Wang Zhi (pirate)
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Wang Zhi (),
art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ''ho'' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by East Asian artists, poets and writers. The ...
Wufeng (), was a Chinese pirate lord of the 16th century, one of the main figures among the ''
wokou ''Wokou'' (; Japanese: ''Wakō''; Korean: 왜구 ''Waegu''), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 16th century.Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu You ...
. Originally a salt merchant, Wang Zhi turned to smuggling during the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
's period of maritime prohibitions banning all private overseas trade, and eventually became the head of a pirate syndicate stretching across the
East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
s, from Japan to Thailand. Through his clandestine trade, he is credited for spreading European firearms throughout East Asia, and for his role in leading the first Europeans (the Portuguese) to reach Japan in 1543. On the other hand, the Ming emperor and government blamed Wang Zhi for the ravages of the
Jiajing wokou raids The Jiajing wokou raids caused extensive damage to the coast of China in the 16th century, during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor (r. 1521–67) in the Ming dynasty. The term "wokou" originally referred to Japanese pirates who crossed the sea ...
, for which they imprisoned and later executed Wang Zhi in 1560 when he was ashore in China trying to negotiate a relaxation of its maritime prohibitions.


Early life

Wang Zhi was a native of She County of
Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyua ...
(in present-day
Huangshan City Huangshan (), is a prefecture-level city in southern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. Huangshan means ''Yellow Mountain'' in Chinese and the city is named after the famously scenic Yellow Mountains which cover much of the city's vast ge ...
,
Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
). His mother was surnamed Wāng () as opposed to his father's Wáng (). Owing to the similar surnames of his parents, some sources refer to Wang Zhi by his mother's surname, thus rendering his name as Wāng Zhi 汪直 instead of Wáng Zhi 王直. Wang Zhi became a salt merchant early in his life, following the mercantile tradition of Huizhou which had been rejuvenated by ready access to the Ming government salt monopoly. However, despite amassing considerable wealth from the salt trade, his business failed, and he was compelled to seek his fortune in the southern province of Guangdong with business associates Xu Weixue () and Ye Zongman () in 1540. Owing to the lax regulation on maritime trade in Guangdong, Wang Zhi and his associates were able to build great seaworthy junks, which they used to carry contraband goods such as
saltpeter Potassium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . This alkali metal nitrate salt is also known as Indian saltpetre (large deposits of which were historically mined in India). It is an ionic salt of potassium ions K+ and nitrat ...
, silks, and
cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
to the markets of Southeast Asia and Japan. During his time in Southeast Asia, he became acquainted with the Portuguese, who had been in the area since they captured Malacca in 1511. At this time, Wang Zhi's dealings with the foreigners were illegal since all private sea trade had been banned from the beginning of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...
. Under the prohibition, all maritime trade was to be conducted through the officially sanctioned "tribute trade", in which foreign states presented tributes to the Chinese court, acknowledged themselves as vassals of the Ming, and received gifts as a sign of imperial favour. This trade, in addition to being humiliating to the foreigners involved, was inadequate to the demands of the markets, both domestic and foreign, since the Ming had strict rules about how often a vassal could come to present tribute. Wang Zhi's smuggling trade provided the supply to the demand that was unmet by the officially sanctioned trade.


