Boundaries-Prelims.indd

(Tuis.) #1

Maritime Frontiers, Territorial Expansion and Haifang 71


(baihu so) that were actively involved in coastal defense. In 1369, a Ming
expedition was sent by the founding emperor to capture Guangdong from
a contesting force. After the paciβication of the region, the weiso defense
system was established along the coast. For this purpose the Guangdong
coast was divided into three sectors. In the western sector bordering
Annam, 3 wei and 11 so were built; the central sector consisted of 3 wei
and 6 so; and the eastern sector had 2 wei and 8 so. Qiongzhou (Hainan)
was considered to be located in isolation “beyond the seas” (haiwai) and
therefore it formed a separate brigade. Under the weiso system, farm
lands were given to military colonists to make them self-supporting.
Beacon-mounds were constructed in order to send warning signals from
one to the other along the coast.^51
To prepare for Wo attacks in the Fujian seas (Minhai), in 1387 Dukes
Tang He and Zhou Dexing were sent by the court to investigate maritime
conditions. Subsequently the unstable condition led to the establishment
of 5 garrisons and 12 military stations along the Fujian coast, at the
suggestion of Zhou Dexing. Itinerant inspectors (xunsi) were appointed
to patrol the areas not covered by the weiso units and war junks were
stationed at the three marine palisades of Fenghuo (in Funing), Nanri
(in Putian) and Wuyu (in Tong’an). During the Jingtai Reign (1450‒56),
2 additional marine palisades, each guarded by 40 patrol boats, were
constructed at Xiao Cheng in Lianjiang and Tongshan in Zhangpu.
However, by 1500, a long period of peace and the absence of any Wo
troubles for some time led to the abolition of such military installations.
Sixty years later, in 1563, when a recurring outbreak of Wo attacks
was at its peak, Governor Tan Lun recommended the appointment of a
brigade-general and three lieutenant-colonels to strengthen the coastal
defenses.^52 By the late Ming, there were 11 garrisons, 14 military stations
and 15 patrol inspectorships in Fujian.^53 The density of the concentration
gives a good indication of Fujian’s strategic position in the coastal defense
against the Wo and later the Dutch.^54 Quanzhou prefecture alone had a
coastline of 300 li and, as a center of maritime trade, it was vulnerable to
attacks by foreign mariners. Stretched along its coast, the most strategic
locations were Chongwu to the east of Hui’an, Liaole to its south and



  1. Du Zhen 杜臻 (1633–1703), Yue-Min xunshi jilue 粤閩巡视記略 [A brief account
    of inspecting Guangdong and Fujian] (hereafter YMXSJL), 1: 10b–12a.

  2. Ibid., 4: lb–2a; also TXJGLBS, 26: 129b–130a.

  3. Dong Yingjü 董應舉, Chongxiang ji xuanlu 崇相集選錄 (hereafter CXJXL), in
    TWWXCK, no. 237, pp. 135, 137.

  4. QCHJTS, in TWWXCK, no. 155, pp. 11–2.

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