Shandong's Coast Defense In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

Before the Ming Dynasty, the main menaces to China came from the North, So the rulers attached more importance to the land than to the sea. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties (before the First Opium War), the Occident got increasingly enthusiastic about navigation. Some Western nations came to the Chinese littoral in succession, thus causing a new problem on the Chinese coast defense. Meanwhile the home situation and the new pulse of the circumjacent countries such as Japan, the coast defense became more and more a tough problem of China. The rulers of the Ming and Qing Dynasties had gains and loss concerning this issue. We can find reasons from the Ming and Qing Dynasties for the coast defense's dilapidation of modern China and why modern China dropped behind and took a beating.At present, there is a phenomenon in the research field that the South is hot and the North is cold when the area coast defense of the Ming and Qing Dynasties is considered. The scholars have paid more attention to the south coastal provinces like Zhe Jiang, Fu Jian, Guang Dong and Tai Wan. However the research on the Shandong's coast defense is nearly blank. So far, no monograph about Shandong's coast defense has come into being yet, only being touched upon in works or treatises incidentally. In fact, Shandong's coast defense is one of the most important parts of the whole coast defense chain of China, and has its own traits that are different from the southern parts. A systemic and in-depth research on it may not only fill up this academic blank, help understand and grasp such questions as functions, the whole stratagem layout, traits, effects and so forth of the Chinese coast defense during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but also be of significance to explore the rough course from the past Chinese ocean culture to the modern since Ming Dynasty, thus helping to make clear the ocean haze that the western nations advanced and China dropped behind and offering historic reference for today's coast defense.Because coast defense research involves a lot of fields and the historical materials are discrete, the thesis can not look into every aspect of Shandong's coast defense during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but emphasize particularly on the perspective of military affairs, along the coast defense construction to discuss some aspects of Shandong's coast defense like the objects, bodies, means, gains and loss and so on. By the means of discussion, the thesis is going to probe into the interactive relations between Shandong's coast defense and social politics, economy, thought, culture etc, and find out some rules. Therefore discussion develops from the following parts.Chapter one is the Shandong's coastal areas regionalism and coast defense geographical situation. The sea politics and natural geography factors can affect coast defense activities. Such influence is stable and permanent. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, being adjusted step by step, the coastal areas regionalism in Shandong tended to stability and had clear region vision. The coastline of Shandong was long, along which were plenty of islands and seaports. These coastal area factors provided important support for the coast defense.Chapter two is the Shandong's coast defense in the early Ming Dynasty (from Hongwu to Zhengde period). The Shandong's coast defense was set for fighting against Japanese pirates, and underwent a dynamic development course from the principium foundation to the substantiation and perfection and to the gradual downfall. During Hong Wu period, Shandong was one of the coastal provinces that suffered from the infraction of Japanese pirates. Because of this, the Ming government elementarily established a land-and-water integrated coast defense system. The system exerted positive action in stabilizing the coastal areas, and also contained many negative factors, which buried troubles for the future. From Yongle to Xuande period, the infraction of Japanese pirates to Shandong relatively eased off, and Shandong's coast defense got substantial and perfect on the base of Hongwu's. But it still had shortcomings and got some negative influences from the country's established policies. From Zhengtong to Zhengde period, the intrusion of Japanese pirates into Shandong's coastal areas happened scarcely. With the long calmness of sea and the increasing corruption of politics, the Ming government took fewer measures to reinforce the coast defense, and besides, the shortcoming of the wei suo system was not solved. Under such condition, Shandong's coast defense ruined gradually. In the early Ming Dynasty, not all the measures that the Ming government took to build Shandong's coast defense were positive. The most typical one was the practice of the banning maritime trade policy, which was excessively negative. Its influence was highly grave and damaging on the healthy development of Shandong's ocean economy.Chapter tree is the coast defense of Shandong in the late Ming Dynasty (from Jiajing to Chongzhen period). In the late Ming Dynasty, as time went on, Shandong's coast defense took on new contents and developed stage by stage. During Jiajing period, Shandong's coast defense hinged on fighting against Japanese pirates. In this period, a large-scale Japanese pirates' attack took place in the southeast coastal areas. In the war, Shandong's coastal areas also suffered the intrusion of Japanese pirates. But compared with the south coastal provinces, Shandong's Japanese pirates harm was fairly lighter. There were many reasons for this. From Longqing to the middle phase of Wanli, the wei suo system of coast defense had been in ruins, besides Japan was intruding Korea and intended to invade China which threatened Shandong's coastal areas. The serious coast defense crises compelled the military officers and the Ming government to anew think about the matter of coast defense seriously. Under such pressures, Shandong's coast defense got rebuilt and developed. Great changes had taken place in the military strength and the chain of command and the layout of the coast defense, which was different from the former wei suo system. This was the golden time of Shandong's coast defense in the late Ming Dynasty. After the middle phase of Wanli, the task of Shandong's coast defense conversed from fighting against Japanese pirates to fighting against the Hou Jin regime. During this period, although Shandong's coast defense shouldered important task, it didn't get a good construction and again tended to ruin along with the increasingly growing-on rule crisis of Ming government.Chapter four is the coast defense of Shandong in the early Qing Dynasty (from the year of 1644 to 1840). In the early Qing Dynasty, Shandong's coastal area situation was austere, so the coast defense pressure increased. The Qing government set up a land-and-water integrated coast defense system, of which the troops were composed of Ba Qi and Lv Ying. Again Shandong's coast defense developed stage by stage. It was elementarily built in Shunzhi period, and developed to the crest in Kangxi and Yongzheng period, and then weakened gradually after Qianlong period. The development of Shandong's coast defense refracted the Kang Qian period's era trait of royalty with hidden trouble. The decadency of Shandong's coast defense had great deal to do with the Qing Dynasty's coast defense construction thoughts which more importance was put on land rather than sea and the defense was negative. It was also a factor that the Qing government was ignorant of the overseas situation and blindly arrogant, lacking in long-range world strategy foresight. Early Qing Dynasty inherited the system of the Ming Dynasty, strictly enforcing the banning maritime trade policy and moving the people previously living in coastal areas to the hinterland. The practice of the banning maritime trade policy resulted in serious social crises. The voice of asking for opening maritime trade had never stopped, which rendered the partial opening maritime trade of Shandong earlier than that of the south coastal areas.Chapter five is the relation between Shandong's coast defense and the social economy. Besides protecting the safety of coastal areas, coast defense attempted to build a harmonious and stable society environment for coastal areas and buck for the all-sided advancement of coastal areas. The advancement of the coastal areas also provides beneficial condition for the construction of the coast defense. They interact with each other and promote each other. Shandong's coast defense in the Ming Dynasty has both positive and negative actions. It has accelerated the exploitation of the coast defense and also prevented the people living in coastal areas from marching to sea.Chapter six is the character and the gain and loss of Shandong's coast defense in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the developing history of Shandong's coast defense, the Ming and Qing Dynasty is the key period. Looking back to the developing course of Shandong's coast defense, we can distinctly make out its sharp-cut characters and gain and loss. Taking history as a mirror and looking forward to the future. Dialyzing the characters and summarizing historic experience can assuredly supply beneficial reference to today's coast defense construction.