Role in the introduction of Portuguese guns to Japan

On 23 September 1543, Wang Zhi accompanied some Portuguese men on a ship to
Tanegashima is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New ...
, a Japanese island to the southeast of
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...
, in a voyage that marked one of the first times Europeans set foot in Japan. Japanese records of this event refer to Wang Zhi as Wufeng () and describe him as a
Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...
scholar of the Ming who was able to communicate with the local Japanese by writing
Chinese characters Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...
in the sand, since China and Japan shared the same written script at the time. The strange appearance of the Portuguese caused a local sensation, and they were eventually brought before the lord of the island,
Tanegashima Tokitaka Tanegashima Tokitaka (1528 – October 21, 1579) was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period, the 14th head of the Tanegashima clan. He is known for having first established contact with the Europeans, and producing the first European type ...
. The young lord's interest became drawn towards the
matchlock A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of rope that is touched to the gunpowder by a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or trigger with his finger. Before ...
s that the Portuguese were carrying, and Wang Zhi acted as an interpreter for the Portuguese to explain the workings of the guns. The guns were quickly copied and their use spread across Japan, intensifying the wars of the
Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...
. The guns were hence known throughout Japan as ''
tanegashima is one of the Ōsumi Islands belonging to Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, 444.99 km2 in area, is the second largest of the Ōsumi Islands, and has a population of 33,000 people. Access to the island is by ferry, or by air to New ...
'', named after the island. The introduction of Portuguese matchlocks to Japan greatly increased the demand for saltpeter, a vital ingredient of
gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
— a demand that Wang Zhi was on hand to meet. Since Japan did not produce its own saltpeter, Wang Zhi brought Chinese and Siamese saltpeter into Japan amongst other goods, while transporting Japanese
sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...
(another ingredient of gunpowder) to Siam. In the process, he became immensely wealthy and gained a reputation among the Japanese and the foreign countries. Since Japan was undergoing a protracted period of civil war, the lack of an effective central authority (neither the
emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
nor the ''
shōgun , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
'' held any real power at the time) made Wang Zhi free to enter patronage agreements with the regional ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
'' who wielded actual control over territories. At first, Wang Zhi set up base on
Fukue Island is the largest and southernmost of the Gotō Islands in Japan. It is part of the city of Gotō, Nagasaki, Gotō in Nagasaki Prefecture. Gotō-Fukue Airport is on this island. As of July 31, 2016, the population is 38,481.Gotō Islands The are Japanese islands in the East China Sea, off the western coast of Kyūshū. They are part of Nagasaki Prefecture. Geography There are 140 islands, including five main ones: , , , , and . The group of islands runs approximately fr ...
, to settle there. A
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
soon grew across the river from the Uku clan's castle. Wang Zhi also maintained a residence in
Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. The part historically named Hirado is located on Hirado Island. With recent mergers, the city's boundaries have expanded, and Hirado now occupies parts of the main island of Kyushu. The component ...
at the northwestern tip of
Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...
, and enjoyed the patronage of its lord Matsura Takanobu. Wang Zhi's presence in Hirado attracted other merchant-pirates and the Portuguese, who sent their "
black ship The Black Ships (in ja, 黒船, translit=kurofune, Edo period term) was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries. In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking ...
" to Hirado almost every year until the establishment of
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
.


The Shuangyu syndicate

In 1544, Wang Zhi joined the Xu brothers, the heads of a pirate syndicate based in
Shuangyu Shuangyu () was a port on Liuheng Island () off the coast of Zhejiang, China. During the 16th century, the port served as an illegal entrepôt of international trade, attracting traders from Japan, Southeast Asia, and Portugal in a time when priv ...
who were also natives of Wang Zhi's home She County. They took notice of Wang Zhi's experience and ability in trade, and so Wang Zhi quickly rose to become their financial supervisor (). Later, they made him commander of the armed fleet () and councillor on military affairs, and he became revered as Captain Wufeng (). Wang Zhi's connection with Japan quickly proved useful to the Xu brothers when in the same year, a Japanese ship on an unofficial tribute mission to China passed by Tanegashima and landed in the Chinese port city
Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
. This Japanese ship did not carry the proper documents and was refused by the Ningbo officials, and Wang Zhi was able to convince the emissaries to barter their goods illicitly in nearby Shuangyu instead. The next year, Wang Zhi led more Japanese traders to Shuangyu while encouraging Xu Dong (), the leader of the Xu brothers, to send his own ships to Japan. Thereafter, Shuangyu became the primary smuggling port for Japanese traders in China. As Wang Zhi's enterprise grew, he started hiring Japanese fighters to protect their cargo from rival pirate gangs and the Ming navy, and eventually to defeat other pirates and assimilate their followers into his own consortium. The local residents of Shuangyu looked up to Wang Zhi and willingly aided the pirates, since the smuggling trade brought considerable wealth to the island. The villagers, who previously relied on
subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...
and fishing to make a living, turned to making weapons and armour for Wang Zhi and other pirates of the area: "
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title s ...
melted copper coins to make shot, used saltpeter to make gunpowder, iron to make swords and guns, and leather to make their armour." Their admiration for the pirates was such that not only did they provide the pirates with daily necessities, they also gave women and pledged their own children. Many youngsters willingly joined Wang Zhi's group. The Ming court disapproved of the illegal trade and piratical activities centred at Shuangyu. On a stormy night in June 1548, a fleet under the veteran general
Zhu Wan Zhu Wan (; September 29, 1494 – January 2, 1550), courtesy name Zichun () and art name Qiuya (), was a Chinese general of the Ming dynasty. He was known for his uncompromising stance against the Jiajing wokou pirates (so named because they ra ...
razed Shuangyu to the ground and filled its harbour with stones, rendering it permanently unusable. Despite heavy casualties, Wang Zhi managed to escape Shuangyu with the help of the summer monsoon winds. Xu Dong fled overseas, which left Wang Zhi to assume control of the syndicate that Xu Dong left behind. Since Wang Zhi had already controlled the Xu brothers' fleet and treasury, opposition to his rise to leadership was minimal.


