Shore of pearls

by Edward H. Schafer

Hainan Island is the southernmost extent of what is now People's Republic of China. Today the island is strategically important for its geographic position and its rich mineral and oil resources, and economically important as a thriving tropical resort. Historically, however, Hainan had been regarded as a backwater by successive Chinese dynasties. In Shore of Pearls the eminent Sinologist Edward Schafer recounts the history and culture of the island, annexed during the reign of Han emperor Wu Di in 111 BC, when Chinese armies defeated its indigenous Li people. Pearl gathering became an important industry, and this treasure island also yielded other luxury goods prized by the Chinese court, including incense, medicinal herbs precious metals, tortoise shell, ivory, and exotic woods. However, the difficulty of colonizing and exploiting Hainan's riches changed its reputation from a treasure island to one of a dank, poisonous land unfit for normal men, and it later became a place of exile for scholars and officials who had offended the court, including the great poet Su Shi, as well as a lair for criminals and pirates. As in Vermilion Bird, Professor Schafer writes precisely and poetically about this fascinating interface between China and the cultures of its southern borders.

Genres: China

173 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

An American sinologist and a noted expert on the Tang dynasty. Schafer's most famous works include The Golden Peaches of Samarkand and The Vermilion Bird, which both explore China's interactions with new cultures and regions during the Tang dynasty.

Schafer earned a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 1947. He then became a professor of Chinese there and remained at Berkeley until his retirement in 1984. From 1955 to 1968 Schafer served as East Asia Editor of the Journal of the American Oriental Society, and from 1969 to 1984 he held the Agassiz Professorship of Oriental Languages and Literature at Berkeley. He is also known within sinology for his uncompromising belief in the importance of language skills and learning and his differing approach on this subject to John King Fairbank. His publications include over 100 scholarly articles and more than a dozen books.

Also known as 薛爱华

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was both similar to and quite different to the previous Edward Schafer book I read, The Divine Woman: Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens in Tang Literature. The organization was much improved, the Western classical allusions were much reduced, and yet the indomitable and erudite voice of the author rings through each page, unmistakable in its cadence.

The Shore of Pearls refers here to the island of Hainan off the southeastern coast of the great land of the Hua (Han, or Chinese) people, itself home to the Li (黎) people and their constant procession of elite exiles from the mainland. The book ends with the exiting of the exilic stage of Su Shi in 1100, but to my surprise he is far less a part of the book than one might expect.

In the tradition of the Victorian travel books I read in my youth, he opens with a description of the island, its natural history, birds, beasts, aromatic woods, etc. The attempts of the Chinese to keep the four counties of the island under their jurisdiction are described, attempts which tended to last not very long before the locals rebelled against the demands on their property in the form of taxes. The material splendor, exemplified by the eponymous pearls, made the island a prize despite all the difficulties, to possess if not to inhabit.

Such were the topics of the first chapters. The final chapters looked at the guests - prisoners - sent to the island as the destination of exile. Besides one who taught reading and writing to the locals and the obligatory poets who made the dangerous naval journey, none were especially noteworthy before Su Shi, who had a trying time but seems to have kept up his spirits if only because of his expectation of deliverance which ultimately did come, but only shortly before his death. The food was alien - unmentionables like rat, not the delicious lamb and pig and barnyard fowl of the north - and the weather unpleasant, while his home was a simple hut. But with his son and his dog, he endured until he was recalled, only to die along the way in Jiangsu.

At only 114 pages of text, it felt a little short. I would have liked more information on Su Shi, what makes him such a noteworthy personage, why was he exiled, and so on, which he didn't discuss as being foreign to his subject matter, the island itself. More information about the political history of the island would have been appreciated, as well. But in general, it's an interesting little read about a part of China usually forgotten.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

The evocation of natural science in this study of Hainan is truly amazing. This book is a deeper study of Hainan using Chinese literature. Amazing. I love studying botany, animals, as well as exotics.