Offshore Asia: Maritime Interactions in Eastern Asia before Steamships

5. The Japanese Archipelago and Maritime Asia from the 9th to the 14th Centuries

5 THE JAPANESE ARCHIPELAGO AND MARITIME ASIA FROM THE 9THTO THE 14TH CENTURIES YAMAUCHI Shinji This chapter examines the history of maritime exchange between the Japanese archipelago and various areas in Asia from the 9th to the first half of the 14th centuries. In contrast to the growth in pre-war research (which, of course, was closely related to Japanese expansion), post-war research after 1945 stagnated for some time. However, from the 1980s in particular, research in this field was gradually revitalized. Notably, scholars have now paid attention not only to the political and diplomatic interactions among states and rulers that were the main topics of traditional research, but have also actively focused on various levels of relationships among such peoples as maritime merchants, seafaring people, and monks. Consequently, a research direction became clear relating to various ways of considering the areas of “state” and “state borders”. Closely related to this point, many studies have been focusing on the Ryukyu Islands, the northern part of Tōhoku and Hokkaidō, areas which had been understood only as “peripheries” or “marginal areas” of “Japan (Yamato)” and had attracted less research interest. New studies have been trying to understand Japan and Maritime Asia 113 the historical evolution of these areas in their own terms in the context of their connection with a broader world outside the Japanese archipelago (“regional world” and “maritime world” across state borders).1 Dividing the Japanese archipelago into three maritime areas, namely the west, the south, and the north, the first section of this chapter surveys the history of interactions between the Japanese archipelago and other Asian regions and the current status of research on this topic. As a concrete example illustrating the maritime linkage between the Japanese archipelago and other regions in Asia, the second section introduces the issue of Japanese sulphur export to China, a trade that has not attracted much attention. DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WEST, THE SOUTH, AND THE NORTH OF THE JAPANESE ARCHIPELAGO AND THE MARITIME WORLD The Western Maritime Region The 9th Century as a Turning Point In the 9th century, except for missions from Bohai, there was very little interaction between Japan and Asian countries through official state missions. On the other hand, private maritime merchants, described in the sources as “Silla merchants” and “Great Tang merchants”, often sailed to Kyūshū initiating private trade with Japan.2 In the East Asian maritime trade connecting Tang [China], Silla [Korea], and Japan in this era, Tang people and Silla people, especially Silla people sojourning in Tang, played the major role.3 The most detailed documents describing their activities are not Chinese or Korean but Japanese documents, such as the record of a pilgrimage to China written by Ennin, a monk who studied in late-Tang China.4 Such documents clearly show that the 9th century was an important turning point in the history of interactions between Japan and other Asian areas. There were major changes in terms of the characteristics and range of these interactions, from limited political and diplomatic exchanges by rulers to exchanges focusing on trade, including commoners. The Age of Japan–Song Trade In the early 10th century the Tang dynasty was in a state of collapse. Even though China entered an era of disintegration called the Five Dynasties and 114 Yamauchi Shinji Ten Countries, Chinese maritime merchants’ trade with Japan continued, primarily conducted by people from Wu-yue.5 In the latter half of the same century, the Song reunified almost all of China. Domestic commerce and distribution developed rapidly in China and in consequence more Chinese maritime merchants came to Japan, leading to the evolution of Japan–Song trade.6 This Japan–Song trade from the end of the 10th to the latter half of the 13th century was comprehensively studied by Mori Katsumi,7 whose theories were accepted for nearly half a century. However, in the late 1980s there were significant re-examinations of these theories.8 This new development in the literature was closely linked to almost simultaneous studies in trade ceramics and archaeological research on trade (the latter based on the excavations of the Dazaifu Kōrokan and Hakata sites).9 Through these new studies, the conventional image that state control of diplomatic relations and trade deteriorated and collapsed rapidly after the latter half of the 10th century changed drastically. It became clear that by the 12th century at the latest, the control...