Wokou

16th century Japanese pirate raids.

Wokou
Chinese name
Chinese	倭寇
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin wōkòu Bopomofo ㄨㄛ ㄎㄡˋ Wu Romanization u kheu Hakka Romanization vo24 kieu55 Yue: Cantonese Jyutping wo1 kau3 Southern Min Hokkien POJ e-khòo
Korean name
Hangul	왜구
Transcriptions Revised Romanization waegu
Japanese name
Kana	わこう
Transcriptions Romanization wakō

Wokou (Chinese character: 倭寇; Chinese pronunciation: wōkòu; Japanese pronunciation: わこう wakō; Korean pronunciation: 왜구 waegu), which literally translates as "Japanese pirates" in English, were pirates of varying origins who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards. Originally, the Wokou were mainly soldiers, ronin, merchants and smugglers from Japan; however in later centuries most of the pirates actually originated in China.

The early phase of Wokou activity began in the 13th century and extended to the second half of the 14th century. Pirates from Japan focused their raids on the Korean peninsula and spread across the Yellow Sea to China. Ming China implemented a policy to forbid civil trade with Japan while maintaining governmental trade, known as Haijin. The Ming court believed that limiting non-government trade would in turn expel the Wokou. Instead, it forced many Chinese merchants to trade with Japan illegally to protect their own interests. This led to the second major phase of Wokou activity which occurred in the early to mid-16th century, where Japanese pirates colluded with their Chinese counterparts and expanded their forces. During this period the composition and leadership of the Wokou changed significantly to include greater numbers of Chinese. At their height in the 1550s, the Wōkòu operated throughout the seas of East Asia, even sailing up large river systems such as the Yangtze.

The term Wokou is a combination of "Wō" (倭) referring to Japanese, and "kòu" (寇), meaning "bandit; enemy; invasion". The earliest textual reference to the term "Wokou" as a Japanese invader comes from the Korean Gwanggaeto Stele erected in 414. In modern times, the term Wokou has been used in China and Korea as a derogatory or propagandic term for Japanese invaders.

Constituents

According to the Annals of Joseon Dynasty in 1395, wokou were commanded by a number of small and medium-sized feudal lords of the coastal areas of Japan and consisted of petty farmers and fishermen. Wokou were said to number around 20–400 ships. The lack of political stability in Japan at the time (see Sengoku period) was one of the primary causes of the appearance of wokou.

Controversy regarding Wokou imitators

There are theories regarding imitation wokou, where non-Japanese bandits disguised themselves as Japanese and conducted similar pirate raids. The Stories of Japan in the History of Ming (明史日本傳) states that in relation to one particularly extensive raid, "real Japanese comprise of about three in every ten, the remaining seven are the followers".

Some Japanese scholars claim that some wokou were Korean, due to one interesting sentence that exists within a Korean text. In the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, Sejong Sillok (Hangul: 세종실록; Hanja: 世宗實錄), Sunmong Lee said, "I hear that in the late period of the Goryeo Dynasty, Wokou were roaming over this land and peasants could not stand against them. However, even though only 1 or 2 out of 10 incidents were caused by real Wokou, some of our peasants wore the clothes of Wo, formed a group and caused trouble... in order to stop all evils, there is nothing more urgent than Hopae (a Goryeo means for personal identification)." This is the 'only one' record that documents some imitation wokou as Korean. Because of this record, Some Japanese scholars claim that a portion of the wokou were Korean. However, this particular piece of the record is also somewhat dubious, as Sunmong Lee was not an investigator working against the wokou, and was not alive during the Goryeo Dynasty period. His particular record is based on a rumor he heard, "I hear that.." implying that the speaker is relating hearsay rather than facts. There are no other records indicating any Koreans as imitations of wokou raiders, which indicate that the frequency of Korean wokou imitators was not nearly as high as Sunmong Lee's rumor suggests. In any case, most of the early wokou were of Japanese origin. Incidents relating to imitation wokou (of unknown nationality) were only 0.57% (3 from 529) within the full period of Goryeo dynasty. (Rest 99.43% Wokou incidents from Japanese)

