Trade, Religion, and Islam Along the South China Coast: Doing Historical Fieldwork

Robert Antony, Distinguished Professor at Guangzhou University, will discuss his experiences doing historical fieldwork along the coast of China.

In this presentation Dr. Antony will discuss his experiences doing historical fieldwork along the coast of South China over the past ten years, and the importance of doing fieldwork for historical studies. His talk will focus on the interface between trade and religion over the past several centuries.  He will be highlighting the Muslim traders who created a diasporic community and the Great Mosque in Canton in the Tang dynasty, as well as the Muslim Chinese mariner Zheng He, who sailed across the Indian Ocean in seven voyages in the Ming Dynasty.  He will end by looking at the resurgence of the Muslim community in Canton, South China, today.