Gentry-Merchants and Peasant-Peddlers 255
Zhangzhou people were active participants.^53 In order to cope with the
existing conditions and keep an eye on the increasing maritime activity
in 1567, the Ming government decided to elevate the status of the port
to that of district with the name Haicheng. Thereafter, until the fall of the
Ming dynasty, it remained the most prosperous seaport in Fujian.^54
An overview of how serious the Wo (real/disguised) problem was
in South Fujian during the Jiajing period is shown by the recorded raids
below:^55 565758
Year Destination Pirates’ Identity
1532 Weitou local pirates^56
1540 Zhang & Quan Fujianese pirate leader Li
Guangtou escaped from jail
and was active thereafter
1548 Tong’an, Hui’an & Jinjiang local pirates
1549 Yuiegang Wokou
1550 Yongchun & Anchi Wokou^57
1555 Quanzhou Wokou
1556 Yuegang, Quanzhou wei,
Zhangpu & Zhao’anlocal pirates led by Xie Lao;
Wokou
1557 Yuegang local pirates led by Xu Lao, Xie
Ce and others
Wuyu, Tong’an, Hui’an &
Nan’anWokouZhao’an Wokou^58
1558 Hui’an, Nan’an, Zhao’an,
Zhangpu & Quanzhou fuWokou- Quanzhou fuzhi (1870 ed.), 73: 27a.
- Song Yingxing 宋應星, Tiangong kaiwu 天工開物 [The exploitation of the works
of nature] (1637 ed.), juan 2, “On Transports”, p. 5b; it runs: “Fujianese people
sailed from Haicheng”. - Sources are drawn from Fujian tongzhi (1871 ed.), juan 278 unless otherwise
indicated. - Quanzhou fu-chih (1870 ed.), 73: 21b.
- Ibid., 73: 23b.
- Gu Yanwu, TXJGLBS, Vol. 26, 133a.
(cont’d overleaf)