In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most countries except China had devoured the great Alfred Thayer Mahan’s transformative book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (1890) within a decade or so of publication. China took no note until 1957 when the first translation appeared. Now, China is uncritically rushing to embrace Mahan’s ideas, much refuted, discussed and refined in the interim, without being clear on whether they are appropriate.