Introduction -- Two tranquil worlds -- Openness to the world -- Because the world is round -- A leap into the unknown? -- Books and letters from the other end of the world -- Embassy or conquest? -- The clash of civilizations -- Naming the other -- A story of cannon -- Opacity or transparency? -- The greatest cities in the world -- The hour of the crime -- The place of the whites -- To everyone their own post-war -- The secrets of the south sea -- China on the horizon -- When China awakes -- Conclusion -- towards a global history of the renaissance.

"In this important new book the renowned historian Serge Gruzinski returns to two episodes in the sixteenth century which mark a decisive stage in global history and show how China and Mexico experienced the expansion of Europe.
In the early 1520s, Magellan set sail for Asia by the Western route, Cortes seized Mexico and some Portuguese based in Malacca dreamed of colonizing China. The Aztec Eagle was destroyed but the Chinese Dragon held strong and repelled the invaders - after first seizing their cannon. For the first time, people from three continents encountered one other, confronted one other and their lives became entangled. These events were of great interest to contemporaries and many people at the time grasped the magnitude of what was going on around them. The Iberians succeeded in America and failed in China. The New World became inseparable from the Europeans who were to conquer it, while the Celestial Empire became, for a long time to come, an unattainable goal.
Gruzinski explores this encounter between civilizations that were different from one another but that already fascinated contemporaries, and he shows that our world today bears the mark of this distant age. For it was in the sixteenth century that human history began to be played out on a global stage. It was then that connections between different parts of the world began to accelerate, not only between Europe and the Americas but also between Europe and China. This is what is revealed by a global history of the sixteenth century, conceived as another way of reading the Renaissance, less Eurocentric and more in tune with our age."--pub. note.

The first part of this article investigates the private traders along the Zhejiang coast and the Portuguese settlements in Ningbo. 1. The private traders in Ningbo and the arrival of the foreign merchants. Before Teng Lao escaped from prison and went down to the coast in the 5th year of Jiajing, Lu Huangszu was already in Shuang-yu-kang, therefore I presume that after the expulsion from Tamao, the Portuguese went to Ningbo. Since the early private traders like Chin Tzu-lao and Li Kuangt'ou were Fujianese, those who guided the Portuguese to Ningbo were probably also Fujianese. 2. The private trader in Shuang-yu-kang and the Hsu brothers. In the 19th year of Jiajing, Xu Er and others persueded the Fo Lang Chi (Portuguese) to come to the Zhejiang coast for trade. Here we make an account about the general condition of the trade and clear up the history of Hsu brothers beginning from their stay in Shuang-yu-kang till the arise of the disturbance. 3. The rage of the private traders and its origin. In the 24-25th year of Jiajing, the Xu brothers became bankrupt and ran away from their former place and invaded Zhejiang and Fujian, then from private traders they gradually became pirates. The historical sweep of Shuang-yu-kang. From Chu Wan's account of his military success we may trace the development and the consequence of his attack on the pirates' den in the 27th year of Jiajing. 5. The so-called Liampoo settlements as narrated by F. Mendes Pinto. In accord with the geographical and historical facts we review the account of Peregrenacao and we conclude that the settlement was Shuang-yu-kang and Liampoo city was Kuo-chu. 6. The situation of the Portuguese settlements. The account of Mendez Pinto concerning the housing, population, institution, organization and economic situation confirmed the account of Chu Wan. 7. The destruction of the Portuguese settlements.

Includes bibliographical references.