In the early stage, the Japanese invaded Korea, which was a vassal of the Yuan Dynasty. Tsushima Island, Yiqi Island and Hirado Island are the main residents, and they are called Mishima Pirates by Koreans. The early Japanese pirates had a high revenge on the Yuan bandits, and then Japan became more and more violent when it entered the turbulent state of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Because Japanese pirates destroyed Japan's trade with Ming Dynasty and Korea in the early stage, the Muromachi shogunate was suppressed after the split of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and monopolized trade by annexing trade. The founding monarch of North Korea, Lee Li Chenggui, took the place of the Koryo Dynasty for actively cracking down on Japanese pirates.

In the early days, the Japanese were the main body, so they were called "real thieves" (with the Matsuura family of Hirado as the core). The reason is that the political power of South Korea and Japan is weak, which is the condition for Japanese pirates.

The late Japanese pirates

Ming Taizu Chengzu staged a coup, and after seizing power, he moved to Beijing. The remnants of Wen Jian in Nanjing joined forces with the Japanese forces to retaliate against sexual harassment on the southeast coast of China. Because these southerners are shorter than northerners in size, the term "Japanese pirates" is used to refer to a pirate group composed of Japanese and southerners in China.

In the later years of the Ming Dynasty, due to the threat from the land in the north, after Zheng He's voyage to the West, the surge of land-sea exchanges also brought about an increasing number of Japanese invasions. So the policy of banning the sea was implemented, and only official trade was opened. However, in the second year of Jiajing (A.D. 1523), riots broke out in Ningbo, and the coastal security was in crisis many times. The Ming dynasty announced the suspension of all trade, hoping to reduce the number of Japanese through containment policies.

Later, in the development, South China and Koreans who opposed the maritime ban policy of the Ming Dynasty, Japanese ronin who was defeated in Kyushu during the Warring States Period, and even the French also participated. Wang Zhi, a native of China, was the most famous enemy in the later period. Both Hu Zongxian and Qi Jiguang took part in the military action against the Japanese pirates.

From the half century of 15 to the half century of 16, the stage of its activities was in China and the coast of Southeast Asia, and its members were mainly Koreans and Koreans, so it was called "Holiday Man". During this period, the main reason for the occurrence of Japanese pirates was the improvement of China's productivity in Ming Dynasty, but the maritime ban policy was implemented. The last enemy seen in the history books was 1624, which invaded the coast of Fujian in July. "From the beginning of the disaster, it was from the coastal areas of Fujian and Zhejiang that the traitors and the Japanese were cities; However, the surname of Fujian and Zhejiang is useless, and Yin is the host, which is implicated in the custom. Zhu Wan, the courtier at that time, was devastated and was strictly forbidden by the sea. Everyone was unfavorable, even a scandal, and Wan was shocked to death. Ten thousand people died and the sea was banned, so Song, Xu Hai, Zeng Yiben and Xu Enzhi fought for Japan. From the south of Huaiyang to Guang Hai-Vandory, there is not a piece of land that is not destroyed by it, and the disaster in Fujian begins to be miserable. "

Since then, East Asia's maritime trade activities

Due to the influence of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's ban on octagonal ships (piracy ban), the activities of Japanese pirates began to decrease, and the maritime trade in East Asia also calmed down a lot. There are also maritime armed groups supporting the anti-Qing movement, such as Zheng Zhilong and Zheng Chenggong, but they are no longer called enemies.

effective area

The bases of Japanese pirates include Tsushima Island, Yiqi, Hirado and Wudao Islands, as well as China, Korean Peninsula and other coastal islands, Taiwan Province Island and Hainan Island. Before the Dutch arrived in Taiwan Province Province, Taiwan Province Province was also a stronghold of Japanese pirates. Scholars' research also proves that Japanese pirates active in Taiwan Province are also famous maritime merchants or pirates who trade with Japan in Zhang Quan, not Japanese.

References:

Biography of Zheng Zhilong; Lao Songtang's trip to Japan.