Hai jin

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Hai jin (海禁 literally "ocean forbidden") was a ban on maritime activities during China's Ming Dynasty and again during the Qing Dynasty. It is commonly referred to as "Sea Ban". Intended to curb piracy, the ban proved ineffective for that purpose, while imposing huge hardships on coastal communities and legitimate sea traders.

Contents

[edit] Ming policy

Under the Ming Dynasty,Hongwu Emperor was the first to propose the policy to ban all maritime shipping in 1371[1]. The only way that foreigners might visit Ming China was via the tribute system. The policy contained 3 parts.

  1. Build a navy of 110,000 to defend coastal provinces
  2. Engage Japanese authorities to curtail the raiders
  3. Regulate maritime trade to control smuggled goods[2].

After extreme pressure from the bureaucracy, by 1550 the ban was lifted. To facilitate the maritime trade, the Ming government established ambassadors at Ningbo, Quanzhou and Guangzhou. Each vassal state received about 200 paper passports afterwards[2].

Depending on the state of the policy, the earliest possible date is 1368. The latest possible year which terminated the policy is 1567[3].

[edit] Qing policy

Zheng Chenggong was a military leader from the Ming government situated in the coastal region, capable of threatening the Qing. In 1647, another sea ban was issued to limit foreign trade with severe punishment imposed. In 1655 the "Frontier Shift" was imposed in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shandong. It required coastal residents to move in land 30-50 li (est. 15 to 25 kilometers). All private boats and ships were burned. Small rafts were not allowed at sea. In 1684, the ban was stopped, trading was reopened under Kangxi Emperor. In 1685 a "Taxation Rule for Sea Trade" was drafted by Yiergetu[4].

[edit] Pirates

The Ming government first labeled the Japanese raiders as "dwarf pirates", and soon discovered many to be renegade Chinese who joined ronin samurai to battle the Ming regime[2]. By the early seventeenth century, virtually all pirates on China's coast were various Chinese ethnicities such as the Han, though they continued labeled as wokou.

[edit] Controversy

The purpose of the Ocean Prohibition is unclear and disputed; the only certainty is that the law prohibited private ships from sailing in the ocean.

Some have argued that the Hai jin marked a retreat from maritime activities such as the voyages of Zheng He and was symptomatic of a technological decline and stagnation that would culminate in China's 19th-century humiliation by Europe. This view has been popularized by the Chinese film, River Elegy.

The ban was also seen as a deceptive proposal, since it prevented the rise of any self-sufficient economies along the coast. Eventually new economies could not be born, and no power was drawn away from the existing imperial courts[5], thus making this ban a political move.[original research?]

The law worked a great hardship for coastal dwellers and stimulated rebellions, piracy and a great wave of overseas migration. Traditionally, southeast Asia was the preferred destination for Chinese emigrants (see Liang Dao Ming).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Von Glahn, Richard. [1996] (1996). Fountain of Fortune: money and monetary policy in China, 1000-1700. University of California Press. ISBN 0520204085
  2. ^ a b c Tsai, Henry Shih-shan. [2001] (2001). Perpetual Happiness: The Ming Emperor Yongle. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0295981245
  3. ^ Deng, Gang. [1999] (1999). Maritime Sector, Institutions, and Sea Power of Premodern China. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0313307121
  4. ^ Maritime Silk Road 五洲传播出版社. ISBN 7508509323
  5. ^ Embree, Ainslie Thomas. Gluck, Carol. [1997] (1997). Asia in Western and World History: A Guide for Teaching. ME Sharpe publishing. ISBN 1563242648