The Causes and Consequences of Maritime Prohibition in Ming and Qing Dynasties

The whole story of maritime prohibitions in Ming and Qing dynasties

Strict maritime ban was a basic national policy in the middle and early Ming Dynasty. Beginning in the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang imposed a maritime ban and took effective measures. People are not allowed to go to the sea except for the imperial court's foreign exchanges by sea. The imperial edict is extremely strict. In December of the 4th year of Hongwu (137 1), it was announced that "seamen were still prohibited from going to sea privately", and in October of the 14th year of Hongwu (138 1), it was ordered that "seamen were prohibited from contacting overseas countries". [2] In the seventeenth year of Hongwu (1384), in the first month, "Ren Xu" was ordered to inspect coastal cities in Zhejiang and Fujian, and people were forbidden to go fishing in the sea. Private goods are bartered ",and the imperial edicts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as" coastal resident officials can order private businessmen to be punished ",[4] in the first month of the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu (1394), and" offshore people often trade private goods, but because they lure barbarians into stealing, they are forbidden to dare to have private contacts. "

Judy, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, sent Zheng He to the Western Ocean six times after he ascended the throne, but he continued to carry out the policy of sea ban, just like in Hongwu period. When Judy acceded to the throne, she learned that "sailors and others often went to the sea for foreign exchanges privately in recent years" and immediately ordered them to be banned from going to the sea, "following the example of Hong Wu." [6] During Zheng He's voyage to the West, Yan Hang's maritime ban remained unchanged, and it was not until Qin Long's reign that the maritime ban policy was implemented for 200 years that it was adjusted. Private overseas trade, especially the trade between China and western countries, presents an unprecedented scene. Zhou Qiyuan, a Fujian native who used to be the governor of Yingtian, praised: "When I was in Musi, in addition to selling foreign laws, the five parties were the best and the water country was the best." And trade money, carefree for hundreds of thousands of years, is almost the south bank of the son of heaven. [7] Obviously, after the opening of the sea, people's trade activities in Southeast Asian countries are extremely active, and public interests depend on it, which is extremely beneficial to the country, the government and people's livelihood.

However, the good times of opening the civil maritime ban did not last long. "In the twenty years of Wanli (1592), Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea, and China's coastal defense was tight. The Ming court banned the sea in the following year. At the end of Wanli, the coastal defense of Ming Dynasty was increasingly lax, and the sea lanes were not peaceful. As the Portuguese and Dutch came to the east, they crossed the ocean and looted ships. For the sake of coastal defense security, the Ming dynasty once again went to court. [8] In this way, it was actually less than 50 years before and after the opening of the maritime ban in Qin Long in the Ming Dynasty, and the prosperity of private maritime trade in the southeast coast was short-lived. Under the control of the Ming dynasty's maritime ban policy and the intrusion of eastern Europeans, it once again entered the depression of overseas trade.

At the beginning of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Qing court did not help the sea at first, but later, in order to prevent coastal people from supporting anti-Qing forces through maritime activities, the sea ban was implemented, and it was more severe than that of the Ming Dynasty. In June of the 12th year of Shunzhi (16655), coastal provinces were ordered not to sail out to sea, and offenders were severely punished. [9] In the 18th year of Shunzhi (65655), coastal residents in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Shandong and other provinces were forced to move inward for 30 to 50 miles respectively, and were forbidden to cross the border. Until the rebellion of San Francisco was pacified in the 20th year of Kangxi (168 1), Taiwan Province province was pacified in the 22nd year of Kangxi (1684), and the Qing court opened its maritime ban from 23rd to 25th. It is an all-round opening to the sea, not only in the East and the West, but also in the scope of opening to Japan, which is much larger than the partial opening to the sea during the Qin Long period of the Ming Dynasty. However, after only 30 years, the policy of comprehensive opening to the sea began to shrink. Confronted with the increasingly serious pirate activities and the potential threat of western forces in East Asian waters, the South Sea Maritime Ban in the 55th year of Kangxi (17 15438) was undoubtedly a serious blow to China's growing private foreign trade forces. In the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727), Yongzheng was worried that the foreign ban in Fujian and Guangdong would cause a shipwreck, so he agreed to cancel the maritime ban in Nanyang and then open four trading ports in Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. "But in the twenty-second year of Qianlong (1757), the emperor of the Qing Dynasty ordered the closure of Jiangsu and Zhejiang customs. The export volume of traditional commodities such as silk and tea is strictly restricted, and the overseas trade of China merchant ships is also prohibited. This is what people usually call the closed-door policy. [10] Since then, the policy of closing the country to the outside world has become more severe. Until the Opium War broke out, this unreasonable policy became the focus of contradictions.

