A Study On The Evolution Of The Overseas Trade Policy Of The Ming Dynasty In The Early 16th Century

In the early Ming Dynasty,a foreign policy based on maritime prohibition and tribute trade was formed.Under the background,Zheng He’s seven voyages to the Western Ocean appeared in the years from Yongle to Xuande,and the tributary trade reached its peak.On the contrary,it was difficult for private overseas trade to survive under the influence of the maritime prohibition policy.By the middle period of Ming Dynasty,especially after the Tumubao Incident,the national strength of the Ming Dynasty was much worse than before,the national treasury was empty,and the tributary trade which needed a large amount of funds to support gradually declined.With the country’s awareness of mercantilism,the system of sampling points was officially implemented in the third year of Zhengde(1508),which marked the Ming Dynasty from the political function of foreign trade to the economic function.It was a major adjustment of the Ming Dynasty’s foreign trade policy,it was also the turning point of the relaxation of the maritime prohibition policy of the Ming Dynasty and the rapid development of private overseas trade.The implementation of the system led to the“debate of forbidding trade or opening trade”in the reign of Zhengde.Wu Tingju was the representative of the people who opened the sea and Chen Boxian was the representative of the people who prohibited the sea.The Kaihai faction believed that opening sea trade could increase national fiscal revenue,strengthen national coastal defense construction and safeguard national territorial security,so they strongly supported the development of private overseas trade.On the other hand,those who forbid the opening of sea trade believed that the opening of sea trade will lead to too many traders from various countries,which could easily lead to cause management chaos,disturb local order,and endanger the security of Darning’s sea border,so they opposed the sea opening trade.During this period,the Ming government recognized the views of Kaihai faction,and supported private overseas trade.After the arrival of the Portuguese,the trade dispute came to an end.Their behaviors of disobeying the order of tributary system in China and the battle of Tunmen with Ming Dynasty made the Ming Dynasty aware of the danger of non-tributary trade.In order to safeguard the security of the country’s territory,the Ming Dynasty closed the trade channels with non-tributary countries and continued to implement the policy of maritime prohibition,which was an active adjustment in the Ming Dynasty’s foreign trade activities.At the beginning of the 16th century,with the advent of the great Age of navigation in the west,Portugal and other countries rapidly accumulated a great deal of wealth and power through colonization and trade plunder.However,at that time,Ming Dynasty was still in the dominant position both in the tributary trade and private overseas trade with non-tributary countries.Such advantages enabled Ming Dynasty to actively adjust its foreign trade policies according to its own political and economic interests,rather than passively responsd to an inevitable result of the impact from the west.