Japanese pirates, the lies of a dynasty

Japanese pirates, the lie of a dynasty

There has been a long history of "Japanese pirates" along the coast of Zhejiang, which is considered to be "a Japanese pirate attack on the coast of China during the Ming Dynasty" aggression". However, under the cover of hundreds of years of orthodox historical views, many historical facts also reveal a glimmer of light that cannot be concealed - the so-called "Japanese pirates" are actually a group of Chinese maritime merchants who have been misunderstood, and in their concealed Behind the identity and destiny lies the confrontation, struggle and defeat between China's once-strong civilian maritime power and the farming dynasty...

Historical fog in the museum

The Zhoushan Islands in Zhejiang are due to There are many islands and good harbors, and they are at the center of many Chinese and foreign routes. It has become one of the areas where the conflict between China's private maritime power and the farming dynasty has been most intense. Many so-called "ships" have been left in places such as Shuangyu, Putuo, Ligang and Cengang. "Anti-Japanese" ruins. To this day, those Chinese merchants who once fought for the freedom of maritime trade are still regarded as "Japanese pirates", and the "smoke-filled, red sea" battles they fought with officers and soldiers can be seen in the local museum. It is still described as a foreign invasion that was finally defeated by "national heroes". Photography/Yuan Rongsun

Zhoushan Shuangyu Port, the destruction of the "World Trade Center" 500 years ago

In the midwinter of 2011, I came to Liuheng Island in Zhoushan, Zhejiang, and the construction speed was changing with each passing day. Compared with the main island of Zhoushan, this place is cold and remote, and the cold wind from the sea seems to blow through the bones. There is a village named Zhangqi located in the mountain col. The fields in winter are decayed and empty, with only sporadic green remaining.

Traveling nearly a thousand kilometers to come here is to pursue a long-standing legend. More than 500 years ago, this place had a name that was famous both at home and abroad - Shuangyu Port. According to historical records, Chinese and foreign merchant ships gathered here, and silver rolled in. It was called "Shanghai in the 16th century" by historians.

However, when I talked to the female taxi driver on the island about Shuangyu, she knew nothing about it. She only understood when it came to the Japanese pirates: "I heard that there used to be many on the island." This does not mean that Blame her, because during the most prosperous years of Shuangyu Port, it encountered an extremely brutal suppression and persecution. In the twenty-seventh year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty (1548), Zhu Wan, the right deputy capital censor of the Ming Dynasty, dispatched more than 2,000 people. Officers and soldiers went straight to Shuangyu Port. In the wind, rain and sea fog, Shuangyu merchants were caught off guard, and the officers and soldiers won a great victory. After the war, Zhu Wan ordered all the houses on the shore and ships in the harbor to be burned, and blocked the entry channel with sunken ships, wood and rocks, etc., and implemented the "Three Lights", which turned the "World Trade Center" into ruins. After that, during the long maritime ban period of Ming and Qing Dynasties, this place was just an empty island. It was not until the Kangxi period of Qing Dynasty that immigrants moved here. At that time, Shuangyu Port, which had been silted for more than a hundred years, had turned into a low-lying valley and was opened up as fields and ponds. The port, which was once famous at home and abroad, was left with an empty place name. To this day, its specific location is still controversial. .

A map of the area infested by Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty

From the map of the area infested by "Japanese pirates" in the Ming Dynasty, we can see that the area infested by so-called "Japanese pirates" was extremely wide and went deep into the interior. To be more fair, the Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty, especially the Japanese pirates in the Jiajing period, were a fierce popular uprising and huge turmoil along China's coast triggered by the brutal maritime ban, rather than a war of "foreign enemy invasion".

The passing glory of Dagang

The port on Liuheng Island is simple and deserted, making it difficult to imagine its prosperity more than 500 years ago - at that time, the port was born here that was famous at home and abroad. The Shuangyu Port is suspended in the ocean. It has an advantageous geographical location, surrounded by mountains and sea, making it easy for ships to enter and exit in a concealed manner. It once became the largest and most prosperous maritime international free trade port in Asia. However, under the brutal maritime ban of the Ming Dynasty, this "World Trade Center" eventually disappeared, leaving only a glorious period in the history books. Photography/Yuan Rongsun

This tragic battle at Shuangyu Port is one of the most famous "anti-Japanese" battles recorded in mainstream historical records. It is like an anchor, thrown deeply into the sea of ??years of "Japanese troubles" in the Ming Dynasty. No important traceability can bypass it. As for this long war, the orthodox historical view defines it as: a foreign invasion war led by Japanese pirates, which lasted almost throughout the entire Ming Dynasty in time, and started from Liaodong in the north to Leizhou and Hainan in Guangdong in the south. throughout China's coastal provinces.