This volume explores processes of drawing, maintaining and transgressing spatial and conceptual boundaries on the margins of imperial and modern China. The focus is on the encounters themselves, both real and imagined. Ten case studies stretching over one thousand years of Chinese history draw on the methods of diverse scholarly disciplines, including archaeology, history and anthropology as well as Sinology. Historical topics addressed include the Tang-Uyghur relationship in architecture, the transgression of conceptual boundaries between diverse religious traditions, the use of the Chinese written medium by foreigners, the maintenance of border controls on the southeastern, maritime borders, Ming-Timurid relations as reflected in different intellectual traditions, shifts in Muslim historiography, and Islamic jurisprudence. Furthermore two studies focusing on regionalism within Xinjiang, and problems of migration and identity in the Russian-Chinese-Mongolian border region, lead to contemporary issues as well.