A Study On The Maritime Enemies And Maritime Defense Of West Guangdong Coast In Ming And Qing Dynasties(1368—1840)

The real maritime defense in China’s history appeared in the Ming Dynasty.Due to the threat and invasion of foreign enemy,the maritime defense in Ming and Qing dynasties defense became to shoulder the duty to resist foreign aggression and safeguard the coast,which was different with the historical maritime conflicts between different feudal regimes.The west Guangdong coast,located in the far west end of China’s coast,was often harassed by home and alien pirates from Japan,Annam and Champa in Ming and Qing Dynasties.Thus,as a part of the national maritime defense system,it also reflects its own unique characters in the process of changes and development.In the early Ming Dynasty,the coast posts were set to guard against Japanese pirates.In the mid of Ming Dynasty,the systematic coast defense was planned and maritime defense stations were established.In the Qing Dynasty,the navy of Green Camp and coast defense were deployed.In the period of Jiaqing and Daoguang,the formation of the navy of Green Camp was newly rearranged and the integrated command mechanism between the army and navy were established.i.e.,the maritime defense system of the west division of Guangdong coast was in dynamic changes in the light of the threat of foreign aggressions during Ming and Qing dynasties.Before the First Opium War,the maritime defense system of the west division of Guangdong coast was able to deal with the threat of enemy from the surrounding seas.In order to safeguard the stability of the coast,the Ming and Qing administrations strengthened the internal restrictions and domestic control gradually,which consolidated the maritime defense and stifled development of the civil navigation industry meanwhile,thus substantially stultified the progress of the military defense.Based on above,this paper tends to expound the historical logic of the maritime defense of Ming and Qing Dynasties and reflect the panorama of the development of the maritime defense of the west division of Guangdong coast from three aspects: the source of maritime defense,internal and external strategies,and the maritime defense system.According to the changes of the maritime enemies and the development of practical maritime defense,by summarizing the stage characteristics of the development of the maritime defense of west division of Guangdong Coast and analyzing the pattern of its development,this paper aims to strengthen the links between the history and the reality and to concrete the basic research and the application research.First,on the earliest formation of the Guangdong maritime defense system under the threat of the Japanese pirates during the early Ming Dynasty.At that time,the southeast coast faced the three hostile forces: Japanese pirates,local pirates and the anti-Ming warlords,which led Ming government strengthen the military deployment in the coastal regions and gradually established the maritime defense system to consolidate its regime.Geographically,the threat of the regional enemy in this area is much of particularity.Under the general deployment of the central government,the maritime defense posts of Guangdong coast were gradually set and the maritime force patrol activities were implemented routinely,thus,the maritime defense system was established preliminarily.Second,on the formation of the divisions of Guangdong maritime defense system and the transformation of the west division in Ming Dynasty.The maritime defense system slacked off as a result of the long-term peaceful environment since the period of Yongle.Compared with the overall situation of the country,the province of Guangdong,especially its west part,was still facing a severe foreign threat,and what’s more,the contradiction of the two duties of the defense posts "Farming and Guarding" has caused the slackness of the maritime defense,of which the previous mechanism was finally destroyed.In the mid of the period of Jiajing,faced with a large-scale invasion of Japanese pirates,the west division of Guangdong maritime defense system was formed,and also shoulder the duty to defense against the southwest aggression from Annam and Champa.With the founding of the navy stations system,the maritime defense capacity was enhanced and the maritime defense system of the west divisions was transformed.Third,on the restructuring process of the west division of the Guangdong maritime system in Qing Dynasty.In order to eliminate the residual forces of Ming dynasty and consolidate the regime,Qing government imposed a strict maritime ban and migrated the coast population inland forcedly,which brought many negative impacts on the coast residents of Guangdong.After quelling "the Rebellion of Three Feudatories" and destroyed Zheng clan Kingdom,Qing government dynasty removed the maritime restrictions and strengthened the maritime defense in the west division of Guangdong coast.During the period of Kangxi and Yongzheng,the Green Camp navy maritime patrolling system was formed;Thus,the second maritime defense line against the foreign aggression was consolidated and the integrated maritime defense system was basically formed.Based on this,the battalions and the armed forces of the west division of Guangdong coast defense system were rearranged and supplemented,and the maritime defense system was restructured.Meanwhile,Qing government continued to strengthen its internal control and management,the "ban the internal and defend the coastal” became the mainstream policy of the maritime defense of Qing dynasty.Last,on the adjustment and improvement of the maritime defense system in the west division of Guangdong coast in mid of Qing Dynasty under the background of harassment from pirates and western invaders.In the period of Qianlong and Jiaqing,the west division of Guangdong coast suffered internal disorder as well as maritime harassment,considering that some of the pirates in this period was not only the pirates in the general sense,but also the opposing forces that might threaten Qing’s ruling in Guangdong coast.Qing government carried on a series of measures to strengthen the maritime defense.In the period of Jiaqing,in order to cope with the pirates of Wu Shi and Wu Qingjue and others,the Qing administration further strengthened the standard and maritime defense system construction.In the fifteenth years of the period of Jiaqing(1810),after the pirates were destroyed,the Bailing,the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi,carried out a large-scale adjustment for Guangdong maritime defense system,since then,the integrated command mechanism between the army and navy were established and developed gradually,which was more advanced than the previous maritime defense systems.