Trade, the Sea Prohibition and the “Folangji” 139
the view of the Censorate that tribute missions should continue to be
received in accordance with the Supervisorate regulations.^183
Although smuggling involving the Chinese and their foreign
collaborators was rampant for the next decade and a half, the Court
seemed to have been principally concerned with more immediate threats
along the northern border and consequently the rules of maritime trade
were no longer strictly observed. Moreover, the Court’s dependence on
foreign maritime merchants for supplies of spices and aromatic wood
made it imperative to allow the arrival of the foreign merchants. The
following entry in the Ming shilu indicates the demand of the Court for
such foreign goods:
The palace storehouse sent a communication to the Board of
Revenue hastening the delivery for palace consumption of fragrant
wood including seven thousand catties of gharuwood, sixty
thousand catties of top-quality lakwood, twelve thousand catties
of chensu xiang (xiang means fragrant wood), thirty thousand
catties of su xiang, ten thousand catties of haitian xiang and thirty
thousand catties of huangsu xiang. The Board of Revenue requested
a reduction in the quantity so that these could be made available
by purchase. The Emperor rejected the appeal and ordered the
purchase of the required quantity. The Board was also told that the
Guangdong authorities should be pressed for speedy delivery.^184By the early sixteenth century, the practice of storing spices for
personal consumption and probably also for resale had become
widespread among ofβicial or prominent families. When the Zhengde
Emperor, for example, ordered the conβiscation of the property of a high-
ranking ofβicial named Zhu Ning in 1519, three thousand cases of pepper
were found among his valuables.^185 Even more signiβicantly, foreign
merchandise had been allocated to ofβicials in Guangdong in lieu of their
monthly emoluments.^186 The government as well as the society at large
competed for the supply of spices and aromatic wood. To ensure supplies
of these items for the palace, there was a ban on the private trading of
- Ibid., 118: 2b‒3a. A fuller version of Wang Xiwen‘s memorial is available in
Dongguan xianzhi 東莞縣志 [Gazetteer of Dongguan District], comp. Chen
Botao 陳伯陶編撰 (reprint; Taipei: Hsueh-sheng shu-chu, 1968; orig. 1911),
58: 4b‒5a. - MSL: SZ, 361: 3b. Although the entry is dated July 12, 1550, it gives a very
good description of the Court’s demand for such supplies during the period in
general. - Ibid., 180: 3a.
- Ming shi, juan 325, “Folangji”, p. 8432.