A Study On Ryukyu’s Ships Drifting To Zhejiang Province In The Reign Of Emperor Qianlong Of Qing Dynasty

The mid-17th century, war erupted heavily between Qing and Southern Ming Dynasty in the south region of Yangtze River. Given this, the way of canonized Ryukyu king was full of twists and turns, Qing-Ryukyu fixed grant and tribute relationship finally founded till 1663. Ryukyu, an island nation of the East China Sea, endured not only centuries exploitation from Satsuma of Japan but also poor domestic economy and frequent natural disasters. Therefore, greater numbers of inhabitants were occupied themselves in floating trade and make living on it. After 1683, Sea Forbidden Policy ended by Emperor Kangxi, nongovernmental marine trade developed quickly, however, due to extreme weather and terrible sea state, shipwrecks happened frequently and drifted to coastal area of China finally. The government of Qing Dynasty provide preferential treatment to foreign drifting refugees in the refer of the policy of "Cherishing Men from Afar". Since 1737, the pension policy and treatment for foreign drifting refugees in a detailed and rigorous mode, which reflects in historical materials that during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the total numbers of Ryukyu drifting ships increased greatly. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong, the Ryukyu drifting ships records in Chinese coastal area-of which Zhejiang Province-occupied largest and pension for Ryukyu drifting refugees is superior than other provinces. Hence, there is no doubt that Zhejiang Province is an important part of Ryukyu drifting ships research. Although many scholars at home and abroad have conducted extensive and in-depth research on Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong and Shandong, the place of Ryukyu ships drifted and other issues, but Zhejiang Province was barely noticed. This paper is Ryukyu drifting ships records-centered in historical materials of China, Ryukyu and Joseon Dynasty, and take Great Yaeyama Earthquake in 1771 as an important node, try to find out the causes of great numbers of Ryukyu ships drifted to Zhejiang Province through analyze drifting reasons thoroughly, and then reveal potential possibility, the Ryuku, engaged in illegal activities of smuggling trade in Zhejiang coastal area in the name of windstorm. Also, the study on Ryukyu’s ships drifting to Zhejiang Province in the reign of Emperor Qianlong will help us deepening the research on Ryukyu drifting ships in the reign of Emperor Qianlong and Qing Dynasty, furthermore, it will be beneficial to understand China-Ryukyu historical relationship comprehensively.