Robert J. Antony

Maritime Violence and State-Formation in Vietnam

Chinese pirates played a critical role in the formation of the Tay Son state in Vietnam at the end of the eighteenth century. Tay Son was the name given to a rebellion started by three brothers in south-central Vietnam in the early 1770s. What began as a small local uprising devel- oped into a major rebellion that encompassed all of Vietnam largely because of the aid of Chinese pirates and merchants, who were often indistinguishable. After a Chinese expeditionary army sent to suppress the rebellion was defeated in 1788, a reluctant Qianlong emperor recog- nised the Tay Son leader as the legitimate king of Vietnam and vassal to the Great Qing Empire. Despite the new accolades, however, the war in Vietnam continued and the Tay Son rulers, in need of money and sup- port, adopted a dangerous two-faced policy of giving tribute to China while at the same time sanctioning Chinese pirates to raid shipping and coastal towns in south China. That aid from the pirates helped to sustain the Tay Son regime and allowed it to remain in power until its final defeat in 1802.

Piracy in Asian Waters

Abstract Seafaring, and especially the use of seaborne violence, in the early modern period is strongly associated with European naval activity. In this issue and the next, this perspective is challenged through a sustained interrogation of indigenous piracy in Asian waters. A series of studies highlight the persistence, sophistication, and breathtaking scale of Asian piracy. They show how piracy was deeply ingrained in the social worlds, commercial exchanges, and political contestations across the Asian littoral. Based on these insights, it is argued that the study of piracy reveals the significance of an often-overlooked dimension of Asian maritime enterprise in the early modern period.

Bloodthirsty Pirates? Violence and Terror on the South China Sea in Early Modern Times 1

Abstract All pirates had reputations for violence and terror, but in Asia people also depicted them as bloodthirsty demons who practiced cannibalism and human sacrifices. But how deserved were those reputations? Here I examine the images, nature, and meanings of pirate violence in the South China Sea between the fifteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Pirates consciously used violence and brutality to obtain money and goods, to seek vengeance against their enemies, and to instill fear in anyone who might resist them. In this article I focus on what I call the cultural construction of violence with Chinese characteristics.

Banditry, Marginality, and Survival among the Laboring Poor in Late Imperial South China

In the early 1830s the provincial judge of Guangdong issued a proclamation concerning the problem of banditry in the province. In part his proclamation read: In Guangdong province, the law against bandits is very severe. In cases of a general pardon from the throne, those who have robbed in bands are not included. If a bandit has escaped three years, and plundered three times, he is executed immediately after conviction, and his head suspended in a cage. This is not the mode of treating banditti in any other province. Here the law is not only severe, but the exertions of the police to seize offenders are strenuous. (Chinese Repository, April 1836)

Sea Bandits of the Canton Delta, 1780-1839

The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were times of widespread violence and social unrest throughout China. As society became increasingly competitive and contentious, major uprisings erupted: the Lin Shuangwen uprising on Taiwan (1787-1788), the White Lotus rebellion in central China (1795-1804) and the Triad revolt near Canton (1802-1803). During those years, all along the southern coast, piracy remained one of the most ubiquitous and extensive forms of disorder. 3 As a type of collective violence, piracy was but one aspect of the general trend toward the militarization of local society that began in the late eighteenth century. It seemed that pirate disturbances, and organized violence in general, were becoming the norm, and law and order were becoming aberrations in society. It was simply taken for granted that predation and violence were just as much a part of the life of ordinary people