Maritime Frontiers, Territorial Expansion and Haifang 67
tribute to China since the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han.”^31 Yue Shi of
the Song Dynasty also mentions the Nanhai states, describing them as
“countries beyond the frontiers” (jiaowai zhuguo). They numbered more
than 30.^32
During the early Ming, the founding emperor, Taizu (Hongwu,
r. 1368‒98), designated the countries in the east and the Nanhai, including
Korea, Japan, Liuqiu (Ryukyu), Xiao Liuqiu (Lesser Ryukyu), Annam,
Champa, Cambodia, Siam, Sumatra, Java, Pahang and Borneo, as countries
“not to be invaded” because they were separated by mountains and seas
and located faraway, “hidden in a corner”. As long as they continued to act
peacefully toward China, they should be left alone.^33 Despite the fact that
they were designated “tributary countries”, this imperial injunction was
the clearest declaration that they were considered independent states.^34
The incompatibility between the imperial rhetoric and reality
can also be deduced from the term waiguo (foreign countries), used
interchangeably with “tributary countries”. It appears in two standard
dynastic histories, the Jiu wudai shi (Former standard history of the Five
Dynasties) and the Song shi (Standard dynastic history of the Song).
The latter was compiled under the Yuan and completed in 1345. Among
the countries to the east and south mentioned in it are Korea, Jiaozhi
(Annam), Champa, Zhenla (Cambodia), Pagan (in Burma), Srivijaya, Java,
Borneo, Liuqiu and Japan.
By Qing times, the Chinese perception of the maritime frontiers had
become a mix of rhetoric and reality. Gu Yanwu, for example, states that
the China coast began where Guangdong bordered Annam and ended
at the Yalu River bordering Korea.^35 Another Qing text published in the
early eighteenth century gives a detailed description of the maritime
boundaries that covered seven provinces from Liaodong to Guangdong.
Among the three most strategic maritime provinces, namely: Guangdong,
Fujian and Zhejiang, it said that Fujian held the key to the maritime
frontier. The most strategic offshore islands included Nan’ao (between
Guangdong and Fujian), Jinmen, Amoy, Haitan and Zhoushan. Hainan,
the Penghu Islands (Pescadores) and Taiwan were considered territories
located in the Outer Sea (waihai). Aomen (Macao) is listed among the
“foreign countries”. As the text explains, Aomen was “where the people
- Ibid., 3: 13b–14a, 5: 12b.
- TPHYZ, 176: la–2a.
- For the quotes, see Ming hui dian 明會典 [Collected administrative statutes of
the Ming Dynasty] (1509), 96: 9a–10b. - Ibid., 96: 3b–4a; and DQYTZ (1764), juan 421–424.
- TXJGLBS, 26: la, 3a.