Acknowledgments
This book is a slightly revised version of my PhD dissertation, submitted to the University of Tübingen in 2016. It has been almost one decade since I first heard something about zinc during my training in the field of history of science and technology. With great curiosity, I started my journey in the early modern world by labelling myself as a zinc woman. Research for this project—originally entitled “The Zinc Administration in Southwest China, 1700–1850: Institutional, Economic and Social Case Studies”—was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG). This project formed part of the DFG Research Group (FOR 596) “Monies, Markets and Finance in China and East Asia, 1600–1900: Local, Regional, National and International Dimensions” (MMF) 2005–2012, directed by Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel, Institute of Chinese and Korean Studies, the University of Tübingen. I am grateful to the DFG for the generous financial support that made my research possible. I have also benefited from the financial support of a PhD Dissertation Fellowship from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, and a travel grant from the Calwer Hermann-Hesse-Stiftung, which enabled me to finish examining the archival documents in the First Historical Archives of China in Beijing in 2011. I wish to acknowledge both foundations for their generous support.
My earnest gratitude goes to my two advisers: Prof. Hans Ulrich Vogel, who provided me with an invaluable opportunity to accomplish the zinc project, and who introduced me into the archival world by skipping many steps from the world of an engineer to a professional historian; and Prof. George Bryan Souza of the University of Texas, San Antonio, who taught me how to broaden my perspectives, in particular, by employing commodity chain analysis in my study, and who has always been willing to discuss and share his knowledge and critical thoughts with me. I respectfully acknowledge their guidance, inspirations, and enduring support, which made it possible to finish the dissertation/book. In particular, without Prof. Souza’s inspirations in several seminars and private communications, I would not have found my way to a topic that I truly wanted to spend so much time working on.
Sincere thanks are also owed to Prof. Christine Moll-Murata, of the University of Bochum, who actually guided my first archive “tour” in Beijing and also welcomed me warmheartedly on my first trip to Germany, and who has also been a constant source of help; to Prof. Achim Mittag, of the University of Tübingen, for his continual support and kindness; and to Prof. Jane Kate Leonard, of the University of Akron, who has shared with me many insights in the field and encouraged me all the way.
Extra-special thanks go to my friends and former colleagues in the MMF research group from Tübingen, Heidelberg, Bochum and Hongkong: Nanny Kim, Stefan Dieball, Hans-Joachim Rosner, Shan Kunqin 单坤琴, Thomas Hirzel, Keiko Nagase-Reimer, Werner Burger, Ulrich Theobald, Cao Jin 曹晋, and Alexander Jost, who all supported and witnessed the development of my project at various stages. In particular, I am indebted to Nanny for her valuable comments, suggestions, and improvement of my English throughout my entire study, to Stefan for his patience and enthusiasm for supporting me with learning the GIS software, making professional maps, and providing me with enormous help on our field trip in Guizhou, and to Kunqin for accommodating me in my first stay in Germany and providing long-lasting support during the years we worked together.
I am also grateful to my current colleagues from the University of Trier, in particular, Prof. Christian Soffel, Prof. Liang Yong 梁镛, and Dr. Liu Huiru 刘慧儒, for their constant help and support throughout the years from the very beginning of my teaching career.
In China, I am indebted to my former teachers at the University of Tsinghua. My earnest gratitude goes to Prof. Gao Xuan 高瑄, for his generous support during my several stays in Beijing. Thanks are also due to Prof. Yang Yuda 杨煜达 from the University of Fudan in Shanghai, and Prof. Lan Yong 蓝勇 from the Southwestern University in Chongqing, for sharing their experience of field surveys with me.
Special thanks also go to the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (Chinesisch-Deutsche Zentrum für Wissenschaftsförderung) in Beijing, for generously providing me with accommodations during my several stays in Beijing for archival research, and to the staff at the First Historical Archives of China for their assistance and kindness.
Sections of this work have been presented in several internal and international conferences in Germany, China, and the U.S.A. I want to extend special thanks to several scholars, especially, Prof. Susan Naquin (Princeton University), Prof. Dagmar Schäfer (MPIWG, Berlin), Prof. Constantin Canavas (HAW, Hamburg), Prof. Arturo Giraldez (University of the Pacific), Prof. Kuroda Akinobu (University of Tokyo), Prof. Roger Greatrex (University of Lund), Prof. Regine Mathias (University of Bochum), Prof. Elisabeth Kaske (University of Leipzig), and Prof. Su Rongyu 苏荣誉 (Academy of Sciences, Beijing), who have criticized and encouraged me. In particular, I have greatly appreciated Sue’s close reading of my manuscript. She gave me not only helpful advice on revising but also shared many insightful thoughts with me about the parallels between her ongoing project and mine. This strengthened my self-confidence and will continue to inspire me in my future research career.
Thanks also go to Patricia Radder and Peter Buschman, my editors at Brill, for their expert assistance, and to the anonymous reviewer for her/his critical comments and suggestions for improvement. For copyediting and proofreading, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Bradford C. Gray for his enthusiastic and long-lasting support and friendship. All errors remain mine alone.
No words are enough to express my indebtedness to my family: my greatest debt is to my husband Stefan—beyond our collaboration in the research—for the love, encouragement, and companionship that have sustained me through the research and writing processes, in particular, during the last and most difficult stages in the completion of this book; my daughters Helena and Jana, being born during the drafting of the dissertation and the book, shared a lot of their mom’s excitement and frustrations. I dedicate this book to my parents, Chen Jinyu 陈金雨 and Zhang Fengying 张凤英, for their endless love and support, in particular, for looking after Helena and Jana for many days.
Chen Hailian
Trier, February 2018