East Asian Trade and Political-Military Networks: the role of pirates
and merchants in the development the East Asian world-system

Hiroko Inoue

University of California-Riverside

The comparative world-systems perspective contends that interpolity warfare networks, trade networks, and information networks have expanded in waves over the past 5000 years. The process has been uneven, revealing variations in patterns across different world regions. This study examines the development of East Asian trade and political-military networks involving China, Korea, and Japan.
Southern coastal China, Korea, and Japan have been linked by maritime commerce for centuries. Seaborne commerce linked the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, the South China Sea and then expanded its connections to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. This trade network formed a vibrant economic matrix for traders of diverse ethnic backgrounds. The trade links between China, Korea and Japan had become strong during the 5th BCE, but when they also developed a mutually interdependent political-military network is not fully investigated.
As a step toward understanding the emergence of an East Asian political/military network this study focuses on the activities of the pirates, raiders and smugglers (Wokou) which had been active mainly from the 13th century in the South China Sea and the Sea of Japan. The Wokou’s activities are thought to have had an indirect, yet substantial impact on the development of the East Asian political-military network, including state formation, political centralization, and alliance formation among the core polites. While facilitating political-military networking, during political instability among the core polities, Wokou’s activities enhanced and further facilitated the expansion and intensification of East Asian trade networks. This study examines the extent to which Wokou’s activities contributed to the waves of expansion and contraction of trade and political-military interaction in East Asia.