King of Hui: The wokou pirate lord

The destruction of Shuangyu disrupted the relatively orderly system of illegal trade previously centered around the port, and the smugglers scattered across the Chinese coast, with some becoming pirates in the process. For his part, Wang Zhi re-established himself at Ligang (瀝港, also named Liegang 列港, on
Jintang Island Jintang Island (金塘岛) is an island in the Zhoushan prefecture-level city in China's eastern Zhejiang province. It has a population of about 41700.
) and continued expanding his consortium. He adopted Mao Haifeng (), a Zhejiang trader skilled in the use of Portuguese cannons, as his son and utilized the latter's knowledge to fit his ships with cannons. In 1551, he led a coalition of merchant-pirates to destroy his rival Chen Sipan () with the connivance of the
Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...
military officials. With Chen Sipan defeated, Wang Zhi's supremacy in the China seas was assured. Many pirates fell in behind Wang Zhi, and it was said that no ship dared to sail without his banner. In a bid to have the Ming government lift the maritime prohibition and legitimize his illicit trade, Wang Zhi portrayed his expansion as keeping the peace on the coast. He collaborated with the Ming officials by turning Chen Sipan over to the authorities. Despite these efforts, the Ming authorities tightened the restrictions later in 1551 by banning even fishing boats from going out to sea, and Wang Zhi was only rewarded 100 shoulder-loads of rice for his trouble. Wang Zhi, indignant, dumped the rice into the sea and sent his pirate fleets to loot the Chinese coast. The Ming responded by sending the military general
Yu Dayou Yu Dayou (1503–1579), courtesy name Zhifu, art name Xujiang, was a Chinese general and martial artist best known for countering the ''wokou'' pirates along China's southeastern coast during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the Ming dynasty. ...
with several thousand war junks to dislodge Wang Zhi from Ligang in 1553. Wang Zhi fled to Japan. Wang Zhi soon re-established himself on the Gotō Islands and Hirado, where he had previously set footholds with the connivance of the local ''
daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and n ...
''. There Wang Zhi called himself the King of Hui (), dressed himself in royal colours, and surrounded himself with
standard-bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a ...
s. It was said that in Hirado, Wang Zhi had up to 2,000 workers and owned hundreds of ships. Wang Zhi's influence in Japan grew beyond his bases on the Gotō Islands and Hirado as he established contact with hegemons like the
Ōtomo clan was a Japanese samurai family whose power stretched from the Kamakura period through the Sengoku period, spanning over 400 years. The clan's hereditary lands lay in Kyūshū. Origins The first family head, Ōtomo Yoshinao (1172–1223), took ...
of Bungo and the
Ōuchi clan was one of the most powerful and important families in Western Japan during the reign of the Ashikaga shogunate in the 12th to 14th centuries. Their domains, ruled from the castle town of Yamaguchi, comprised six provinces at their height, and ...
of Yamaguchi, and his associates were embedded in the court of the
Satsuma clan The were the '' daimyō'' of the Satsuma han, which spread over Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga provinces in Japan. The Shimazu were identified as one of the '' tozama'' or outsider ''daimyō'' familiesAppert, Georges ''et al.'' (1888). in con ...
of
Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...
. Gathering desperados from all over Japan and mixing them into his predominantly Chinese bands, Wang Zhi sent out pirate fleets to raid the coast of the mainland from his island bases. The pirates were called ''
wokou ''Wokou'' (; Japanese: ''Wakō''; Korean: 왜구 ''Waegu''), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 16th century.Jiajing ''wokou'' raids. The ''wokou'' attacks started as swift raids on coastal settlements to obtain provisions and goods for trade, then returned to their ships and left. Eventually, the situation escalated to the point where a pirate raid could number hundreds of ships, defeat garrisons, and besiege district seats. Coastal cities from Korea to Guangdong were affected, and even the relatively inland secondary Ming capital
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
was threatened. Wang Zhi might have hoped that by such a show of force the Ming government could be intimidated to legalize private overseas trade, while he always maintained that he never led a raid in person. Be that as it may, the Ming government considered Wang Zhi as the ringleader ultimately responsible for the devastation on the coast, and the
Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu You ...
ordered for Wang Zhi's capture, dead or alive.


