242ĈčĆĕęĊė 8
Gentry-Merchants and Peasant-Peddlers
in Offshore Trading Activities, 1522‒66:
A Story of the “Little People” (2)
The Maritime Past
As early as the twelfth century in the South Song era (Ćĉ 1127‒1279),
Quanzhou had arisen as the most important port for foreign trade and as
a major shipbuilding center. The prosperity of Quanzhou coincided with
that of Guangzhou in the south and of Mingzhou (later called Ningbo) in
Zhejiang in the north. After the Jin state had occupied northern China,
the land routes to the west were totally sealed off. Consequently, all the
tribute-and-trade missions came to China by sea and maritime trade
naturally became an essential part of the national economy. Nevertheless,
despite the government’s beneβicent attitude toward maritime trade,
private participation was made punishable by branding on the face, exile
to desert areas inland or assignment to corvée. Broadly speaking, this
trading policy was continued by the Yuan and the early Ming governments.
In its golden age during Song-Yuan times, Quanzhou served the political
and economic purposes of the country rather than the socioeconomic
needs of the locality. Politically, it was a port of call for foreign tributary
missions and, economically, a port for the collection of customs duties
and for state trade. Despite the state’s strong grip on it, Quanzhou also
became the home port for some South Fujianese traders who sailed their
ships to Southeast Asia. Some even emigrated and established probably
the βirst permanent Chinese settlements in that part of the world. During
the Yuan, more than a few Fujianese from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou
settled in Tuban, East Java.^1 Ironic ally, one early overseas settlement in
- Li Changfu 李长傅, Zhongguo zhimin shi 中國殖民史 [History of Chinese
overseas colonization] (reprint; Taipei: The Commercial Press, 1966), p. 74.
During Zheng He’s overseas expeditions, people from these two prefectures
were still numerous. See Ma Huan 馬歡, Yingyai shenglan jiaozhu 瀛涯勝覽校注
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