The Maritime Shield of Zaiton: Coastal Defense and Garrison Society in Quanzhou Chronicles
Here’s a question I can’t get out of my head: A city famous as the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road — was it really a port, or was it a fortress all along? I spent three days reading through the Wanli Quanzhou Prefecture Chronicle: Military Defense Volume and the Qianlong Quanzhou Prefecture Chronicle cover to cover. And I found something that sent a chill down my spine: Every tael of silver that flowed through Quanzhou’s harbor had at least one beacon tower watching over it. ...