Local administration in northern Chekiang and the response to the pirate invasions of 1553-1556

Chia-hsing in northern Chekiang was part of one of the most advanced and prosperous sectors of the Ming empire. The pirate invasions of 1553 to 1556 were the direct outcome of the extra-legal overseas trade which had arisen in the region as a consequence of its expansive economic capacity. Contradictions within the conduct of overseas trade suddenly changed into large-scale piracy when the Ming government re-enforced the ban on overseas trade and travel. The crisis therefore which threatened the security of Ming authority in the south-east, developed in intimate relationship with the policies and practices of the Ming government, and the society and economy of the south-east. The military crisis created by the invasions put to the test the resources of an administration geared to long years of peace. The positional defence and fragmentary military control of the peace-time Ming defence system were ill-equipped to cope with an emergency which called for decisive and co-ordinated action. Because of the nature of military resources available to the civil bureaucracy, the emphasis in the anti-pirate activity was placed on the defence of walled towns (which housed the local administrations). The provision of fortifications therefore constituted a majorelement in the overall defence strategy. The crucial role played by local administration in the wall-building programmes of this period reflects the degree to which the central government depended on ]oca] initiatives and efficiency to provide resources for the general defence of the region. Defence of the countryside and unwalled towns was almost entirely left to local effort. Little attempt was made by local elites or administration to mobilize the people of the region for defence. Troops wereinstead from outside of the region, and for the general population, there was often Uttle difference between the depredations of the pirates and the demands of the troops. Many local people joined forces with the pirates, threatening the stability of the region's social and economic life. However, the strong participation by the local bureaucratic elite in a regional defence administration led by men with roots and a clear understanding of conditions Ln the south-east enabled the government to suppress the piracy in the Uiiang-Che region before it did lasting harm to the structure and power of MLng rule in that area