Entry

Wan-li: Year 37, Month 5, Day 2

3 Jun 1609

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Some Japanese ships drifted to Xiao-cheng in the Fu-jian seas. Naval forces pursued them to Zhang-zhou Port and Xian-qi, where 27 yi persons were captured. Through interpreters it was learned that they were Japanese merchant yi who travelled to foreign lands, and that they had been blown ashore by the winds. Among them there were people of the country of Korea who had in years past been carried off by the Japanese and sold. Also, there were Luzon people and Western fan people, some of whom had sold themselves as servants and some of whom were returning home on the ship. The Fu-jian Grand Coordinator Xu Xue-ju advised and noted: "Korea is a country under our jurisdiction (我屬國). These people are homeless and vagrant. We should make suitable arrangements for them. The Western fan are not tributary yi, but rather are a rebellious tribe. As to [those persons from] Luzon, in past years, they killed almost 10,000 of our merchants. Its people must not be treated indulgently. As long as they have no rebellious desires, we cannot be too severe on such people. Also, among the Japanese and the various other yi, there are many women and children. We cannot kill innocents, but likewise, releasing them would violate the law. The only option is to detain them but without executing them." The memorial was sent to the Ministry of War.

Shen-zong: juan 458.1b

Zhong-yang Yan-jiu yuan Ming Shi-lu, volume 116, page 8634

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Preferred form of citation for this entry:

Geoff Wade, translator, Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu: an open access resource, Singapore: Asia Research Institute and the Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore, http://epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/reign/wan-li/year-37-month-5-day-2, accessed January 22, 2019