Second, the reasons for the formation of the maritime ban policy in Ming and Qing Dynasties

From the Ming and Qing Dynasties to the early Qing Dynasty, to be precise, the period from the discovery of European geography in the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the opium war in the Qing Dynasty was an era when western European capital mainly rose and expanded to the world, which triggered a great change in the traditional political structure of the world. In this era, those countries that compete for sea power and attach importance to commerce and maritime trade. For example, early Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands and later Britain all made their way to a world power in this way. On the other hand, China, an ancient civilization in the world, didn't have the navigation technology and the internal motivation to develop maritime trade at that time, but in this period, it went against the trend of the times and stuck to the coast. What are the reasons for the conservative main policy of prohibiting overseas trade in some periods?

(A) the continuation of China's feudal policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business.

The policy of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining commerce" is China's traditional systematic economic thought, which was put forward in the pre-Qin and Warring States periods. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, this thought was believed and implemented by the rulers of past dynasties, and became a basic national policy in the feudal historical era of China. In the late feudal period, although industry and commerce played an increasingly important role in social and economic life, the traditional thought of despising commerce was challenged. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the idea of "industry and commerce as the foundation" was put forward. However, the dominant position of the idea of building the country by agriculture and emphasizing agriculture over commerce has not changed. Under the traditional thought of despising business, business can not be strongly advocated, nor can it be too developed to impact the industry. This thought was deeply rooted in the feudal era of China, and this traditional thought and policy proposition of attaching importance to agriculture and neglecting commerce ran counter to the ideological trend of other western countries at that time. Mercantilism, the mainstream economic thought popular in western Europe after the geographical discovery, has been emphasized by major maritime countries, emphasizing the importance of commodity circulation and precious metal import to national prosperity. Without exception, the power of state power is used to actively support the development of overseas business. The colonial trade between Portugal and Spain, the era of "sea coachman" in the Netherlands and the establishment of "no empire" in Britain were all promoted by mercantilism and national policies. In such an era, the feudal dynasty of China in Ming and Qing dynasties still sang the old tune of "strengthening the foundation and restraining the end". Of course, it is impossible to expect them to implement an active overseas trade policy.

(2) The arrogance of the feudal rulers in China.

The traditional concept of "Hua Yi" is also an important reason for the conservative overseas policy in Ming and Qing Dynasties. The concept of "Hua Yi" is to treat the surrounding world and other ethnic groups with China as the center. A political and cultural mentality that Chinese civilization is superior to other nationalities. Think of yourself as the center of the world and think that local civilization is higher than other civilizations in the world. This traditional view of "Hua Yi" blocked the feudal rulers' vision of the overseas world and hindered the formation of the concept of sea power. The long-term evolution of this thought has also led to the formation of the traditional concept of "heaven is above the country" and the emergence of a set of related ways and norms to deal with oneself and the outside world.

