Session: Reshaping Sea and Hinterland: New Perspectives of Imperial China from the Southern Expanse
4: Beyond Inner and Outer Harbors: Nan’ao Island as a Secondary Port
Friday, March 13, 2026
1:30 PM - 3:00 PM PDT
Location: Pan Pacific Hotel, Oceanview Suite 4
Presenting Author(s)
JS
J. Travis Shutz (he/him/his)
California State University, Los Angeles, United States
The main port cities of pre-modern South China, such as the emporia Guangzhou and Quanzhou, have been the subject of many studies. Contemporaneous secondary and tertiary ports, however, remain relatively underexamined. This study investigates one such locale, Nan’ao Island. This nearshore isle not only rests a dozen kilometers off the Guangdong-Fujian coast, but it also sits near the axis of sea routes that long connected South China with Japan, Ryukyu, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia. These overlapping frontiers made the area a popular meeting point for mariners from near and far. Adopting a longue durée perspective, this study examines when and why the island appears in archaeological, textual, and visual records. It reveals that as Chinese governments asserted more control over seaborne trade, Nan'ao experienced two waves of imperialization, an initial one under the Song and Yuan dynasties (10th – 14th c.) and a later one during the Ming-Qing period (14th – 18th c.). While licit seaborne commerce was centralized under state surveillance in key ports, Nan'ao, with its flourishing maritime connections, came to be regarded as a hub for illicit affairs. In response, the differing governments sought to eliminate such perceived banditry. During Song and early to mid-Ming, naval expeditions were repeatedly dispatched to eradicate accused smuggler-pirates. Contrastingly, Yuan, late Ming, and Qing opted to directly govern Nan'ao, coopting local economic activity for insular state-building projects. These processes highlight long-term cycles in the emergence and administration of non-primary ports in South China.