Negotiations with the Ming government and death

In July 1555,
Hu Zongxian Hu Zongxian (; November 4, 1512 – November 25, 1565), courtesy name Ruzhen () and art name Meilin (), was a Chinese general and politician of the Ming dynasty who presided over the government's response to the wokou pirate raids during the rei ...
, a native of Huizhou like Wang Zhi, was assigned to deal with the ''wokou'' problem. Unlike his hardline predecessors like Zhu Wan, Hu Zongxian was open to liberalizing trade in order to put an end to the piracy. Hu Zongxian sent envoys to Japan for the dual purpose of requesting assistance from Japanese authorities, and to establish contact with Wang Zhi to entice him to surrender. As a sign of goodwill, he also released Wang Zhi's family from prison and had them moved to his headquarters at
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
under his care and supervision. Wang Zhi and Mao Haifeng met the envoys on the Gotō Islands where they explained that there was no single authority in Japan that could command the Japanese pirates to cease their activities. On the other hand, they were enticed by the opportunity for their trade to be legalized, and offered to fight other pirates for the Ming in return for a pardon of their crimes and the permission to present tribute. Hu Zongxian relayed the message to the imperial court in Beijing, who responded with skepticism and indignation: tributes could only be presented by foreigners so Wang Zhi's request had seditious implications to the Ming government. In any case, the court did not object to Wang Zhi's offer to fight the pirates on their behalf, and soon Mao Haifeng started clearing pirate nests on
Zhoushan Island Zhoushan Island is the principal and namesake island in the Zhoushan Islands, formerly romanized as the ChusanIslands, an archipelago administered by Zhoushan Prefecture in Zhejiang Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the province ...
. During the meeting on the Gotō Islands, Wang Zhi also warned that
Xu Hai Xu or XU may refer to: People and characters * Xu (surname), one of two Chinese surnames ( or /), transliterated as Xu in English * ǃXu, a name for the ǃKung group of Bushmen; may also refer to the ǃKung language or the ǃKung people * ǃXu ( ...
(), a pirate leader in his consortium, was on his way to raid China and Wang was not able to stop him in time. Peace efforts had to be put on hold as Hu Zongxian dealt with Xu Hai's raid in 1556. During the raid, Xu Hai was shocked to hear that Wang Zhi was negotiating his own surrender with Hu Zongxian, and Hu Zongxian was able to use this to manipulate Xu Hai into betraying his allies. Eventually, the raid was put down with Xu Hai and other leaders killed, and negotiations between Wang Zhi and Hu Zongxian could resume. On 17 October 1557, Wang Zhi arrived at Cengang () in
Zhoushan Island Zhoushan Island is the principal and namesake island in the Zhoushan Islands, formerly romanized as the ChusanIslands, an archipelago administered by Zhoushan Prefecture in Zhejiang Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the province ...
with a large trading fleet sent by
Ōtomo Sōrin , also known as Fujiwara no Yoshishige (藤原 義鎮) and Ōtomo Yoshishige (大友 義鎮), was a Japanese feudal lord (''daimyō'') of the Ōtomo clan, one of the few to have converted to Roman Catholicism (Christianity). The eldest son of , he ...
, who was buoyed by the prospect of China opening trade with Japan. The local officials feared this was another ''wokou'' invasion and readied the troops. Additionally upon their arrival, Wang Zhi learned of a plot by Hu Zongxian's lieutenant
