The Diaoyu Islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times. Clear records of the Diaoyu Islands began in the Ming Dynasty, and after the Qing government exercised effective administrative jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands, it also left a large number of writings. The types of these documents are first, manuscripts for navigating the way; second, records of envoys to the Ryukyu Empire in the Ming and Qing dynasties; third, records of local officials in the Qing Dynasty; fourth, local chronicles; and fifth, coastal defense maps and survey maps of the Ming and Qing dynasties. These documents are both official records and folk documents, and various documents form a complete chain of evidence for the diaoyu Islands to belong to China, which has very important historical value and practical significance.
Navigation guide to the pinbook
"Needle Book", also known as "Needle Sutra" and "Needle Spectrum", is a special book used by ancient navigators to guide the passage when working at sea. So far, the earliest and most representative navigational books recorded about the Diaoyu Islands are the "Thirty-Six Surnames Transmitted NeedleBook" and "Sending with the Wind" written by the Ming Dynasty.
The "Needle Book Transmitted by the Thirty-Six Surnames" is said to be the needle book transmitted by the thirty-six surnames of Hongwu in the early Ming Dynasty (1392) when the thirty-six surnames moved to Ryukyu, and this needle book is currently recorded in the book "Guide to the Broad Sense" written by the Ryukyuan people, and there are four records in the book that clearly record the situation related to the Diaoyu Islands, which are recorded as follows:
Ryukyu to Fuzhou: ... In March, Gumishan opened a boat and used Xin Unitary Needles, Fifteen More, And Single Unitary, Twenty More, See Diaoyutai, and Single Unitary Needle, Seven More To Take Pengjiashan, and Xin Unitary Needle to Take Guantang.
Fuzhou back to Ryukyu: Plum blossoms and Dongsha open boats, if the south wind, with the Yichen needle ten more to take the small Ryukyu head, is the Chicken Cage Mountain round tip, and use the Yichen five more vase island and Pengjia Mountain, and use the single Yi seven more to take the Diaoyutai, leaving the flowing water very tight, north. Use the B and single needle four more Wuyu, in front of Huangmao island, north with a single needle ten more to take Chiyu, north with a single needle fifteen more to take Gumi Mountain, north with a single needle three more to take the purslane mountain, with a single needle three more income into Naha Port, Daji.
And Tung Chung Mountain to open the ship, the north wind A 卯 needle to take Pengjia Mountain, if the south wind with the A 卯 and B needle to take the Diaoyutai, the north wind with the A 卯 and B Chen needle to take the Taiping Mountain, that is, Gonggu Island.
Then the Diaoyutai opened the boat, and the North Wind Tatsumi needle took the small Ryukyu head of the Beimu Mountain, and then used the Yichen needle to take the sandbar gate, and then used the Yichen needle to take the Taiping Mountain. Victoria Peak sailed a ship and used the Gun yin needle to take the port of Naha directly, Daji.
According to the literature, the Thirty-Six Surnames Guiding Needle Book records the navigation needle map from Ryukyu to Fuzhou, China, and the navigation needle road from China back to Ryukyu. The text clearly records that the ancient name of Diaoyu Island is "Diaoyutai", and there is a record of "Diaoyutai boating", which shows that the DiaoyuDao has been an important place of activity for Chinese fishermen and even envoys during the sea voyage of Chinese fishermen and even officials during the Hongwu period (1368-1398 AD) of the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang Hongwu.
"Sending with the Wind" is another needle book used by ancient navigators, and the original book is in the Baudlin Museum of Oxford University in the United Kingdom. In the 1930s, the scholar Xiang Da copied the book back to China, and now the main contents about the Diaoyu Islands are summarized as follows:
Taiwu released the ocean and used Jiayin needles to take the wulu. Use Jiayin and Jiayin needles to open the ocean on the south east wall, and use Ototsu to take the small Ryukyu head. He also used Otatsu to take the wood mountain. The north wind surged east to open the ocean, and used the armor to take Pengjia Mountain. Use the nail and single 卯 to take the fishing island. The south wind gushed east to release the ocean, and used the Yichen needle to take the small Ryukyu head, including the Peng family and the vase island. The south wind plum blossoms open the ocean, and use Ototsu to take the small Ryukyu. Take the south side of Diaoyu Island with Shan B, take Chikan Island with a needle, and take Mount Kumei with a gun needle. The south wind uses shan chen four more, optimistic wind single jia eleven more to take the Cuba mountain, that is, the horsetooth mountain, is the Mashan red island. It is wonderful to use a needle to take the Ryukyu Kingdom.