Sunmong Lee’s speech cannot be used to support this theory since it was based on hearsay, not on any source of facts, and that it was mainly intended to make the Korean king at the time strongly aware of the seriousness of public security and the importance of Hopae. The main body of the speech concentrates on how the public security is being contaminated and requires special attention. Different terms were used to distinguish between Wokou and imitation Wokou, 倭寇 and 假倭 respectively. Goryeo-sa states only 3 incidents were caused by imitation Wokou. In addition, There are no Chinese and Japanese, Korean records that document wokou imitators as Korean.

Former Wokou raids

The first raid by Wokou on record occurred in the summer of 1223, on the south coast of Goryeo Korea. The history book Goryeosa states that "Japanese (pirates) attacked Gumju". Two more minor attacks are recorded for 1226, and continued intermittently for the next four decades. Most of the Wokou originated from Tsushima and Hizen. Under diplomatic pressure from the Goryeo government, the Kamakura shogunate made an effort to keep seafaring military groups under control. In 1227 Mutō Sukeyori (武藤資賴), the shogunate's commissioner in Kyūshū, had ninety suspected brigands decapitated in front of a Goryeo envoy. In 1263, after Tsushima Wokou raided Ungjin, Japanese negotiators reconfirmed the policies of limiting trade and prohibiting piracy.

The period around the Mongol invasions of Japan was a low point for Wokou activity. This was partly due to the higher degree of military preparedness in Goryeo. They fortified Gumju in 1251 and in 1265. The Kamakura shogunate, for its part, increased its authority in Kyūshū and was better able to mobilise and control former Wokou groups against the threat of Mongol invasion.

As the Kamakura shogunate and Goryeo state both declined following the Mongol invasions, the Wokou again became active. In 1323, for example, a large-scale raid took place in Korean Jeolla province. Raids such as this developed into full-scale pirate attacks by the end of the 14th century.

The Wokou resumed their activities in earnest in 1350, driven by chaotic conditions and the lack of a strong authority in Japan. For the next half-century, sailing principally from Iki and Tsushima, they engulfed the southern half of Goryeo. The worst period was the decade between 1376 and 1385, when no fewer than 174 instances of pirate raids were recorded in Korea. Some involved bands of as many as three thousand penetrating deep into the Korean interior. The raiders repeatedly looted the Korean capital Gaeseong, and on occasion reached as far north as the mouth of the Taedong River and the general area of Pyongyang. They looted grain stores and took people away for slavery and ransom. The conditions caused by the Wokou greatly contributed to the downfall of the Goryeo Dynasty in 1392. General Yi Seonggye, founder of the Joseon Dynasty, rose to prominence due to his successes against the Wokou.

Goryeo's King U sought redress in 1375 from the Muromachi shogunate and the cooperation of the shogunal deputy (tandai 探題) in Kyūshū, Imagawa Ryōshun. In 1377 the great statesman Jeong Mong-ju was received warmly by Ryōshun. Several hundred prisoners captured by Wokou were returned to Goryeo. Nevertheless Kyūshū was under the sway of the Southern Court, and neither the shogunate nor its deputy could suppress the pirates as requested despite promises to the contrary. In 1381, for instance, the Muromachi shogunate issued an order prohibiting the akutō (悪党, loosely translated as "outlaws," literally "bad gangs" or "evil political-parties/factions") of the provinces from crossing over to Goryeo and "committing outrages." In 1389 and in 1419, the Koreans attacked the pirate bases on Tsushima. The routes of the Korean attack were guided by the captivated Wokou "池文". The Korean navy killed 114 pirates, caught 21 Wokou, rescued 131 kidnapped Chinese at the Wokou home town, then the pirate raids would be stopped (Ōei Invasion.).

