Fudan Hub: China and the World Seminar

“It Can Devour Humans, Yet Its Fins are Highly Prized”: Human–Shark Relations in Ming and Qing China

Tuesday 13^th October 2026, 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM, Old Building, LSE, OLD 2.21, WC2A 2AE

Lunch will be provided

Abstract:

Early Chinese sources display only a patchy understanding of sharks. Authors commented on their size and some unique traits, but rarely elaborated on their appearance, behaviour or different varieties. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, however, written records mention them more frequently as the ferocious man-eaters that devoured humans. Accounts such as these have attributed sharks with the evil stereotype they are portrayed with today, even if many of these narratives were based off of hearsay and misinterpretation.

Accompanying these depictions were efforts to more systematically document, name, and differentiate sharks. I trace this development, at least in part, to the growing demand for shark fin from the fourteenth century onwards. This appetite encouraged closer observation and increasingly fine-grained systems for classifying sharks, their bodily parts, and the qualities of their fins. Nonetheless, this information did not always translate into accurate understanding of the living creatures themselves. Indeed, fins could be finely classified while sharks remained poorly known.

Speakers:

Ron Po

Ron Po is Associate Professor of Chinese and Maritime History at LSE. His books include The Blue Frontier (Cambridge UP, 2018), Shaping the Blue Dragon (Liverpool UP, 2024), The Camphor War (Columbia UP, 2026), and The Silver Thread of the Deep (Harvard UP, 2026). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and was a 2025-26 Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. Website: ronaldcypo.com

Chair: Professor Bingchun Meng (Co-Director of the LSE-Fudan Research Centre for Global Public Policy and the Director of LSE-Fudan Global Policy Hub)

This seminar is open to LSE staff and students only.