Event

Book Abstract: In 1573, 712 bales of Chinese silk arrived in New Spain in the cargos of two Manila galleons. The emergence and the subsequent rapid development of this trans-Pacific silk trade reflected the final formation of the global circulation network. Focusing on the early modern export of Chinese silk to New Spain from the sixteenth to the seventeenth century, Duan compares and contrasts the two regions from perspectives of the sericulture development, the widespread circulation of silk fashion, and the government’s attempts to regulate the use of silk. The book argues that the increasing demand for silk on the worldwide market, on the one hand, contributed to the parallel development of silk fashion and sericulture in China and New Spain, and on the other hand, created conflicts on imperial regulations about foreign trade. The growing desire for raw silk and silk textiles empowered individuals and societies to claim and redefine their positions in changing time and space.

Xiaolin Duan is an associate professor in the Department of History at the North Carolina State University. Duan studies socio-cultural history in medieval and early modern China, particularly urban history, popular religion, and visual/material culture. She published The Rise of West Lake: A Cultural Landmark in the Song Dynasty (University of Washington Press, 2020) and An Object of Seduction: Chinese Silk in the Early Modern Trans-Pacific Trade (Rowman & Littlefield, 2022). She also published articles and teaching resources for Ming Qing Studies and History for the 21st century.

Event co-sponsored with Penn's Department of English