119 (June, 2010), pp. 152-155.

15. “Qingji HuaYang muliao de hezuo yu hudong: Yi Mashi（H.B. Morse）, Ma Xiangbo yu Ma Jianzhong zai Li Hongzhang mufu de guanxi weili 清季華洋幕僚的合作與互動: 以馬士 (H.B. Morse), 馬相伯與馬建忠在李鴻章幕府的關係為例 (Cooperation between Chinese and Foreign Muliao in Li Hongzhang’s Think Tank: With References to Ma Xiangbo, Ma Jianjong and H.B. Morse).” Chungguksa Yongu 中國史研究 (The Journal of Chinese Historical Researches), no. 63 (December 2009), pp. 121-135.

16. “Qingji yangyuan zai Tai zhi renzhi: Yi Ma Shi (H.B. Morse) zai Danshuiguan de jiaose yu yingxiang weili 清季洋員在臺之任職: 以馬士 (H.B. Morse) 在淡水關的角色與影響為例 (Western Advisers in Late Qing: H.B. Morse in Taiwan, 1892-1895),” Xinbeida shixue 新北大史學, vol. 7 (October, 2009), pp. 59-82.

17. “Xianggang chuban Zhongguo jindaishi yanjiu zhushu: Zhongwen shumu xinian (1930-2009) 香港出版中國近代史研究著述: 中文書目繫年(1930-2009) A Selected Bibliography on Modern Chinese History Published in Hong Kong,” Contemporary Historical Review, vol. 10, no.2 (June, 2009), pp. 60-72.

18. Co-author with Hoi-ling LUI, “Book reviews of Zhonghua wenhua de chuancheng yu chuangxin: Jinian Mou Fuli jiaoshou lunwenji (中華文化的傳承與創新: 紀念牟復禮教授論文集) and The Scholars Mind: Essays in Honor of Frederick W. Mote,” History Education Forum, vol. 5 (May, 2009), pp. 126-131.

19. "Qingji xifang guwen zai Hua de siying: Yi Mashi zhi zaimu shengya zuoli 清季西方顧問在華的肆應: 以馬士之在幕生涯作例 (Western muliao in Late Qing: Hosea Ballou Morse Encountered with Li Hongzhang's mufu)," Zhongzheng lishi xuekan 中正歷史學刊, vol. 11 (December, 2008), pp. 23-48.

20. "Westerners in Li Hongzhang's Mufu: With References to Gustav Detring and Hosea Ballou Morse" (unpublished M.Phil thesis, Hong Kong Baptist University, 2010).

Präsentationen (2009-2011)

1. "Inner-Outer: Sovereignty, Sea Spaces and the Great Qing," in "Graduate Research Seminar" (Department of Historical Studies, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; March 13, 2012).

2. Ruling the Waves: High Qing Monarchs and the Four Sea Zones," in "Cambridge Graduate Student Research Seminar" (Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom; December 1, 2011).

3. "Conceptualizing the Blue Frontier: The Great Qing and the Maritime World, 1680s-1840s," in "British Association of China Studies Annual Conference 2011" (Edinburgh, United Kingdom; September 8-9, 2011).

4. "Hai and Yang: Modeling the Maritime Space in Eighteenth Century China," in "PhD Colloquium: Transcultural Flows: Case Studies on Modernization Processes" (Heidelberg University, Germany; July 11, 2011).

5. "The Eight Navies: Maritime Militarization in Eighteenth Century China" in "Academic Retreat of Research Area C: Health and Environment" (Bad Herrenalb, Germany; April 18, 2011).

6. "Beyond the Four Seas: Narrating the Occident in Early Modern China," in "Oreins meets Occidens" (School of History, University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom; March 25-26, 2011).

7. "Conceptualizing the World in Eighteenth Century China," in "Redefining World History: Annual Graduate History Conference" (Department of History, Northeastern University, Boston, USA; March 12-13, 2011).

8. "Sea Kingdoms in the Far West: Illustrating Giant European Naval Powers from the Chinese Perspectives in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries," in "Imagining Europe: Perspectives, Perceptions and Representations from Antiquity to the Present" (Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University, the Netherlands; January 27-28, 2011).

9. "Zheng He's Sea-chart and Beyond: (Re)discovering the Maritime World in Ming-Qing China," in "Shifting Horizon: Historical Notion of Space in East Asia" (Cluster of Excellence, Asia and Europe, Heidelberg University, Germany; January 19, 2011).

10. "When the Sea Dragon Roars: Narrating Water Disasters in Qing China," in "HKU History Spring Symposium" (Department of History, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; May 6, 2010).

11. "Examining Chinese History from a Global-Historical Perspective," in "HIST 1620: Perspective on Chinese History" (Department of History, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong; March 23, 2010).

12. "The Man on Li's Right: Gustav Detring in Li Hongzhang's Think Tank," in "HKU History Spring Inaugural History Symposium" (Department of History, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; May 7, 2009).