The book "Sending with the Wind" still records the route from Fujian, China to Ryukyu. Specifically, the boat was driven from the Dock of The Plum Blossom Institute in Fujian Province, passing through Xiaoliuqiu, Diaoyu Island, Chikan Island, to Mount Kumei, and then to the territory of the Ryukyu Kingdom. This document also names the Diaoyu Islands "Diaoyu Islands".
The Thirty-Six Surnames Guiding Codex and The Sending with the Wind are the most authentic records of ancient Chinese navigators discovering and naming diaoyu Islands. Through the records of these two needle sutras, we can know that the names of "DiaoyuYu Island" and "Diaoyutai" are the navigational logos and names recorded by ancient Chinese navigators, which have been passed down from generation to generation in the text, and the relevant names of "Diaoyuyu Island" have been used in The Ming and Qing dynasties since then. It can be said that these two folk documents are an important basis for the discovery and naming of the Diaoyu Islands by the Chinese, and they are also the historical evidence that the Diaoyu Islands have belonged to China since the Ming Hongwu years.
Records of envoys to the Ryukyu Ryukyu during the Ming and Qing dynasties
The Ming Dynasty was the beginning of the Central Plains Dynasty's interaction with the Ryukyu Islands. In the Ariake Dynasty, China sent a total of 23 emissaries to Ryukyu, and the number of emissaries from Ryukyu to the Ming Dynasty reached more than 300 times, leaving many precious records of Ming envoys in the process of frequent tributes. Among the five texts preserved in the world, the most important and representative is Chen Kan's "Records of the Ryukyu Dynasty".
Chen Kan was appointed envoy to Ryukyu in the thirteenth year of Jiajing (1534), responsible for the canonization of Ryukyu, and he compiled what he saw and heard on the way into a book called "Records of Ryukyu". The book describes the Diaoyu Islands as follows:
On the tenth day, the south wind was very fast, and the boat was flying. However, going down the river, it is not very moving. Crossing Pingjia Mountain, over Diaoyu Island, huangmao island, and chiyu island, the eyes are not busy, one day and three days of road, Yizhou sail is small and unattainable, and it is lost behind. On the eve of the eleventh day, I saw Mount Gumi, which belonged to the Ryukyus.
The most important record of this document is that the "Gumi Mountain" was demarcated as the dividing line between China and the Ryukyu Islands. Outside the Gumi Mountains belong to Ryukyu and to China, and the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands are obviously on the territory of China, and are the easternmost islands on China's national border.
In addition to Chen Kan's "Records of making Ryukyu", there are also a large number of records of the envoys of the Ming Dynasty who sent envoys to Ryukyu. In the forty-first year of Jiajing (1562), the envoy guo Rulin who sent an envoy to Ryukyu wrote the "Records of Making Ryukyu", which mentions: "The Akayu people, the Ryukyu local mountains. Another day of wind, that is, Wanggumi Mountain also. In the seventh year of the Wanli Calendar (1579), the messengers Xiao Chongye and Xie Jie recorded in the Records of the Ryukyu Dynasty: "On the eve of the eleventh day, I saw Mount Gumi, and I belonged to the Ryukyu. In the thirtieth year of the Wanli Calendar (1602), the emissary Xia Ziyang recorded in the "Records of the Ryukyu Dynasty": "On the twenty-ninth day, when he saw Mount Gumi, the Yi people were very happy, thinking that they had gradually reached their home. In the sixth year of Chongzhen (1633), Hu Jing followed the envoy Du Sange on an envoy to Ryukyu, and the "Record of Ryukyu" written by husksha records: "Eight days of thin twilight, passing through Gumishan ... The zhenshougu miyi official looked at the ship from afar, that is, the horsetooth mountain of the beacon."
It can be seen from the above that the emissaries and records of Ming Jiajing's subsequent envoys to Ryukyu have witnessed the fact that the Diaoyu Islands are China's inherent territory, and these official documents clearly record the historical fact that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China and the Gumi Mountain is the dividing line of the Sino-Liuzhou border, which is the ming Dynasty's official determination of the use and ownership of the Diaoyu Islands, and this determination is obviously recognized by the Ryukyuan people.
Records of local officials in the Qing Dynasty
After the Qing government recovered Taiwan, the Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands were gradually incorporated into the central political system, and the central government also sent a large number of officials to govern Taiwan, the Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands. During the period of ruling Taiwan, these officials left behind a large number of written materials on the Diaoyu Dao Islands, which effectively proved the historical fact that the Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands were under the jurisdiction of Taiwan.
