John W. Chaffee is Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of History and Asian and Asian American Studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He also directs the Institute for Asia and Asian Diasporas. He co-edited with Professor Denis Twitchett Volume 5 of The Cambridge History of China: Sung China, 960–1279, Part 2 (Cambridge, 2015).

'This is a fascinating and beautifully written study of the economic, social, and political lives of Muslim merchants present in the coastal regions of premodern China. It is a major contribution to understanding the history of maritime China, intra-Asian connections, as well as Indian Ocean exchanges.' Tansen Sen, New York University Shanghai

• Introduction; 1. Merchants of an imperial trade; 2. The reorientation of trade; 3. The maturation of merchant communities; 4. Mongols and the concentration of merchant power; 5. Endings and continuities.

John W. Chaffee is Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of History and Asian and Asian American Studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He also directs the Institute for Asia and Asian Diasporas. He co-edited with Professor Denis Twitchett Volume 5 of The Cambridge History of China: Sung China, 960–1279, Part 2 (Cambridge, 2015).

'This is a fascinating and beautifully written study of the economic, social, and political lives of Muslim merchants present in the coastal regions of premodern China. It is a major contribution to understanding the history of maritime China, intra-Asian connections, as well as Indian Ocean exchanges.' Tansen Sen, New York University Shanghai

• Introduction; 1. Merchants of an imperial trade; 2. The reorientation of trade; 3. The maturation of merchant communities; 4. Mongols and the concentration of merchant power; 5. Endings and continuities.

John W. Chaffee is Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of History and Asian and Asian American Studies at Binghamton University, State University of New York. He also directs the Institute for Asia and Asian Diasporas. He co-edited with Professor Denis Twitchett Volume 5 of The Cambridge History of China: Sung China, 960–1279, Part 2 (Cambridge, 2015).

'This is a fascinating and beautifully written study of the economic, social, and political lives of Muslim merchants present in the coastal regions of premodern China. It is a major contribution to understanding the history of maritime China, intra-Asian connections, as well as Indian Ocean exchanges.' Tansen Sen, New York University Shanghai

• Introduction; 1. Merchants of an imperial trade; 2. The reorientation of trade; 3. The maturation of merchant communities; 4. Mongols and the concentration of merchant power; 5. Endings and continuities.