In this traditional concept of "Hua Yi", China, a "state of ethics", is the center of the world and a "heaven". The emperor of China, as the "son of heaven", ruled the world according to his destiny. "Under the sky, is the land of kings? Territory, is it a king? " [1 1] Outside the area directly ruled by Emperor China, it is a "barbarian" land, and its civilization cannot be compared with that of China. However, Emperor China was "respected everywhere". The "barbarians" eager for enlightenment are willing to associate with China, and China has always been willing to accept them and establish a vassal relationship with them. Emperor China granted them titles to gain legal sovereignty over their land, and they paid tribute to Emperor China to show their obedience. The highest ideal of China, the ancient emperor, for the world political order was to establish a unified world with himself as the master of the world, foreign guests serving the world and thousands of people coming to Korea.

The concept of "Hua Yi" distinguishes China from foreigners and focuses on maintaining China's own internal ruling order. In the view of feudal rulers in China, the internal ruling order of China as a state of ethics, that is, monarch and minister, father and son, husband and wife, nobility and inferiority, and a set of patriarchal feudal hierarchy and customs based on Confucian tradition, is sacred and inviolable. These are not available to uneducated foreigners. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary and unambiguous to draw a clear line between China and foreign countries in order to avoid foreign influence on the ruling order of China. "Beware of foreigners" is the rule that China feudal rulers always follow in their foreign exchanges. Its purpose is to maintain China's "regulations" and "rules". It also fully reveals the introversion and conservatism of foreign policy.

(3) by isolating the people from the outside world, to stabilize the autocratic rule.

Formulating policies and maintaining the security of its own rule has always been the primary goal of any regime. The sea ban was one of Zhu Yuanzhang's measures to resist Japanese invasion. In the early days of Ming Taizu, it was impossible to avoid the sea. Hongwu four years (137 1), December. "No-frequency sea people are not allowed to go out to sea privately." [12] The direct cause was the Japanese invasion, and the negotiations with Japan were fruitless. At the same time, it was also because Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng, which had been cornered at that time, still occupied the island, colluded with the Japanese and plundered Haizhou County from time to time, posing a threat to the newly established Ming regime. Prohibit nationals from going to sea. Cut off the contact between the former enemy headquarters in Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen and the coastal residents, and cut off their support. It will be difficult to survive at sea, and it will certainly fail. The maritime ban also makes it difficult for criminals who want to go to sea to collude with the Japanese pirates. Therefore, whether it is to defend the enemy, or to eliminate the remnants of Zhang and Fang, to prevent the enemy from being tempted. At that time, banning the sea was one of the desirable ways. On the other hand, in the mid-Ming Dynasty, various contradictions were sharp, social unrest, government affairs were corrupt, eunuchs fought endlessly with cabinet parties for exclusive rights, and national military equipment was abandoned. At the same time, the foreign invasion of "invading the north and invading the south" is becoming more and more serious. Internal and external factors made it more difficult for the Ming Dynasty to pursue an active and extroverted overseas policy.

Banning or even "moving the sea" in the early Qing dynasty was first a political decision made by the newly established Qing regime in order to make itself survive. From the first year of Shunzhi (1644) to the twenty-second year of Kangxi (1683). The Qing dynasty implemented a stricter policy of sea ban than the Ming dynasty, which was an extraordinary measure taken from the political and military situation at that time. In the 13th year of Shunzhi (1656), 18th year of Shunzhi (16) and 4th year of Kangxi (1665), the Qing court repeatedly banned Chinese businessmen from overseas trade. Its main purpose is to try to stop the anti-Qing forces in the southeast coastal islands. In his later years, Kangxi banned Nanyang trade for 22 years, and only allowed Guangzhou trade. The direct starting point of these policies is also political security considerations. After the mid-Qianlong period, Britain, a rising star of western European colonial countries, experienced a transformation from primitive accumulation to industrial revolution, which was completed in the first half of the19th century, and its economic strength was greatly enhanced. Britain, backed by gunboats, made every effort to explore overseas markets, and its influence and threat to China far exceeded that of early Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and other colonial pioneers. At the same time, the Qing Dynasty is in the stage of prosperity and decline, and the rulers' primary task is to deal with the domestic ruling crisis, unable to guard against external threats, let alone expect them to implement active and effective overseas policies.