The Wokou bands were also active in China, where the earliest record of Japanese pirates is from 1302. The economic embargo forced upon Japan by the Qing and later the Ming Dynasty made pirate trade the only way to secure Chinese goods, as trade through the Ryūkyū Kingdom was halted by China. Eventually, in 1609 Satsuma seized the kingdom. In 1358, and again in 1363, the raids continued along the entire eastern seaboard, but particularly on the coast of what is now Shandong. Toward the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the Wokou threat began to intensify. The first Wokou raid of the Ming Dynasty occurred in 1369, in Zhejiang province.

In response, the Hongwu Emperor sent his commanders to construct a number of forts along the coast and dispatched two envoys to Prince Kanenaga, the Southern Court's "General of the Western Pacification Command" in Kyūshū. The first, in 1369, threatened an invasion of Japan unless the Wokou raids were stopped. Unimpressed, Prince Kaneyoshi had the Ming envoy killed and refused the demands. However, when the second envoy arrived in 1370, he submitted to the Ming as a "subject." He sent an embassy the next year, returning more than seventy men and women who had been captured at Mingzhou (Ningbo) and Taizhou.

Ming Dynasty tribute system

Attacks by the Wokou. Fourteenth century painting.

In 1392, Yi Seonggye, or King Taejo, who made his fame by repelling Wokou, founded the Joseon Dynasty, supplanting the Goryeo regime on the Korean peninsula. In the same year, the conflict between the Southern and Northern courts in Japan was finally resolved under the auspices of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu.

Fang Guozhen and Zhang Shicheng, who held sway in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas, established bases on the coastal islands. They linked up with the Wokou. There may also have been some Wokou involvement in the rebellion of Hu Weiyong and Liu Xian in 1380.

The Ming reinforced the policy of forbidding Chinese to go overseas and controlled trade with Japan through the tribute system, both policies aimed at monopolising trade and protecting against piracy.

Though diplomatic initiatives brought by China and Korea were successful in gaining the cooperation of the Ashikaga Shogunate at its height, it did not put down the Wokou.

They went on raiding China in force until at least 1419. In that year, a large pirate fleet of more than thirty ships assembled in Tsushima and headed north along Korea's Yellow Sea coast. Kept under observation, it was finally ambushed and defeated off Wanghaiguo in Liaodong by a provincial military commander, who was said to have taken between 700 and 1500 heads. After that, the Wokou steered clear of Liaodong, though they hit other areas of China sporadically.

Tsushima Expedition by Korean Joseon Dynasty

In Korea, the Wokou were stemmed by action from regional notables of western Japan, whom the Koreans influenced with concessions. From the end of the Goryeo Dynasty to the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty, the coastal regions of Korea were often the subject of Wokou raids. The Joseon Dynasty ordered a strengthening of Korean naval defenses, a strategic response to the constant threat posed by the pirates.

Joseon also asked the Ashikaga Shogunate and its deputy on Kyūshū to suppress the activity of the pirates, favoring legitimate traders. In exchange for certain privileges, it gave authority to Sō Sadashige over ships sailing from Japan to Korea (the Sō clan was the de facto ruler of Tsushima Province). After his death, the power was seized from Sadashige's infant son Sadamori (Tsutsukumaru) by Soda Saemontarō, a powerful pirate leader. Suffering from famine, pirates on Tsushima invaded Ming China in 1419. On the way to China, they raided Korea's Chungcheong and Hwanghae provinces after their requests for food were dismissed.

After receiving reports of these incidents, the Korean court proposed an expedition to Tsushima. On June 9, 1419, King Taejong declared war against Tsushima and Wokou, citing that it belonged to Joseon Korea. The Ōei Invasion resulted in their conquering Tsushima Island. Following negotiations with Korea, the Sō clan agreed to make efforts to stop coastal pirate raids in exchange for limited trading privileges and access to three coastal Korean ports.

