Li Dan (;

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

: Andrea Dittis; died 1625) or Li Tan or Litõa, was an influential

overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese people are Chinese people, people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 milli ...

merchant, Chinese community leader, and pirate. He was a prominent early 17th century Chinese merchant and political figure, originally from

Quanzhou Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...

Fujian province Fujian is a province in southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Qua ...

. Li operated out of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

as the

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Sangley Chinese there for a time before moving to

Hirado is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 28,172, and a population density of 120 people per km2. The total area of the city is Geography Hirado City occupies the northern part of Nagasaki P ...

, in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and becoming a part of the '' shuinsen'' trade, with a formal vermillion

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

license from the

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

. He served as head (

Kapitan Cina Kapitan Cina, also spelled Kapitan China or Capitan China or Capitan Chino (; ; ; ), was a high-ranking government position in the civil administration of colonial Indonesia, Malaya, Singapore, Borneo and the Philippines. Office holders exercis ...

) of the Chinese community in Hirado, and maintained a residence in the English sector of the city.

Pedro Yan Shiqi Yan Siqi () (1586 – September 1625), courtesy name Zhenquan (), was a native of Haicheng, Zhangzhou. He was a tailor, fugitive, armed maritime merchant and also known as the "Pioneer King of Taiwan" (). He may have also been known to Dutch a ...

reportedly been the second of command of Li Dan. Following his death, Li Dan's business was inherited by

Zheng Zhilong Zheng Zhilong, Marquis of Tong'an (; April 16, 1604 – November 24, 1661), baptismal name Nicholas Iquan Gaspard, was a Fujianese (Hokkien) admiral, merchant, translator, military general, politician, and pirate leader of the late Ming dyna ...

, along with his role in the community.

References

*This article's content is based on that from the corresponding article on the Japanese Wikipedia. 1625 deaths 17th-century Chinese businesspeople Businesspeople from Fujian Chinese merchants Chinese pirates Kapitan Cina Chinese emigrants to the Philippines Chinese emigrants to Japan People from Quanzhou Year of birth unknown {{PRChina-business-bio-stub