First Battle of Tamao (1521)

Battle of Tãmão
Date 1521
Location Tãmão
Result Ming Chinese victory.
Belligerents
Ming Dynasty China Kingdom of Portugal
Commanders and leaders
Wang Hong(汪鋐) Simão de Andrade
Strength
Squadron of Junks Caravel ships
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

The Battle of Tãmão was a naval battle when the Ming Dynasty Imperial Navy defeated a Portuguese navy led by Simão de Andrade in 1521.

Contents

Causes

Simão de Andrade had been kidnapping Chinese children to sell in Malacca,[1] and ignored Chinese sovereign authority at Tãmão, building a fort.[2] The Chinese believed that the Portuguese roasted and ate the Chinese children which they had kidnapped.[3] The Chinese responded by blockading the Portuguese. The Portuguese would have starved if they had not run the blockade.

The Battle

During this period China maintained around fifty ships.[4]

Simão de Andrade's fleet was defeated by the Chinese navy, which emboldened the Chinese to take further military action the following year, at the Second Battle of Tamao (1522) against Martim Afonso de Mello.[5][6]

The Chinese were commanded by Wang Hong. The battle started in either April or May, and ended when the Portuguese fled to Malacca in October.[7]

Multiple Portuguese vessels were captured by Chinese forces. The Chinese killed and captured so many Portuguese, that the Portuguese were forced to flee with merely three ships surviving, when they had originally arrived with both the ships and several junks of their own. The Portuguese only managed to slip away since the wind blew the Chinese ships into dissarray, so the Portuguese survivors could slip pass. The Chinese, after the battle, continued to kill every single Portuguese who tried to land in China.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Zhidong Hao (2011). Macau History and Society (illustrated ed.). Hong Kong University Press. p. 11. ISBN 9888028545. http://books.google.com/books?id=LP9q1dzVRYQC&dq=malacca+chinese++portuguese++attack&q=looted+children#v=snippet&q=looted%20children&f=false. Retrieved 14 December 2011. "At the same time, the Portuguese stationed in Tunmen began to set up fortifications, attacked and looted Chinese ships, and kidnapped Chinese men and women. But the main problem may be the Portuguese purchase and enslavement of Chinese children, who had been mosted likely kidnapped by local criminals. The purchase and enslavement were done by men led by Andarde's younger brother, Simão de Andrade in 1518-19. By that time, Fernão Peres de Andrade had already returned to Lisbon with triumph. So the Chinese arrested Pires on his way back to Guangzhou, and he died in prison there in 1524. The Portuguese were eventually expelled from Tunmen in 1521 and the authorities in Beijing and Guangzhou announced a ban on trade with the Portuguese." 
  2. ^ Peter Y. L. Ng, ed (1983). New peace county: a Chinese gazetteer of the Hong Kong region. Hong Kong University Press. p. 25. ISBN 9622090435. http://books.google.com/books?ei=-zLLTob9FIrv0gHY8Qw&ct=result&id=y6RnAAAAIAAJ&dq=This+and+other+tactless+behaviour+was+resented+by+the+Chinese%2C+and+in+1521+a+Chinese+naval+force+fell+on+the+Portuguese+and+defeated+them.47+In+1522+another+expedition+set+sail+from+Malacca.+They+were+met+outside+T%27un+Mun+by+a+large&q=tactless. Retrieved 21 November 2011. "enable them to dominate the foreign trade. Thus when Simao de Andrade reached China in 1519 he built a fort in the neighbourhood of Tunmen without first seeking Chinese government permission. This and other tactless behaviour was resented by the Chinese, and in 1521 a Chinese naval force fell on the Portuguese and defeated them.47" [located at the University of California]
  3. ^ Armando Cortesão, ed (1990). The Suma oriental of Tome Pires: an account of the East, from the Red Sea to China, written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515 ; and, The book of Francisco Rodrigues : Pilot-Major of the armada that discovered Banda and the Moluccas : rutter of a voyage in the red sea, nautical rules, almanack .... Volume 1 of The Suma Oriental of Tome Pires: An Account of the East, from the Red Sea to Japan, Written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515, and The Book of Francisco Rodrigues, Rutter of a Voyage in the Red Sea, Nautical Rules, Almanack and Maps, Written and Drawn in the East Before 1515 (illustrated, reprint ed.). Asian Educational Services. p. xxxix. ISBN 8120605357. http://books.google.com/books?id=h82D-Y0E3TwC&pg=PR40&dq=malacca+chinese+seized+portuguese+embassy&hl=en&ei=RSr1TdHSLO2o0AH9-OjrDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=roasted%20kidnapped%20children&f=false. Retrieved 14 December 2011. "Though, according to Vieira, the Emperor magnanimously said 'these people do not know our customs; gradually they will get to know them, more charges, some of them quite fantastic, were being brought against the Portuguese. After telling us that one of the charges was that 'we bought kidnapped children of important people and ate them roasted', Barros comments: 'They believe this to be true, as being about people of whom they had never heard; and we were the terroro and fear of all that East, so it was not too much to believe that we did such things, just as we too think of them and other far-flung countries, about which we have but little knowledge.' Some early Chinese historians even go so far as to give vivid details of the price paid for the children and how they were roasted." 