Later Wokou raids

The 1550s and 1560s saw a resurgence of the Wokou tide. The period of greatest Wokou activity was during the Jiajing and Wanli eras, also some of the weakest in Ming history. In the period from 1369 to 1466, the Wokou raided Zhejiang 34 times, on average once every three years. By comparison, in the period 1523 to 1588, they made 66 raids, on average once a year.

In contrast with previous Wokou, however, the pirate bands of the middle 16th century no longer consisted preponderantly of Japanese. Although Wokou remained the common label by which they were identified, most of these bandits were in fact Chinese.

The term often used for Japanese pirates was bahan (Portuguese transcription: bafan). The term is written as bafan or pofan ("tattered sails"). According to the Zhouhai Tubian, Satsuma, Higo, and Nagato were the Japanese provinces that were the most prolific breeding grounds of the pirates; next came Ōsumi, Chikuzen, Chikugo, Hakata, Hyuga, Settsu, Harima, and the island of Tanegashima. Natives of Buzen, Bungo and Izumi also took part in raids on occasion, often when the opportunity of joining a Satsuma expedition to China presented itself.

An inequitable taxation and property system, combined with endemic corruption, forced many Chinese farmers in Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang to seek livelihoods on the sea. The Ming ban on ocean-going, selectively enforced by local authorities, made these people dissidents. Sometimes pirates and sometimes merchants, they used their local knowledge to make successful raiding expeditions. In 1533 the Ming Ministry of War complained that armed fleets were pillaging at will along the coast. Pirates often also engaged in illegal smuggling operations and raided rival merchant marine. During the 1540s the disparate groups of Chinese pirates and traders became more organised. They gathered on islands off the eastern coastline and colluded with the Japanese.

In this way, the acts of piracy and overseas trade were interconnected. In 1523, for example, the Hosokawa trading party in Ningbo attacked its rival mission from the Ōuchi clan and then proceeded to loot the city. It seized a number of ships, and set sail. The Ming commander was sent in pursuit was killed in a sea battle.

Proposals to appoint a governor with jurisdiction over coastal defense first appeared in 1524 after the Ningbo affair. Supporters argued that the Japanese were as much a threat as the Mongols and that administrative arrangements in effect on the northern borders should therefore be applied to the coast as well. In 1529, after a garrison on the coast had rioted and fled to join pirate bands, a censor was sent to inspect coastal defenses, to coordinate the suppression of piracy, and to punish the leaders of the riot. In 1531 this official was transferred and not replaced.

Zhu Wan

From 1539, the tribute trade system broke down altogether. The size of Japanese fleets sailing from Japan to trade with private Chinese merchants grew each year and so did the associated violence. The typical Wokou attack at this time was for the sea-based raiders to make swift assaults from their island strongholds and then retreat to their ships. In many cases violent altercations were the result of conflict over payment of debts by wealthy families to their trading creditors. One of the Xie family's estates in Shaoxing was looted and burned in the summer of 1547 for this reason.

In November 1547 Zhu Wan (朱纨) was put in charge of the of Zhejiang and Fujian, to eradicate the perceived cause of piracy - overseas trade. In February 1548 a large body of pirates raided the coastal counties of Ningbo and Taizhou, killing, burning, and looting without encountering any effective resistance. Zhu arrived in Ningbo in April and shortly thereafter, he led an attack on a Wokou harbour at Shuangyu Island. In March 1549 he attacked a large merchant fleet anchored off the coast of southern Fujian.

Despite Zhu's successes, he was dismissed from office and committed suicide in January 1550 during impeachment proceedings. His coastal defense fleet was dispersed.

An interesting European view of the events can be found in the account of Galeote Pereira (one of the Portuguese sailors captured in March 1549), and the book of the Dominican Gaspar da Cruz (1569), who apparently had access not only to Pereira's story but to other reports as well.

