Daily Life for the Common People of China, 1850 to 1950: Understanding Chaoben Culture.

our text. Clearly, as Hanke points out, there are many inconsistencies in the Hailu. Taken together, the arrangement of both the map and the text seems to indicate the existence of different itineraries followed by Xie Qinggao, but the details of his voyages remain an open issue. Some entries do suggest that he was quite familiar with certain sailing routes and also knew the geography of major regions quite well; other entries provide the impression that he was not even aware of the most basic things. One ought to be grateful to Martin Hanke for drawing attention to these circumstances. Here one might like to add as well that there are now new map collections which may allow us to embed the 1842–1844 map in a long line of Chinese cartographic works, nearly all of which show strong European influence, to varying degrees. Finally, the list of facsimilized toponyms found on the 1842–1844 map and the bibliography at the end of the book, both organised by Hanke, are equally helpful and very reliable. In short: This is a well-designed work, which combines the research of several colleagues in elegant ways. Without doubt, Aufzeichnungen über die Meere should become a standard item in libraries with a focus on Sinology, Asian and colonial history, geography, ethnology, and maritime studies more generally.