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An Analysis on the Development of Ming-Qing Maritime Defence and Navy

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The Maritime Defence of China

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Abstract

Forts, signals and towers were part of the naval and coastal defence establishment in the early Ming period. During the reign of Jiajing (r.1522–66), more pirates appeared along the coasts. Coastal defence began to be constructed and stepped up especially in Zhejiang and Fujian during the mid-Jiajing reign, coinciding with the time and career of Qi Jiguang. The succeeding dynasty (Qing), upon its conquest of China, inherited a state of chaos without governable systems. As part of its priority to establish law, order and stability, the Qing government continued to use the naval and coastal defence infrastructure of the Ming dynasty as a foundation for security. Before 1683, the priority defence area in coastal security was focused on Fujian against the Zheng organization. Subsequently, the Qing government distributed security evenly along the coast until the Jiaqing emperor set up Guangdong as a priority province. This reflected a shift in coastal defence orientation from Kangxi’s stance. The leading security concern of the naval and coastal establishment was to defend against pirates. As a result, the security establishment adjusted its defensive capability according to this lower threat level and there was little improvement over the long term.

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Notes

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  1. Tamkang University, New Taipei City, Taiwan

    Chi-Lin Lee

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  1. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Y.H. Teddy Sim

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Lee, CL. (2017). An Analysis on the Development of Ming-Qing Maritime Defence and Navy. In: Sim, Y. (eds) The Maritime Defence of China. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4163-1_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4163-1_14

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