Local Interests and the Anti-pirate Administration in China’s South-East 1555–1565

1 Local interests and the anti-pirate administration in China's south-east 1555-1565 Merrilyn Fitzpatrick During the period of the pirate invasions from 1552 to 1563 an administration flourished in the south-east of the Ming empire domi­ nated by men of the south-east themselves* and strongly representing local economic interests and attitudes towards coastal defence and overseas trade. In tolerating the formation of such an administration, the Ming government was putting aside, reluctantly and for a brief period only, its old suspicion of opening any avenue to greater political power for the wealthy and culturally self-confident south-east.* The circumstances were exceptional. When the pirate invasions broke out in 1552 the court was preoccupied with the defence of its northern borders. In 1550 the forces of Altan Khan had reached the suburbs of Peking, and the financial and military resources of the empire were already fully stretched in meeting the crisis in the north. An administration in the south-east that could conduct successful campaigns against the pirates, drawing almost entirely on resources from within the region, coincided with the * The 'south-east' throughout this paper denotes, as it did under the Ming, the areas adjacent to the coast south of the Yangtze, including what is now known as southern Kiangsu, Chekiang and Fukien. 2 interests of the court for the period of the pirate invasions. The key figure in this regional administration was Hu Tsung-hsien. For eight years from 1556 to 1563 Hu was the senior official in the south-east, the Supreme Commander (tsung-tu), with jurisdiction over the regions of Chekiang, the Southern Metropolitan Area, the coastal prefectures of Fukien, and for a few years, Kiangsi as well. He is known to history as the capable, ruthless official who ended the pirate invasions into the interior of the country and who engineered the capture of the notorious pirate leader Wang Chih. His reputation was somewhat tarnished in the eyes of posterity by his association with the disgraced Chief Grand Secretary Yen Sung and his son Yen Shih-fan, who domi­ nated court politics for much of the later Chia-ching reign.* Hu is also remembered for the brilliance of the literary gentlemen he collected in his headquarters, or mu-fu, to serve as his military advisors and secretaries, men such as the writer and ex-official Mao K ’un, the poet Hsu Wei (Hsii Wen-chang), the geographer Cheng Jo-tseng, the mathematician Chou Shu-hsueh, and the philosopher and teacher T'ang Shu. His biography in the Ming shih mentions his association with these people only in terms of his consultation with eminent gentlemen (shih-ta fu ) of the province, but describes Hu's employment of "guests" (k1o) 2 as agents in negotiations with the pirates. Among the voluminous writing on the pirate invasions and related issues by contemporary participants and observers, there are repeated incidental and oblique references to the people who entered or were retained by Hu's headquarters (ju mu-fu, liu mu-fu) to take part in discussions of strategy, and to 3 carry out all kinds of commissions. The headquarters staff consisted both of officials and clerks appointed through the regular channels, and of privately engaged staff of all kinds, including scholar-officials out of office, acting as his military advisors and secretaries, and merchants, fighting men, interpreters and other technical specialists. It becomes clear in studying these materials, as students of the Ch'ing institution of the mu-fu have suspected, that Hu Tsung-hsien*s administration provided an outstanding example, prior to the Ch'ing 3 dynasty, of the mu-fu of a high regional official. In Hu Tsung-hsien*s time, it was common for high officials in the capitals and in the pro­ vinces to have private scholars acting as their private secretaries and advisors forming part of their administration. Among Hu’s contemporaries, his patron Chao Wen-hua and the general Ch'i Chi-kuang both employed A , private advisors, and Hu s own secretary, the poet Hsu Wei, later in life went as advisor to a fellow townsman appointed Governor in the north. But Hu Tsung-hsien's mu...