舶主王直功罪考(前編)--『海寇議』とその周邊

Abstract

As a captain of seafarers suspected of piracy in the China Sea during the sixteenth century, Wang Zhi has been a controversial figure. Although he was executed on charges of treachery against the Ming government for orchestrating intrusions by Japanese pirates, it is unclear whether he actually dominated pirate activities on the Chinese coasts. The maritime realm of the China Sea during the sixteenth century is better understood as total anarchy, where simple demarcation between gangs and merchants was hardly possible. Therefore Wang Zhi, as a typical pirate-trader, should be regarded as a key-person who eventually opened the gate for the Age of Commerce in the East China Sea. The conflation of Wang Zhi's image as pirate and merchant actually originated with the diverging observations of his contemporaries. Although some government officials insisted on bringing him to the criminal court, others were reluctant to abandon the possibility of exploiting his influence among the seafarers as a government agent for local security. Close examination of the Essay on the Pirates and its relevant chronicles, essays and documents of that time, sheds light on the genesis of Wang Zhi's controversial status, which in turn reflected the structures of the state-society relations in the southeastern coastal provinces.