(D) The influence of China's own market distribution structure.

The economic base determines the superstructure, which is an inviolable law for state rulers of any nature. Economically, first of all, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, although the domestic commodity economy in China had a new development and reached an unprecedented level compared with that in the Song Dynasty, some economic sectors also had the seeds of capitalism. But as far as the overall economic development at that time was concerned, it was still a traditional economy dominated by self-sufficient small-scale peasant economy. The development of independent handicrafts separated from agriculture is limited, and commerce still mainly plays a role in regulating the surplus and deficiency between small producers and regions in the whole national economic system, that is, the so-called "monetary wealth" Whether in the Ming Dynasty or the Qing Dynasty, commercial agriculture, independent handicrafts and commerce only developed in some areas, especially in the southeast coastal areas. Only in these places are the seeds of capitalism sparse. At that time, the demand for overseas trade mainly came from coastal provinces with overseas trade traditions and relatively developed commodity economy. On the whole, the economic development in most parts of the country has not produced such a strong demand. Because of this, in the Ming Dynasty and the early Qing Dynasty, whenever there was a policy debate on whether to implement the sea ban in the imperial court, most of the opposing voices came from Xinjiang officials in coastal provinces and officials in coastal areas. The voice of overseas trade is difficult and cannot be supported by public opinion. For these people, their focus is only on their own interests, and it is impossible to understand the role of overseas trade in the country in a more positive sense like western mercantilists.

Secondly, China is a big country with complete economic categories and a vast internal market, and the required products can basically be supplied at home. Limited dependence on external commodities, such as raw silk, tea, porcelain, etc. At the same time, there is also a vast domestic market, not without overseas markets. The industries that produce these products cannot survive. Aside from the great influence of overseas trade on regions, some production departments and related populations, the influence of overseas trade is still extremely weak as far as the national economy as a whole and most regions and populations are concerned, and it only plays a supplementary role in the operation of the national economy. In a word, the self-sufficient nature of China's economy and its vast domestic market enabled China to be independent of overseas markets, which in turn provided an objective material basis for the feudal rulers' closed-door policy.

(E) the impact of tax policies

Taxation is the normal means and rules of business behavior, so is foreign trade taxation, which is one of the important sources of financial revenue at home and abroad. However, under the historical conditions of social development at home and abroad at that time, taxation was not only an economic behavior or economic interaction, but also a conscious or unconscious political means or regime behavior, or an additive for rulers to maintain the normal operation of state machinery. Therefore, the operation of commercial taxation inevitably has a strong political or political color. "During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the foreign trade business tax borne by Guangdong, Fujian and Haishang Group can be mainly divided into two parts: one part was collected by the central and local governments during the Ming and Qing Dynasties; The other part is taxed by overseas governments or western colonial rulers. " [13] Overseas countries, mainly Southeast Asia, their political rulers and western colonists often have to rely on maritime trade to maintain their economic lifeline during the rule and colonial expansion in Southeast Asia. Among them, the collection of commercial tax on maritime trade is the most important source of income. Doing so will inevitably harm the interests of the rulers of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In order to safeguard their own rule and interests, the rulers of Ming and Qing dynasties could not allow their own financial resources to flow into the hands of others, so they would inevitably implement the policy of closing the sea.

Historical consequences of the policy of banning the three seas.

When the early colonial countries in western Europe began to expand overseas at the end of 15 and the beginning of 16, China was still an advanced country in the world in politics, economy, military affairs, science and technology and culture. Because of its huge scale, vast territory, large population and unified political power, China's overall strength at that time was far greater than that of western countries that had just set sail from Europe. However, history shows that I think we should treat this historical fact dialectically and evaluate the effect of the maritime ban policy in this period in two stages.