  4. ^ Peter Y. L. Ng, ed (1983). New peace county: a Chinese gazetteer of the Hong Kong region. Hong Kong University Press. p. 65. ISBN 9622090435. http://books.google.com/books?id=B4vTAAAAMAAJ&q=were+more+than+fifty+ships+in+the+fleet.+These+were+the+heady+days+when+Wang+Hong+was+able+to+engage+and+defeat+a+Portuguese+expedition.93+By+1961+there+were+1+12+ships,+but+thereafter+numbers+fell+rapidly+and+in+1819+there+were+seven&dq=were+more+than+fifty+ships+in+the+fleet.+These+were+the+heady+days+when+Wang+Hong+was+able+to+engage+and+defeat+a+Portuguese+expedition.93+By+1961+there+were+1+12+ships,+but+thereafter+numbers+fell+rapidly+and+in+1819+there+were+seven&hl=en&ei=WzTLTs2gH-fw0gHH3JER&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA. Retrieved 21 November 2011. "were more than fifty ships in the fleet. These were the heady days when Wang Hong was able to engage and defeat a Portuguese expedition" [located at the University of California]
  5. ^ Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. China Branch (1895). Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society for the year ..., Volumes 27-28. The Branch. p. 44. http://books.google.com/books?id=faNDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA44&dq=the+chinese+emboldened+by+this+military+success+strangers+attack+portuguese&hl=en&ei=uvJATMrYK8L-8Aal5I3RDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=the%20chinese%20emboldened%20by%20this%20military%20success%20strangers%20attack%20portuguese&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
  6. ^ Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. North-China Branch (1894). Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volumes 26-27. The Branch. p. 44. http://books.google.com/books?id=zKRBAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA44&dq=the+chinese+emboldened+by+this+military+success+strangers+attack+portuguese&hl=en&ei=uvJATMrYK8L-8Aal5I3RDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=the%20chinese%20emboldened%20by%20this%20military%20success%20strangers%20attack%20portuguese&f=false. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
  7. ^ Zhidong Hao (2011). Macau History and Society (illustrated ed.). Hong Kong University Press. p. 12. ISBN 9888028545. http://books.google.com/books?id=LP9q1dzVRYQC&pg=PA12&dq=Wang+hong+ming+naval+portuguese+malacca&hl=en&ei=NzHLToihHsTh0QHErvwR&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Wang%20hong%20ming%20naval%20portuguese%20malacca&f=false. Retrieved 21 November 2011. "A Portuguese fleet of several ships came to China again in April or May 1521. The Ming court ordered the Guangdong authorities to expel the Portuguese. Led by Wang Hong, the Ming naval forces engaged in battles against the Portuguese and won. Many Portuguese were captured and endured horrific execution, rather than surrendering. More ships came in the following months and fought the Chinese, but failed. In the end of October, they retreated to Malacca after many casualties. This was the Battle of Tunmen." 
  8. ^ Armando Cortesão, ed (1990). The Suma oriental of Tome Pires: an account of the East, from the Red Sea to China, written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515 ; and, The book of Francisco Rodrigues : Pilot-Major of the armada that discovered Banda and the Moluccas : rutter of a voyage in the red sea, nautical rules, almanack .... Volume 1 of The Suma Oriental of Tome Pires: An Account of the East, from the Red Sea to Japan, Written in Malacca and India in 1512-1515, and The Book of Francisco Rodrigues, Rutter of a Voyage in the Red Sea, Nautical Rules, Almanack and Maps, Written and Drawn in the East Before 1515 (illustrated, reprint ed.). Asian Educational Services. p. xl. ISBN 8120605357. http://books.google.com/books?id=h82D-Y0E3TwC&pg=PR40&dq=malacca+chinese+seized+portuguese+embassy&hl=en&ei=RSr1TdHSLO2o0AH9-OjrDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=malacca%20chinese%20seized%20portuguese%20embassy&f=false. Retrieved 14 December 2011. "In the meantime, after the departure of Simão de Andrade, the ship Madalena, which belonged to D. Nuno Manuel, coming from Lisbon under the command of Diogo Calvo, arrived at Tamão with some other vessels from Malacca, among them the junk of Jorge Álvares, which the year before could not sail with Simão de Andrade's fleet, because she had sprung a leak. When the instructions issued from Peking against the Portuguese arrived in Canton, together with the news of the death of the Emperor, the Chinese seized Vasco Calvo, a brother of Diogo Calvo, and other Portuguese who were in Canton trading ashore. On 27 June 1521 Duarte Coelho arrived with two junks at Tamão. Besides capturing some of the Portuguese vessels, the Chinese blockaded Diogo Calvo's ship and four other Portuguese vessels in Tamão with a large fleet of armed junks. A few weeks later Ambrósio do Rego arrived with two other ships. As many of the Portuguese crews had been killed in the fighting, slaughtered afterwards or taken prisoners, by this time there was not enough Portuguese for all the vessels, and thus Calvo, Coelho, and Rego resolved to abandon the junks in order the better to man the three ships. They set sail on 7 September and were attacked by the Chinese fleet, managing however to escape, thanks to a providential gale which scattered the enemy junks, and arrived at Malacca in October 1521. Vieira mentions other junks which arrived in China with Portuguese aboard; all were attacked, and the entire crews were killed fighting or were taken prisoners and slaughtered later."