In the twenty-second year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1683), after the Qing government recovered Taiwan, it soon set up a prefecture in Taiwan and sent a large number of officials to govern. Among them, the imperial history of taiwan patrol is an administrative system in which the Qing government manages Taiwan, and its duty is to inspect local governments, urge local officials to strengthen maritime affairs, and so on. Huang Shuxuan was the first inspector of Taiwan, and after taking office, he dutifully patrolled around Taiwan and made a more detailed record of Taiwan Island and its surrounding islands, of which the records about the Diaoyu Islands are as follows:
Offshore ports, sentry ships can enter and exit only Deer Ear Gate, South Road Dog Harbor (there is a chicken heart reef in the water after hitting Dog Mountain Nanqi), North Road Mosquito Harbor, Ben Port, Freshwater Port, Small Chicken Coop, Eight Foot Gate... Then Fengshan Qihou, Fangliao, Jialiutang, Xie Biyi, Guibi Port, Daxiufang, Yufang Port, Zhuluo Fish Catch boy, Xiang Elephant Collar, now all silted up, but small fish boats come and go. There is a mountain name Diaoyutai in the north of the ocean behind the mountain, which can be moored more than ten large boats. Xue Polan of Chongyao can enter the cedar board.
After Zhou Maoqi, who served as the prefect of Taiwan during the Tongzhi period, went to Taiwan, he also made a comprehensive investigation and record of Taiwan's geography, humanities and jurisdiction, among which the records about the Diaoyu Islands are as follows:
Qilai is the back of light and Zhang; Xiuguluan is the back of Tai and Jia; Beinan is the ridge of Fengshan Mountain. The Land of Qilai was three times the Lan Hall XiuGu Luan and four times the same. Qilai to Su'ao and the Karmalan boundary, about one hundred and fifty miles; from XiuguLuan to Beinan, and Langqiao, roughly and mountain front more than a thousand miles and so on. There is an island in the ocean behind the mountain, the name of the Diaoyutai, which can be moored more than ten giant boats, and the Chongyao Mountain can enter three board boats.
Huang Fengchang, the administrator in charge of collecting city donations in the eighth year of Guangxu (1882), once recorded in his book "Taiwan Raw and Cooked Fanshi: Taiwan Raw and Cooked Fandi Examination Strategy":
Yilan County, south and Qilai Shefan recently... Sibo has eighteen shefan, which are close to Qilai, belonging to the boundary of Fengshan County, also after Chongyao Mountain; Zhiqilai is the back of Chiayi, and Sibo is the ridge of Fengshan Mountain. Thus the humble south is found, and the head of the sand horse is rounded around the north and south; then the back mountains are all over the place, from the nose to the Lang Yue, roughly the same as the mountain front of more than a thousand miles. The sea boat turned from the ShamaJi head plate into the Beinan Toukyu Society. In the north of the ocean behind the mountain, there is the island name Diaoyutai, which can be moored more than ten giant boats; the si waves under the mountain can enter three board boats: Zhang, Quan people have more people to their land.
In the eyes of Taiwanese officials at all levels in the Qing Dynasty, there was no doubt that the Diaoyu Islands came under the jurisdiction of Taiwan, and it was normal for fishermen from Zhangzhou and Quanzhou in Fujian Province to arrive in the waters of the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands many times and carry out production activities. It can be said that the marine economic activities represented by fisheries near the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands were long in the hands of fishermen along the southeast coast of China.
It can be seen that on the basis of inheriting the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty carried out formal administrative jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands, and both senior officials and low-level administrators of the Qing Dynasty included the Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands in the scope of inspection and jurisdiction, and their narrative documents showed that the Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands were China's inherent territory.
Records of place history
Local history is a comprehensive and systematic record of the natural, economic, cultural, and social history and current situation of local administrative regions. Taiwan's local chronicles are divided into two types: prefectural chronicles and county chronicles, which are more representative and authoritative, and both record the Diaoyu Islands.
In terms of the Taiwan Fu Zhi, the "Reconstruction of the Taiwan Fu Zhi" compiled by Yu Shi Fan Xian in the twelfth year of Qianlong (1747) and the "Continuation of the Taiwan Fu Zhi" compiled by Yu Wenyi, the governor of Taiwan in the twelfth year of Jiaqing (1807), are the most typical, and the content of the two fu zhi records is roughly the same, and is excerpted as follows:
Offshore port sentry boats can enter and exit, only Deer Ear Gate, South Road Drum Harbor (there is a chicken heart reef in the water after the South Qi of Drum Mountain), North Road Mosquito Harbor, Ben Port, Freshwater Port, Small Chicken Coop, Eight Foot Gate. The rest such as Fengshan Mountain, Dagang, Xixi... Can be accessed to cedar board boats. Taiwan Prefecture Zaiwei, Xigangzi, Wanli ... Only small boats are allowed. Again, Fengshan Qihou, Fangliao, Jia Liu Tang... Now all the silt is gone, but the small fish boats come and go. Behind the mountain ocean, there is a mountain name Diaoyutai in the north, which can berth more than ten large ships; Xue Polan of Chongyi can enter the cedar board.