Lu Tang Lu Tang (), courtesy name Ziming, was an army officer of the Ming dynasty in China. He participated in the suppression of the Jiajing wokou raids from 1547 to 1562, during which he fought the Portuguese smugglers who settled in pirate havens on t ...
to bribe the Ōtomo men to present Wang Zhi in ropes, which made the merchant-pirates suspicious of Hu's intentions. Hu Zongxian was only able to allay their fears by sending a high official to the pirates as hostage. Then Wang Zhi laid down his terms for surrender: he sought an imperial pardon, a naval commission, and that ports be open for trade; in return he offered to patrol the coast and persuade the raiders to return to the islands through force if necessary. Hu Zongxian was prepared to send a
memorial to the throne A memorial to the throne () was an official communication to the Emperor of China. They were generally careful essays in Classical Chinese and their presentation was a formal affair directed by government officials. Submission of a memorial was a ...
about Wang Zhi's petition, but the political climate had quickly changed against opening trade. Hu Zongxian's political patron
Zhao Wenhua Zhao Wenhua (; died 1557) was a Chinese public official during the reign of the Ming dynasty's Jiajing Emperor. After initial setbacks in his career, Zhao became a close confidant to Grand Secretary Yan Song, eventually becoming a vice minister. ...
, the major pusher of an appeasement policy, had been brought down by charges of embezzlement. Hu Zongxian himself was the target of a rumour that he received bribes from Wang Zhi and the Ōtomo to pardon their crimes and accede to their requests. The political situation did not allow Hu Zongxian to ask the emperor that Wang Zhi be pardoned. Instead of dirtying his own hands, Hu Zongxian told Wang Zhi to present his petition to the
investigating censor Investigation or Investigations may refer to: Law enforcement * Investigation, the work of a detective * Investigation, the work of a private investigator * Criminal investigation, the study of facts, used to identify, locate and prove the guilt ...
Wang Bengu (), a political hardliner, in
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
. In December, confident in his prospects and his invulnerability, Wang Zhi made landing at Hangzhou. There he was accorded respectable treatment by the authorities, who feared antagonizing his followers, while they figure out what to do with him. During this time Hu Zongxian asked Wang Zhi to help manufacture matchlocks for the Ming army, which led to the weapon being widely used in China. Finally in February next year, Wang Bengu had Wang Zhi put in prison, where he was still given the luxuries of novelties, books, and healthy foods. Wang Zhi believed this was a temporary arrangement and remained hopeful for a pardon until 22 January 1560, when an imperial edict handed down the death sentence. He was brought to the execution grounds in a
palanquin The litter is a class of wheelless vehicles, a type of human-powered transport, for the transport of people. Smaller litters may take the form of open chairs or beds carried by two or more carriers, some being enclosed for protection from the el ...
, and only upon arrival did he realize he was to be executed. He called for his son, gave him a hairpin as a memento, then held him in embrace, crying: "Never have I imagined that I would be executed here!" He was then beheaded before an audience. His wife and children were reduced to the status of slaves. Mao Haifeng had Hu Zongxian's hostage dismembered and gave up hopes for peace; the ''wokou'' raids continued until 1567.


