The Tongking Gulf Through History

8. Chinese “Political Pirates” in the Seventeenth-Century Gulf of Tongking

Chapter 8 Chinese “Political Pirates” in the Seventeenth-Century Tongking Gulf Niu Junkai and Li Qingxin Like all pirates throughout the centuries, the seventeenth-century pirates of the Gulf of Tongking cruised the seas and harassed passing ships and junks. But unlike those in the rest of the South China (or Eastern) Sea, most of the pirates active in the Tongking Gulf came from either Southern Ming or Mac armed forces, and were involved in the politics of the time. Since most of them had mandarin titles and political ambitions, we have called them here “political pirates.” Chinese and Vietnamese regimes benefited from their activities, but none could control them completely. This was a most interesting period for the Gulf of Tongking. Political turmoil and confusion were unprecedented, as power was contested within the borders of both sides—the Southern Ming and the Qing fought over southern China, and the remnant Mac held out in Cao Băng, in northern Đại Việt, against the Restored Lê dynasty whose powerless kings were closely controlled by Trinh lords. At this time of strife, Chinese pirates thrived and the Gulf of Tongking provided their best stage, allowing them to roam freely across political, state, and geographic boundaries. This chapter outlines this complicated story and seeks to untangle the intertwined relationships between Vietnamese political regimes and the gulf’s political pirates or outlaws, men who were most often beyond the influence of court politics. It begins with a brief discussion of how the Tongking Gulf region easily became a pirate haven during times of political turmoil, before moving on to consider relations of the Lê-Trinh and Mac courts with the anti-Qing pirates that roamed the gulf in the mid to later seventeenth century. 134 Niu Junkai and Li Qingxin The Tongking Gulf as a Pirate Haven The waters of the Tongking Gulf lie largely between the Leizhou Peninsula (in modern Guangdong), Hainan Island, and the coast of modern northern Vietnam. Many harbors of all sizes, and innumerable islands, dot the gulf’s 130,000 square kilometers. The area between Leizhou and the northern Vietnamese coastline, known from the Ming dynasty as the “Western Sea” (Xihai), was a watery world shared by fishermen and seafarers from all coastal areas. It was never easy for central governments to control at the best of times. During periods of catastrophic political turmoil, the many harbors and uninhabited islands scattered from Leizhou and the Yuexi (west Quangdong) coast down to northern Vietnam formed a natural arena for illicit traders, bandits, and pirates. Thus, as the Ming dynasty was beginning Map 6. Tongking Gulf in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. its long collapse, wokou (Japanese pirates, and also Chinese pirates pretending to be Japanese) from Zhejiang, Taiwan, and Fujian cruised into Guangdong and Guangxi waters and soon established themselves there. The resulting rise in piracy placed a heavy policing burden on the Leizhou administration because it was responsible for patrolling the sea in three directions.1 In 1566, a military unit called the Water Garrison (shuizhai) was finally set up specifically to patrol the Guangdong coast.2 From at least this time, the Western Sea was renowned as a center of smuggling and piracy According to a local source compiled in 1562, the two shores of the Western Sea could accommodate more than one hundred ships at berth, attracting rampant smuggling to this area. Many smaller ports along its western coast, like Baili, Baisha, and Santiao, could also accommodate dozens of ships, making them attractive for smugglers. But the principal haven in this chain of smugglers’ ports was Longmen Island,3 the largest of the Longmen Islands group that lie just offshore from the estuaries of the Qinjiang and Yuhongjiang Rivers, a little south of Qinzhou. Local chronicles compiled between the Jiajing (1522–66) and Wanli (1574–1620) reign periods describe Longmen (meaning Dragon’s Gate) as a strategic place, as later would Pan Dinggui under the Qing, whose text recognized its military significance as the gateway to Quizhou.4 It was also a natural pirate lair. As the chronicle of the Jiajing period explained, the Longmen River, which was sixty miles along the coast southwest of Qinzhou City, appeared here like a dragon with the mountains facing it forming a natural “gate”; seventy-two channels ran from the islands to the sea. From here, ships...