In terms of Taiwan County Chronicles, the County Chronicles of Taiwan in the Qing Dynasty also recorded information about the Diaoyu Islands. Among them, the "Records of Taiwan County" written by Lu Dingmei of Zhixian County, Taiwan in the seventeenth year of Qianlong (1752) and the "Chronicle of Continuing to Repair Taiwan County" majored by Xue Zhiliang of Zhixian County, Taiwan in the tenth year of Jiaqing (1805) are the most typical, and the records of the diaoyu Islands in the two county chronicles are also roughly the same, and are now excerpted as follows:
Ring the Taiwan sea also. From Yi Zhizhi, south to The Shama Alum Head of Fengshan County, the dry journey is 296 miles, the water journey is seven more; the north is to the Chicken Cage Nose Head Mountain of the Freshwater Hall, the dry journey is 630 miles, the water journey is 19 more; the northwest to Luermen, the water journey is 25 miles... The boat turns from Shamajitou and can enter the Beinan Tou Society. In the north of the ocean behind the mountain, there is the island name Diaoyutai, which can be moored more than ten giant boats. Under The Chongyao Mountain, Xue Polan Port can enter the three-board boat.
It can be seen that the local chronicles drafted by local governments at all levels in Taiwan, which represent the official documents of the Qing Dynasty, regard the Diaoyu Islands as part of Taiwan, determine the ownership of the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands at the administrative level, and more clearly confirm that the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands are an important part of Taiwan.
Coastal defense maps and official maps of the Ming and Qing dynasties
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, due to the successive invasions of the Wokou, the Ming court's understanding of coastal defense was further deepened, and related works on coastal defense also appeared in large quantities. Among them, many official maps of the Ming Dynasty have official records of the Diaoyu Islands.
Zheng Ruo, a staff member of hu Zongxian, a great official of the Ming Dynasty, compiled the "Compilation of Charts for the Sea" is the earliest and more detailed collection of coastal defense maps that appeared in ancient China.
Since then, various coastal defense catalogues have been compiled, such as Jiajing Thirty-four Years (1565), "Japan Yijian And HaituoJing" written by Zheng Shungong, an envoy to Japan, "Two Zhejiang Coastal Defenses" written by Xie Tingjie in the thirty-sixth year of Jiajing, "Preparing for the Sea" written by Deng Zhong in the twentieth year of the Wanli Calendar (1592), and "Compilation of Coastal Defense" compiled by Wang Zaijin in the forty-first year of the Wanli Dynasty (1613), most of which draw on Zheng Ruozeng's "Compilation of Coastal Defense Maps" to varying degrees, all of which have clearly marked the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands.
A large number of coastal defense atlases that appeared during the Jiajing period in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, represented by the Compilation of The Chart of Preparation, explicitly included the Diaoyu Islands in the jurisdiction of Fujian Province's coastal defense, which proved that the Diaoyu Islands belonged to China and confirmed that China exercised undisputed jurisdiction over these islands.
The Three Dynasties of Kangyongqian in the Qing Dynasty were the heyday of the great unified dynasty in ancient China, and during the Kangxi Dynasty, the imperial court surveyed the territory of the whole country, thus leaving a large number of map atlases about the Diaoyu Islands. Among them, the "Imperial Opinion Full Map" compiled during the Kangxi Dynasty and the "Kunyu Full Map" compiled on the basis of the "Imperial Opinion Full Map" in the thirty-second year of Qianlong (1767) supplemented the identification of the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands.
In the second year of Tongzhi (1863), the "Map of the Unification of China and Foreign Countries in the Imperial Dynasty" advocated and presided over by Hubei Governor Hu Linyi and others more clearly marked the place names of Taiwan and its affiliated islands huangwei island, chiwei island, Xiaoliuqiu, Pengjiashan and other place names in Chinese character names, not only specifically marking the ancient name of the Diaoyu Island, but also clearly marking the boundary between China and Ryukyu with a circle line, that is, between Chiwei Island and Gumi Mountain.
In summary, through the classification and analysis of a large number of Ming and Qing documents related to the Diaoyu Islands, we can obviously conclude that the Diaoyu Islands have been named by China's coastal residents as early as the Ming Dynasty and classified as part of China's territory, and various documents such as official records, local chronicles, coastal defense maps, and maps in the Ming and Qing dynasties have also formed a complete chain of evidence, strictly dividing the border between China and the Ryukyu Islands, and proving from multiple angles the Ming and Qing government's right to govern the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islands. The ownership of the Diaoyu Islands in China is an indisputable historical fact.