Legacy

Wang Zhi left behind a difficult legacy, as he was at the same time a merchant who fostered maritime trade and a "pirate king" who was at the top of a violent enterprise. Years after Wang Zhi's death, his name remained toxic and was utilized as a tool to smear political opponents. In 1562, Hu Zongxian was forced to retire after he was accused for being too lenient and friendly with Wang Zhi (since they were from the same region), among other perceived transgressions. In another purge in 1565, Xu Jie alleged his rival
Yan Song Yan Song (; 1480–1567), courtesy name Weizhong (惟中), pseudonym Jiexi (介溪), was a Chinese politician and regent of the Ming dynasty. He was notorious for being corrupt and for dominating the Ming government for two decades as Grand Sec ...
's son Yan Shifan () was involved in a plot to overthrow the dynasty with the remnants of Wang Zhi's pirate gang. Yan Shifan was executed and Hu Zongxian, being implicated in the matter, died in prison. Even the Japanese invasions of Korea from 1592 to 1598 were connected to Wang Zhi in the ''
History of Ming The ''History of Ming'' or the ''Ming History'' (''Míng Shǐ'') is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the ''Twenty-Four Histories''. It consists of 332 volumes and covers the history of the Ming dynasty from 1368 to 1644. It ...
'' as it claimed
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: Military Innovations that Changed the Cour ...
gained confidence to invade Korea and China from remnants of Wang Zhi's gang, who said the Chinese feared the Japanese "as if they were tigers". Wang Zhi's reputation as a pirate and a rebel continued to the present day in China, with some calling him a
race traitor Race traitor is a pejorative reference to a person who is perceived as supporting attitudes or positions thought to be against the supposed interests or well-being of that person's own race. The term is the source of the name of a quarterly magaz ...
('' hanjian'') for collaborating with Japanese pirates. In Japan today, Wang Zhi is commemorated as a Sino-Japanese figure of trade instead of piracy, and locales associated with him are emphasized in Fukue and Hirado. Chinese-style hexagonal wells from Wang Zhi's time were preserved in Fukue and Hirado, and a Chinese temple in Fukue that Wang Zhi was said to have frequented was rebuilt. In Hirado, Wang Zhi is celebrated for bringing the Portuguese to the city, ushering in the start of the
Nanban trade or the , was a period in the history of Japan from the arrival of Europeans in 1543 to the first '' Sakoku'' Seclusion Edicts of isolationism in 1614. Nanban (南蛮 Lit. "Southern barbarian") is a Japanese word which had been used to desig ...
in Japan and a period of prosperity in Hirado. A statue of Wang Zhi, along with statues of early Europeans who came to Hirado, was placed on the road leading to the local history museum, and a stone stele stands on the site where Wang Zhi's mansion used to be. The opposing views on Wang Zhi came to a head in dramatic fashion in 2005, when a
Nanjing Normal University Nanjing Normal University (NNU or NJNU; ) is a public research university in Nanjing, China. Founded in 1902 as Sanjiang Normal School, it is one of the oldest and most prestigious higher normal schools in China, and has become a research-intensi ...
professor and a teacher smashed a monument stele to the tomb of Wang Zhi in
Huangshan City Huangshan (), is a prefecture-level city in southern Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. Huangshan means ''Yellow Mountain'' in Chinese and the city is named after the famously scenic Yellow Mountains which cover much of the city's vast ge ...
. The tomb had been erected in 2000 using donations by a Japanese group based in Fukue, with the apparent intention of promoting friendship between Fukue and Huangshan. The vandals claimed they were justified in defacing the tomb since the Japanese had disrespected China by building a monument to a race traitor. The monument was eventually demolished by provincial authorities for violating regulations governing tombs. The affair was widely reported as national news in China, bringing the debates surrounding Wang Zhi into public attention and sparking a new wave of research on the Jiajing ''wokou'' raids.


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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Abridged English translation at pp. 79–92 (left to right). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang Zhi 1560 deaths 16th-century executions by China 16th-century pirates Chinese merchants Chinese pirates Chinese smugglers Chinese expatriates in Japan Executed Ming dynasty people People executed by the Ming dynasty by decapitation People from She County, Anhui 16th-century Chinese businesspeople Executed people from Anhui