Trade, the Sea Prohibition and the “Folangji” 123
There are several points in this account that require clariβication. The
βirst matter is the date of the Portuguese “raid”. December 27, 1547
was the date when the Court βinally made a decision about Censor Jin’s
impeachment of the military ofβicers and instructed him to arrest the
accused. Considering the time required for Censor Jin’s investigation, the
transmission of his memorial and the deliberations by the Court, the raid
could not have taken place later than November. From mid-November,
Zhu Wan was in Zhangzhou. Throughout December and the beginning
of the New Year, he remained in the Quan-Zhang region of southern
Fujian where he conducted a successful military campaign against the
“mountain bandits” in Tong’an.^118 In early February, Zhu Wan “had made
his way as far as Xinghua”,^119 a short distance from Quanzhou. He would
certainly have mentioned the “Portuguese raid” had it occurred during
his presence in the area.
The incident is more likely to have occurred towards the end of the
trading season in September‒October, when the Portuguese were about
to return south on the northeast monsoon.^120 Soon after taking up his new
appointment, Zhu Wan might have decided to begin his tour of duty in
southern Fujian before heading north to his headquarters in Hangzhou in
Zhejiang, in view of the urgency of the matter, it must have been reported
to him before his arrival.
The victory claimed by Inspecting Censor Jin Cheng is also puzzling.
A passage in Zhangzhou fuchi (Gazetteer of Zhangzhou Prefecture) clearly
states:
- MSL: SZ, 336: lb‒2a.
- Higgins, “Piracy”, p. 180.
- Zhu Wan said in a memorial, that was probably written during his sojourn
in southern Fujian sometime after mid-November, that the Portuguese sent
two ships for repair openly at an offshore island during mid-August to mid-
September when they were rounding up their trade for the season (MJSWB,
205/1 :7a). The passage did not mention the clash. But placing the date after his
departure from south Fujian, as suggested by Roland Higgins (“Piracy”, p. 177),
does not seem to leave enough time for the memorial to reach the Court and be
deliberated prior to the Court decision on December 27. It is also unlikely that
the Portuguese would have stayed so long after the conclusion of the trading
season, as noted above. Zhu did not mention the “raid” probably because the
ofβicial-in-charge, Inspecting Censor Jin Cheng, had already memorialized the
Court. It was improper for him to interfere with the matter since a Court ruling
was pending. In 1549, for example, when Fujian Inspecting Censor Yang Jiuze
reported to the Court on the victory over the Portuguese, he was reprimanded
and demoted two grades by the Court because he transgressed the authority
of Inspector-General (formerly Min-Zhe Coastal Defense Superintendent) Zhu
Wan, who was handling the case (MSL: SZ, 347: 4b).