The Making of a Delicacy – Shark Fin and Maritime China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Vortrag von Ronald C. Po-

Today shark fin remains closely associated with Chinese banquet culture. Yet its rise to culinary prominence was neither ancient nor inevitable. This paper examines how shark fin became one of the most coveted luxury foods of late imperial China.

Drawing on a wide range of Ming and Qing sources, I argue that shark fin was more than a delicacy: it was a maritime commodity that connected fishing grounds, merchants, and consumers across the empire. Its growing popularity reveals how the sea entered theeconomic and cultural life of late imperial China through practices of trade, dining, and distinction. 

Foto: Sichuan Chengdu – Wuhou Srine Museum © Georg Hassa