Wang Zhi

By the 1550s the Chinese merchant Wang Zhi had organised a large trading consortium and commanded a well-armed fleet with sailors and soldiers to protect it. Between 1539 and 1552 he cooperated with local military intendants on several occasions, expecting relaxation of the ban on overseas trade. When the ban was instead tightened in 1551, Wang began organising large attacks on official establishments, granaries, county and district treasuries, and on the surrounding countryside, which was thoroughly pillaged. Brigandage along the coast of Zhejiang became so widespread and common that towns and villages had to erect palisades for security.

In the spring of 1552 raiding parties of several hundred people attacked all along the coast of Zhejiang. In the summer of 1553 Wang Zhi assembled a large fleet of hundreds of ships to raid the coast of Zhejiang from Taizhou north. Several garrisons were briefly taken, and several district seats were besieged. Early in 1554 fortified bases were established along the coast of Zhejiang from which larger raiding parties set out on long inland campaigns. By 1555 they were approaching the great cities of the Yangzi Delta, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing. Wokou raiders had established fortified bases in various towns and forts on the coast of Zhejiang and garrisoned them with a combined force of 20,000 men.

The two Chinese commanders most active in resisting the Wokou were Qi Jiguang and Yu Dayou. Both men were from coastal provinces and had good knowledge of naval warfare. Qi organised a force of some 4000, known as the "Qi Family Army", made up mostly of farmers and miners. He won a succession of victories in 1555 in defending Taizhou. Yu Dayou's first significant victory was in 1553, when his marines stormed the island of Putuoshan and expelled the Wokou camp there. Two years later, he killed some two thousand Wokou north of Jiaxing, winning the greatest victory in the Wokou wars.

Hideyoshi

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi assumed the Regency of Japan in the 1580s, the Ming and the Regent worked together to stop the raids, and were very successful. However, once Hideyoshi ended the bloodline of the Hōjō clan in Japan, he demanded from the Joseon Dynasty in Korea the right of passage to invade China. Korea refused, and Hideyoshi invaded Korea and Manchuria; the subsequent series of battles are known as the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598). The term Wokou was used by both Chinese and Korean troops in reference to the invasion force of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Although initially successful in the invasion, Japan was to suffer great losses at the hand of Admiral Yi Sun-sin of Jeolla (Korean province) and the combined Chinese and Korean armies forced Hideyoshi's army to retreat.

Decline of the Wokou

The presence of the Wokou eventually declined. There are several theories about the cause of the decline.

Maritime trade

As a general rule, most of the Wokou began returning to more traditional seafaring activities as enforcement of the bans on maritime trade subsided. There is anecdotal evidence that the Portuguese were given permission to settle Macau in the 1550s in exchange for cooperation with the Ming authorities against the Wokou. There are two accounts of anti-piracy activity by the Portuguese. The first dates from the 1520s and is recounted in a letter to Zhu Wan, one of the leaders of the anti-piracy campaigns. The second account is better documented and discusses a 1564 joint Chinese-Portuguese action in the Pearl River Delta.

Portuguese influence

The acceptance of the Portuguese resulted in the relaxing of anti-trade restrictions, particularly in the region surrounding Canton. The presence of the better armed Portuguese ships may have served to decrease pirate activity. Additionally, the accommodation with the Portuguese contributed to the demise of the tribute-trade system, which increased opportunities for legitimate Chinese traders as well. Another factor was that the Portuguese were able to sell tropical goods from Indonesia and India at a better price than the Wokou, many of whom were smugglers before pirates. The cost of illegal activity made the Wokou unable to compete with the Portuguese and drove the Wokou back into legitimate seafaring activities.

Korean influence

Korea's peace and official trade policy led to control of the Wokou in the late 15th century to early 16th century. After the Korean expedition of Tsushima in 1419, Wokou activity in Korea declined. In 1426, King Sejong changed his offensive policy to a peaceful policy, and opened three ports for official trade with Japan. In 1443, Korea and Japan signed the Treaty of Gyehae as a means of controlling Japanese piracy and legitimizing trade between Tsushima Island and a Korean port, and decided to set up the Japanese special trading region called Waegwan (倭館). Through the Joseon dynasty policies, Wokou activity was brought under control, allowing for a peaceful relationship between Korea and Japan.

