Elke Papelitzky, Writing World History in Late Ming China and the Perception of Maritime Asia, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, East Asian Maritime History 15, 2020, 240 p., Index, 38 Tables, 14 Figures. ISBN 978-3-447-11309-0

In this ten-chapter book (based on her dissertation), Elke Papelitzky examines in great detail how certain late Ming scholars became interested in foreign countries and their relations with the Middle Kingdom after the lifting of the ban on maritime trade in 1567, i.e. at a time when the empire was threatened on its northern border and the tributary relations with the various Asian countries were undermined by the new situation of the global trade system. In order to do this, the author expla...