Wu Tingju (吳廷舉, c. 1460 – 1526) was a

Ming 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 ...

official who, as Administration Commissioner (governor) of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, was an early advocate of trade openness during the reign of Emperor Zhengde. Historian

Timothy Brook Timothy James Brook (Chinese name: 卜正民; born January 6, 1951) is a Canadian historian, sinologist, and writer specializing in the study of China (sinology). He holds the Republic of China Chair, Department of History, University of British Co ...

wrote that Wu's policy positions illustrate the inaccuracy of the "truth universally acknowledged that the Chinese state was historically hostile to foreign trade and that, if the Chinese were in want of anything, it was the freedom of trade." Not much is known of Wu Tingju's biography. He passed the metropolitan examination in 1487 and became a magistrate in

Shunde District Shunde District, also known as Shuntak, is a District (PRC), district of the city of Foshan, Guangdong province, located in the Pearl River Delta. It had a population of 2,464,784 as of the 2010 census. Once a traditional agricultural county, it ...

, where he stayed until 1497. In 1489, he proceeded to the destruction of illegally established temples. A promoter of education, he used the materials from the destroyed temples to repair school buildings and academies. He returned to Guangdong as Assistant Administration Commissioner in 1506, and after a period of disgrace and punishment in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, once again in 1514. Wu Tingju's role in economic policy debates is documented in the ''

Ming Shilu The ''Ming Shilu'' () contains the imperial annals of the emperors of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). It is the single largest historical source for the dynasty. According to modern historians, it "plays an extremely important role in the histo ...

'' or ''" Veritable Record"'' of the

Zhengde Emperor The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zhen ...

, a compilation of court deliberations on administrative and other issues. In contrast to the occasionally more liberal stance under the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fifth ...

, the

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), personal name Zhu Yuanzhang (), courtesy name Guorui (), was the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, reigning from 1368 to 1398. As famine, plagues and peasant revolts in ...

at the start 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 ...

had imposed all foreign trade to be channeled through the highly formalized

tributary system A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of land which the state conqu ...

, implying a prohibition of private foreign trade even though this could probably never be universally enforced. Wu Tingju, instead, appears to have viewed private foreign trade as a valuable source of wealth and fiscal revenue. The memoirs written by various court officials against him and kept in the ''Veritable Record'' suggest that he "was seen in the late 1510s as the official leading the charge for arguing for the benefits of foreign trade to China, in particular the fiscal benefits of that trade; or in other words, the champion of the idea of separating trade and diplomacy." Wu Tingju's tenure as Administration Commissioner coincided with the first incursions of

Portuguese navigators Portuguese maritime exploration resulted in the numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese as a result of their intensive maritime journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of Eu ...

into the

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Mac ...

, by

Jorge Álvares Jorge Álvares (died 8 July 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is credited as the first European to have reached China by sea during the Age of Discovery. His starting of settlements on an island in what is now Hong Kong is still considered a sign ...

in 1513,

Rafael Perestrello Rafael Perestrello (fl. 1514–1517) was a Portuguese explorer and a cousin of Filipa Moniz Perestrello, the wife of explorer Christopher Columbus.Brook, 124. He is best known for landing on the southern shores of mainland China in 1516 and 151 ...

in 1516, and the diplomatic mission of

Tomé Pires Tomé Pires (1465?–1524 or 1540)Madureira, 150–151. was a Portuguese apothecary from Lisbon who spent 1512 to 1515 in Malacca immediately after the Portuguese conquest, at a time when Europeans were only first arriving in Southeast As ...

and

Fernão Pires de Andrade Captain Fernão Pires de Andrade (also spelled as Fernão Peres de Andrade; in contemporary sources, Fernam (Fernã) Perez Dandrade) (died 1552) was a Portuguese merchant, pharmacist, and official diplomat under the explorer and Portuguese Malacc ...

in 1517. The Portuguese - referred to in contemporaneous Chinese sources as "

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

" (''Folangji'', 佛郎機) - were unable to secure

tributary state A tributary state is a term for a pre-modern state in a particular type of subordinate relationship to a more powerful state which involved the sending of a regular token of submission, or tribute, to the superior power (the suzerain). This tok ...

status, and their assertive behavior contributed to generally negative attitudes against foreign traders at the imperial court, thwarting Wu Tingju's open stance. Following the death of the

in April 1521, 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 ...

in 1525 banned all navigation close to the coast of China, other than small fishing vessels, effectively ending legal private foreign trade for several decades.

References

Economic history of China Free trade History of foreign trade in China 1460s births Year of birth uncertain 1526 deaths {{China-bio-stub

See also

References