China in World History

Early Modern China 89

TIBETTIBET

(autonomous after(autonomous after

1912 but under1912 but under

British protectorate)British protectorate)

Suzhou

NanjingNanjing

BeijingBeijing

TianjinTianjin

WuchangWuchang

Chongqing

Hangzhou

Suzhou

Nanjing Shanghai

Ningbo

Beijing

Tianjin

Kaifeng

Fuzhou

Wuchang

Chongqing

Guangzhou

Macao

(Portugal 1537)

Hong Kong (Britain 1842)

Kowloon (Britain 1898)

Gobi Desert

Turfan

Basin

Taklamakan Desert

Sea of

Japan

South

China

Sea

TarimRiver

AmurRive

r

Yang

ziR

ive

r

WestRiv

er

Yellow

Riv

er

JAPAN

DUTCH EAST INDIES

Java

Borneo

Sumatra

Taiwan (to

Japan 1895)

Ryukyu

Islands

(to Japan

1872)

Philippines

(Spanish,

Hainan to USA 1898)

FRENCH

INDOCHINA

(French

1884–93)

TIBET

(autonomous after

1912 but under

British protectorate)

TURKESTAN

KAZAKHSTAN

RUSSIAN EMPIRE

KOREA

(to Japan 1910)

0

(^0) 600 km
400 mi
Great Wall
Qing Empire in 1850
Ming Empire
Area of Boxer
Uprising (1900–01)
Russian
Japanese
British
French
German
Colonial possessions and
areas of influence by 1911
MING AND QING
CHINA (1368–1911 CE)
rhinoceroses, and ostriches. The Chinese took the giraffe to be the fabled
unicorn of Chinese folklore that appeared only rarely in history to signal
the appearance of a sage emperor. Since the main purpose of these trips
was to demonstrate the power and majesty of the Ming court, they were
not fi nancially profi table, and once Zheng He died, they were discon-
tinued. We can only speculate how different the modern world would