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The Wokou Surge During the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

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The Wokou Surge During the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries ABSTRACT OPPORTUNE CLIMBERS: THE WOKOU SURGE DURING THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the East China Sea was a place of interaction between different cultures and societies. During these centuries, there was a large increase in pirate groups, known as wokou. How Asian governments choose to deal with the wokou dilemma and how the wokou themselves responded to such policies mark this period different from others. Also, we see an influx of European merchants into Asia at the same time, making the line between merchant and pirate an arbitrary one as Europeans used any means to gain access to the Chinese market. The establishment of global maritime links and trade affected the surge and collapse of inter-Asian pirate networks operating during this time as the wokou took opportunities where they saw them and created their own when none were available. Asian governments used the wokou to compete with European powers while Europeans in turn, used them to gain a foothold in trade networks, which allowed the wokou to play both sides of the coming power struggle to further their own goals. This battle between East and West created a fertile zone for pirates to grow by taking advantage of the power struggle between Asia and Europe happening during these centuries. They were considered many different things depending on the position of the viewer. The wokou represents a middle ground between Asia and Europe, and were considered many different things depending on the position of the viewer. By using their lives as a lens to look through, we can understand the larger picture of a globalizing maritime trade happening in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Cameron Parker Ikaika Scott December 2018 OPPORTUNE CLIMBERS: THE WOKOU SURGE DURING THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES by Cameron Parker Ikaika Scott A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History in the College of Social Sciences California State University, Fresno December 2018 © 2018 Cameron Parker Ikaika Scott APPROVED For the Department of History: We, the undersigned, certify that the thesis of the following student meets the required standards of scholarship, format, and style of the university and the student's graduate degree program for the awarding of the master's degree. Cameron Parker Ikaika Scott Thesis Author Bradley Jones (Chair) History Frederik Vermote History Lori Clune History For the University Graduate Committee: Dean, Division of Graduate Studies AUTHORIZATION FOR REPRODUCTION OF MASTER’S THESIS X I grant permission for the reproduction of this thesis in part or in its entirety without further authorization from me, on the condition that the person or agency requesting reproduction absorbs the cost and provides proper acknowledgment of authorship. Permission to reproduce this thesis in part or in its entirety must be obtained from me. Signature of thesis author: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Dr. Frederik Vermote, who has been an integral part of this project from beginning to end. My thesis topic comes from an undergrad class that I took of his which caught my interest and wanted to explore in more detail than was covered in the class. He has always been encouraging through this process and has pushed me to present my best work. Wither it was a quick email question or a thirty-minute talk in his office he has always made time to help me whenever I asked for it. He also allowed me the opportunity of being a Teaching Assistant for him, providing me firsthand experience with running not just a lecture but a class. For this and many more reasons too long to list, I am forever grateful I was able to work with him and have him advising my research. Next, I would like to thank Dr. Brad Jones and Dr. Lori Clune, both of whom served on my thesis committee. A tiring position in which they review numerous versions of this thesis at different points of time, only adding more work onto an already extremely busy work schedule. Both made time in their schedules to read my thesis and provided feedback for my benefit for which I am greatly indebted to them. Dr. Brad Jones who is also the History Department Graduate Coordinator has been instrumental in my completion of the program. He is committed to the success of the History Department’s graduate program and the success of its students, always making sure we are aware of upcoming deadlines or funding opportunities. His contributions have been many and deeply appreciated. I would also like to thank the History Department faculty at California State University, Fresno. A group of people that value diversity and encourage students to consider change over time from the viewpoints of diverse people groups. I have benefitted immensely and am grateful to the entire department faculty. I gained a deeper understanding of history and learned how to perform research, formulate vi vi a clear and concise thought, and write more concisely. I learned how to teach the subject of history properly and now have an even deeper respect for the great responsibility attached to the profession. One final person that needs to be mentioned is my loving and caring wife, Abby Acevedo. Not only has she been by my side since day one of this endeavor, but she has also been so many things for me through this process. Editor for my atrocious grammar and spelling, a soundboard for my sporadic ideas, and motivator. She puts up with my late nights of writing, and my all-day study session at school to finish papers. It has been a trying experience with numerous hardships and at times leaves me with little time for us to be together, yet she is always understanding when a deadline is near. For this, I am extremely grateful to have her in my life. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2: LOTS OF WORDS, LITTLE RESULTS: ASIAN GOVERNMENTS’ RESPONSE TO WOKOU RAIDS ......................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 3: NEWCOMERS TO THE EAST CHINA SEA: EUROPEAN MERCHANTS ARRIVE ...................................................................................... 23 CHAPTER 4: FISHERS, PIRATES, MERCHANTS AND SMUGGLERS: THE MANY FACES OF THE WOKOU ...................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 43 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................ 47 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were a time of exploration and discovery. While new exotic people and locations were introduced to each other, they learned that they were already connected to one another and made even more connections as time went on. The world was starting to shrink as states building on prior connections started to expand their spheres of influence for their personal benefits, but by doing so linking one area of the globe to another. As historian, Timothy Brook notes in his book Vermeer’s Hat, Think again of the Seventeenth-Century world as Indra’s net, but one that, like a spiderweb, was growing larger all the time, sending out new threads at each knot, attaching itself to new points whenever these came into reach, connecting laterally left and right, each new stringing of a thread repeated over and over again. As the density of strands increased, the web became ever more extended, more tangled and complex, yet ever more connective.1 The world was becoming smaller and the concept of Indra’s net helps us picture the connections that stretched through the world during this time. Just as each intersection of the net has a pearl that reflects the others in the net each pearl is inexplicitly linked to the others in the net. Sixteenth and seventeenth-century civilizations are the pearls in the net representing the converging cultures and how they interacted with each other. And while some groups may not directly connect with each other they can still affect each other, like when you cause a disturbance in the net on one end you will be able to follow the ripples that will shake its way through the entire net. By closely examining these pearls, or areas of convergence, we can gain a larger picture and understanding of how converging groups changed and interacted with each other. 1 Timothy Brook. Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of The Global World (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2008), 123. 2 2 The East China Sea was one such area where we see a convergence of civilizations during these two centuries. With this meeting, the East China Sea saw a large increase in pirate activities, known as wokou.2 This name can be misleading because it is a dated term used by the main political power in the area, the Chinese. The generation of wokou operating in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were quite a bit more diverse than the name implies. Captains and their vessels were financed and outfitted by merchant companies of the English, Dutch, or Spanish. While the captains provided the connections to elite Asian merchants. Crews were made up of local natives who knew the area, along with other foreigners willing to risk their lives for a chance at fortune. Despite this, Chinese officials and other nations still referred to them as wokou regardless of the crew's makeup creating a misleading term for any who study this period. These ship crews would come to represent the blurring of the West and the East, seen by many Asian empires as both a destructive and necessary force to harness. Because of the need for these Asiatic governments to counter European intervention in their country, they often turned a blind eye to local forces that would seek to emulate European practices. The government would switch between allowing European influence and trying to curb it.
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