In the first stage, from15th century to 1780, the feudal policy of the Ming and Qing dynasties had certain historical inevitability at that time, which mainly played a role in protecting the national economy and resisting aggression and plunder. In the early Ming dynasty, the policy of sea ban was always implemented as a measure to resist the Japanese pirates. As far as Zhu Yuanzhang is concerned, there is a certain reason for his implementation of the sea ban, that is, just after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the coastal areas have not yet been opened. In order to consolidate his political power, Zhu Yuanzhang must take measures to combat and destroy the Japanese invaders and Zhang and Zhang who invaded the coastal areas. Otherwise, he can't defend the new regime, protect people's lives and property, and restore the riddled economy destroyed by the war. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang's sea ban policy of consolidating political power is indeed reasonable and cannot be completely denied.

In the second stage, from 1780 to 1840, the sea ban policy in this period mainly hindered and destroyed the social and economic development of China, mainly in three aspects:

First of all, the sea ban policy in this period directly hindered and delayed the budding development of capitalism, which made China lag behind the social system for a whole era. The policy of closing the door to the sea is essentially the product of natural economy in feudal society. In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the policy of moving the sea and forbidding the sea was particularly strict, and there was an order that "sails were not allowed to enter the sea". In the twenty-fourth year of Kangxi (1685), although the maritime ban was once opened and the four customs were established as ports for foreign trade, this loose policy only lasted for more than twenty years, and then it became more severe. During the Qianlong period, the other three ports were closed, and only foreign trade was allowed in Guangzhou, and the "thirteen banks" merchants chartered by the government were in charge of foreign trade affairs, which also restricted Chinese businessmen from going abroad and returning home. This policy of self-sealing and closing the door to the sea has hindered the development of overseas markets, undermined the normal development of domestic industry and commerce, restricted the primitive accumulation of capital, hindered the transformation of social and economic structure and class differentiation, thus seriously hindering the smooth growth of capitalism in China.

Second, the policy of sea ban also stifled the development of science and technology, which made China lag far behind the West in science and technology. The sea ban policy in the Ming and Qing Dynasties hindered the development of economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, especially prevented the people of China from learning the world's advanced ideology, culture, science and technology and social production, and completely lagged behind the West, thus causing the situation that modern China was beaten.

Thirdly, the policy of sea ban led to China's constant beating and humiliation in modern times, which was the most concentrated evil result.

As we all know, developing business and exchanging needed commodities are important means to prosper the economy. Since ancient times, all nationalities and countries in the world have attached great importance to it. Although China had a tradition of attaching importance to agriculture and restraining commerce in ancient times, it actively supported foreign trade, which contributed to the opening of the Silk Road at sea and on land. It was the time when the government of Ming and Qing Dynasties turned the foreign trade which coexisted between the government and the people into an official monopoly that the world history changed from the Middle Ages to the modern society. Maritime traffic plays a vital role in the development of a country. Therefore, as Dai Yi pointed out in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, "On the surface, it seems that the purpose of closing the country to the outside world is to limit the activities of foreign invaders, which means a little self-defense. In fact, this backward and negative policy can only restrain the people of China, but not the vicious foreign invaders. The essence of capitalism is to invade other countries. The more backward countries and nations are, the more serious the aggression will be. Whether China can resist foreign aggression, or whether it can alleviate the scourge of foreign aggression, depends on whether China can catch up and make rapid progress and change the balance of power between China and foreign countries. It must not rely on the policy of self-sealing and self-isolation, because this policy can neither change the nature of the aggressors nor hinder the growth of the aggressor countries' power, but can only tie itself in, hinder the development of China and stifle it. [ 14]

History is merciless. In the Haitong era, we still adhered to the "celestial system", "celestial statutes" and "the difference between Chinese and foreigners". Isolating yourself from the world, not making progress and not innovating will only ruin the future of the country and the nation. The Opium War in 1840 and the national humiliation in 100 were historical retribution for the feudal dynasty's ignoring the world trend, stubbornly adhering to the policy of sea ban and repeatedly missing development opportunities since Haitong.