78 Boundaries and Beyond
1832‒34. It covers a wide range of maritime issues such as personnel,
revenue and expenses, strategies (including entries onto sea routes,
tides, shipbuilding administration, βirearms and arsenals for weaponry),
extermination versus paciβication, preventing intruders from gaining
access to local supply lines, espionage, training exercises, patrolling and
seizing, the military administration, an overview of military developments
beginning with the weiso system of the Ming, the construction of beacon-
mounds, forts and the recent multiplication of such installations, the
tithing system for law and order in ports and harbors, management of
foreigners, considerate treatment of foreigners using the tributary trade
to win their hearts (huairou) and prevent trouble and, lastly, a review of
the military affairs of the Ming to Qing as a mirror of the past.^76 There
is no question that coastal defense formed one of the key issues in the
writings on statecraft during the Ming-Qing periods.
The Offshore Islands: Expansion and Evolution
of the Haifang Concept
Closely linked to the concern about coastal defense was the integration
of the offshore islands into the defense networks. The imperial
governments paid great attention to the role of the strategic islands in
security matters. The following discussion highlights the importance of
these locations.
Nan’ao. No discussion of coastal defenses on the southeast coast during
late imperial times could possibly overlook Nan’ao. This strategically
important island is situated just off the Fujian-Guangdong border. It
had been a notorious bandit refuge since the early Ming. Around 1561,
the pirate chiefs Xu Chaoguang, Zeng Yiben, Lin Daoqian and Wu Ping
launched their attacks on the Fujian-Guangdong coast from their bases
on the island. It required the joint efforts of the two provincial authorities
to suppress the pirate gangs.^77 This turbulent background explains the
peculiar and rare administrative status of the island that was placed
under a joint provincial jurisdiction. In 1576, at the proposal of Governor
Liu Yaohui, the Xuanzhong patrol unit (you) was moved to Nan’ao, some
30 li away, putting it under the jurisdiction of a commandant accorded
the additional title of inspector (xing duzhihui) to bolster his authority.
His immediate superior was the deputy-brigade-general of Zhangzhou
- GDHFHL, introduction, la–6a.
- TXJGLBS, 26: 132a.
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