ABSTRACT
Although Ming China was predominantly a land-based agricultural civilization, it would be a mistake to ignore the lively activities of its population on inland waterways and ocean shores. Both government and private shipping coexisted, but there was often a tension between them, with the government frequently attempting to control and limit private water-based commerce, partly for tax collection purposes and partly to prevent smuggling and piracy. Small-scale merchant and fishing activities were allowed on internal rivers and lakes, but repeated government prohibitions were issued on larger ships going into the oceans or overseas by private sailors or merchants. Adventurers, entrepreneurs, and those fleeing economic hardship also tended to take to the seas, nourishing the Chinese diaspora, particularly in Southeast Asia. Strong control was exerted over private maritime activities during the period of Zheng He’s (1371–ca. 1435) maritime expeditions, 1405–1433, but efforts to command the waves were later less successful. While government attention shifted to the northern steppe regions after the capital was moved from Nanjing to Beijing in 1421, maritime trade flourished in the hands of private traders on the southern and southeastern coasts. When this occurred and other conditions were ripe, piracy and smuggling began to boom, and another arm of the government needed to swing into action: ships of a military and policing nature were needed to protect coastal and inland waterways as well as ports and other cities. As will be seen below, this situation forms the backdrop against which the Longjiang Shipyard Treatise (Longjiang chuanchang zhi ) was written in 1553.
