Beyond the Amur describes the distinctive frontier society that emerged in the Amur, a river region that shifted between Qing China and Imperial Russia as the two empires competed for resources. Official histories depict the Amur as a distant battleground caught between rival empires. Zatsepine, by contrast, views it as a unified natural economy populated by Chinese, Russian, Indigenous, Japanese, Korean, Manchu, and Mongol people who crossed the border in search of work or trade and who came together to survive a harsh physical environment. This colourful account of a region and its people highlights the often-overlooked influence of frontier developments on state politics and imperial policies and histories.
Preface
Introduction
1 A River Runs through It
2 They Came from Everywhere
3 Fur, Gold, and Local Trade
4 Imperial Russian Expansionism
5 Chinese Migrants in Frontier Towns
6 A Railway Runs through It
7 C
