1970). Denys Lombard, Le carrefour javanais: essai d’histoire globale,
3 vols (Editions de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales,
Paris, 1990) is magisterial in its coverage. William Lytle Schurz, The
Manila Galleon(E. P. Dutton, New York, 1959) is still a good read.
Other useful studies include Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of
Commerce 1450–1680, 2 vols (Yale University Press, New Haven,
1988 and 1993) and Charting the Shape of Early Modern Southeast Asia
(Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 2000); Sarasin
Viraphol, Tribute and Profit: Sino–Siamese Trade, 1652–1853(Harvard
University Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1977); Kenneth R. Hall, Maritime
Trade and State Development in Early Southeast Asia (University of
Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1985); Jennifer Cushman, Fields from the Sea:
Chinese Junk Trade with Siam during the Late Eighteenth and Early Nine-
teenth Centuries (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1993);
Roderich Ptak, China and the Asian Seas: Trade, Travel, and Visions of
the Other (1400–1750)(Ashgate, Aldershot, 1998); and Gang Deng,
Maritime Sector, Institutions, and Sea Power of Premodern China(Green-
wood Press, Westport, Conn., 1999).
Two fascinating records of Chinese who visited Southeast Asia
are: Chou Ta-kuan, The Customs of Cambodia, 2nd edn (The Siam
Society, Bangkok, 1992) and Ma Huan, Ying-yai Sheng-lan: ‘The
Overall Survey of the Ocean’s Shores’ (Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, 1970). Ma Huan is the best source for the Ming voyages.
A more popular account is Louise Levathes, When China Ruled the
Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1405–1433(Simon and
Schuster, New York, 1994).
On early European embassies to the Qing, excellent studies
include John E. Wills, Jr., Pepper, Guns and Parlays: The Dutch East
India Company and China 1622–1681(Harvard University Press, Cam-
bridge, Mass., 1974) and Embassies and Illusions: Dutch and Portuguese
Envoys to K’ang-hsi, 1666–1687 (Harvard University Press, Cam-
bridge, Mass., 1984); and James L. Heria, Cherishing Men from Afar:
Qing Guest Ritual and the Macartney Embassy(Duke University Press,
A Short History of China and Southeast Asia