In 1510, Japanese traders initiated an uprising against Joseon's stricter policies on Japanese traders from Tsushima and Iki coming to Busan, Ulsan and Jinhae to trade. The So Clan supported the uprising, but it was soon crushed by Korean army. The uprising was later came to be known as the "Japanese riots in three-ports" (삼포왜란, 三浦倭亂).

The Treaty of Imsin, restrictive treaty, was re-imposed under the direction of King Jungjong in 1512, but only under strictly limited terms, and only twenty-five ships were allowed to visit Joseon annually until "Japanese riots in Saryangjin" (사량진왜변, 蛇梁鎭倭變) in 1544. In 1547, Treaty of Jeongmi was imposed, and Korea was on the alert for troubles by Japanese. In 1555, Wokou raided the coastal of Jeolla province, but it was soon crushed by Korean army again. The So Clan apologized to Korea for the riot of some pirates' acts, and requested the reopening of diplomatic relations. The Korean court complied with the request, and this relationship was maintained until Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598).

Japanese influence

Toyotomi Hideyoshi served as a great deterrent to Wokou activities. Two regulations in particular damaged the Wokou raids, the first of which was the sword hunt put in motion in 1588. The Sword Hunt was a major confiscation of all weaponry in the storage of peasants and turned over to the daimyo. This took away the possibility of making war by people suspected by Hideyoshi. Obscure daimyos whose loyalty was in question or religious establishments that possessed the capabilities to arm a rebellion were all purged in an operation that has parallels with the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In effect, this took away the means by which Wakou could arm and supply themselves. The other, lesser known, ordinance was a move aimed directly at the Wokou. Representatives of the daimyo sought to obtain written oaths that no seafarer undertook piracy. If any daimyo should fail to obey this order and allow Wokou to continue their craft, his fief would be confiscated.

Notable individuals

• Akibatsu, a wokou chieftain
• Matsuura Takanobu (松浦隆信)
• Wang Zhi, a Chinese "wokou", notable for allegedly being aboard the ship of Fernão Mendes Pinto
• Li Dan, a wokou merchant
• Zheng Zhilong a Chinese "wokou" which later became a count under the Qing Dynasty; father of Koxinga
• Yan Siqi

See also

• Gihae Eastern Expedition
• List of China-related topics
• List of Japan-related topics
• List of Korea-related topics
• List of tributaries of Imperial China
• History of China
• History of Japan
• History of Korea
• Piracy in the Strait of Malacca
• Japanese whaling

Literature

Primary sources:

• Zheng Ruohui, Zhouhai Tubian (籌海図編)
• Hŭi-gyŏng Song, Shōsuke Murai Rōshōdō Nihon kōroku : Chōsen shisetsu no mita chūsei Nihon (老松堂日本行錄 : 朝鮮使節の見た中世日本) Iwanami Shoten, Tōkyō, 1987. ISBN 9784003345412

Secondary sources:

• So, Kwan-wai. Japanese Piracy in Ming China During the sixteenth Century. Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, 1975. ISBN 0870131796
• Boxer, C.R. “Piracy in the South China Sea”, History Today, XXX, 12 (December), p. 40-44.
• Stephen Turnbull "Samurai: The World of the Warrior" Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2003, p. 155-157. ISBN 1841767409
• Boxer, Charles Ralph; Pereira, Galeote; Cruz, Gaspar da; Rada, Martín de (1953), South China in the sixteenth century: being the narratives of Galeote Pereira, Fr. Gaspar da Cruz, O.P. [and] Fr. Martín de Rada, O.E.S.A. (1550-1575), Issue 106 of Works issued by the Hakluyt Society, Printed for the Hakluyt Society (Includes an English translation of Galeote Pereira's report and Gaspar da Cruz' book, with C.R. Boxer's comments)

External links

• "Tribute and Trade", KoreanHistoryProject.org