A compelling study of piracy in modern South China.

In Outlaws of the Sea, Robert J. Antony provides a comprehensive account of the history of maritime piracy in coastal south China from the 1630s to the 1940s. He neither romanticizes nor maligns pirates, but rather analyzes them in the context of their times and the broader world in which they lived. The author demonstrates that Chinese piracy was a pervasive force shaping maritime society as it ebbed and flowed between sporadic, small-scale ventures and professional, large-scale enterprises in the modern era. This book offers important new insights into the underside of modern China’s history and the interactions between pirates, foreign traders, local communities, and the state.

Robert J. Antony was distinguished professor at Guangzhou University before his retirement in 2019. He is recently a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton.

List of Figures, Maps, and Tables viii
Preface x
Chronology xii
1. Introduction: The Pirate and the Historian 1
2. The Sociopolitical Culture of South China’s Water World 16
3. Piracy, Empire, and Sovereignty 34
4. Chinese Pirates and Tay Son Rebels 53
5. Piracy and the Shadow Economy 68
6. Defending Canton: Chinese Pirates, British Traders, and Hong
Merchants 89
7. Pacification of the Seas 117
8. Bloodthirsty Pirates? 139
9. Pirates, Dragon Ladies, and Steamships 159
10. “We Are Not Pirates”: Portugal, China, and the Pirates of Coloane 180
11. Conclusion: Piracy in China and the World 202
Glossary 213
Bibliography 219
Acknowledgments 240
Index 242