134 Boundaries and Beyond
From 1370, three designated ports, namely: Ningbo, Quanzhou
(Fuzou from 1469)^161 and Guangzhou, were opened for tributary trade.
Ningbo was to trade with Japan, Quanzhou (later Fuzhou) with Liuqiu
and Guangzhou with all other countries from the south. The Maritime
Trade and Shipping Supervisorates were instituted in these ports to
regulate the arrival of overseas tribute ships (gongbo) and the trading
ships (shibo) that accompanied each tribute mission. Tributary states
were allowed to bring along local products and trade through authorized
agents (yahang). As a Ming ofβicial observed, “when there were tribute
ships, there was also interchange of trade (hushi). It is clear that those
who did not arrive as tribute missions would not be allowed to trade.”^162
Under the regulations, whenever a tribute mission arrived in its
designated port, the envoy went through the prescribed ceremonies or
else proceeded to the imperial capital. His retinue, many of whom would
have been merchants, was allowed to engage in trade at the port under
supervision during the sojourn of the mission. The number of tribute
vessels and personnel and the frequency of visits were βixed in accordance
with the degree of intimacy of that country with China. Private merchants
who did not come with a tribute mission were prohibited from engaging
in trade and anyone who communicated with them could be punished
by death. However, the strict regulations had seldom been followed by
the port ofβicials, particularly when eunuchs, many of whom abused
their power and were corrupt, were appointed regional affairs overseers.
Lured by the prospect of substantial proβits, people in high ofβice or
from powerful families colluded with foreign visitors in semi-legal or
illicit trade.
Although the Ming government inherited the Supervisorate institution
from its predecessors, it introduced far reaching changes in the functions
of the institution. During Song-Yuan times, as the name of the ofβice
suggests, the three Maritime Trade and Shipping Supervisorates in
Guangzhou, Quanzhou, and Ningbo administered Chinese and foreign
trading ships, managed customs affairs, purchased foreign products and
received tribute envoys.^163 During the Ming era, when the sea prohibition
was imposed and private trade disallowed, the Supervisorates no longer
managed maritime (private) trade (haishi), but their duties were limited
to receiving tribute ships and the restricted number of trading ships
- Gao Qi 高岐, Fujian shibo tijusi zhi 福建市舶提举司志 [Gazetteer of the Fujian
Maritime Trade and Shipping Supervisorate] (1555), lb. - Chouhai tubian, 12: 110a, in [WYG]SKQS, Vol, 584, p. 399.
- The duties of managing both private and tributary trade during Song-Yuan
times are stressed in Gao Qi, Fujian shihbo tijusi, 2b, 6a‒b.
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