The earliest records of Diaoyu Islands in China's history

Starting from the Ming Dynasty, the name of Diaoyu Island began to be determined, and the island became the focus of ancient records in the Ming Dynasty because it became a necessary route for transportation between the mainland and the Ryukyus. According to the "History of Ming Dynasty", Zhu Yuanzhang sent an envoy to the sea for the enthronement of the king of Ryukyu Kingdom, and for hundreds of years, the envoys of Ryukyu and the enthronement envoys of the Chinese court had to travel to and from the mainland by way of this "Diaoyu Island", and the book "Sending the Winds to the People", which was published by the Ming Dynasty in 1403 and originally preserved in the library of the University of Oxford, was a record of China's Yuan and Ming dynasties, which were the most important and most important of all. The book was a guide to navigation in China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. In the book, Diaoyu Island was highlighted as a landmark on the mainland's route to the Ryukyus.

Ming Jiajing thirteen years, Ming Shizong ordered the left minister Chen Kan as the main envoy, pedestrian Division pedestrian Gao Cheng as deputy envoy to the Ryukyus, the mission by the Ryukyu mission to accompany. After returning to the country that year, Chen Kan for the emperor to explain the journey and wrote a book "to the Ryukyus record" (1534), the book recorded the situation of the Diaoyu Islands: "May first, I, etc. to six stone boat. Also began, to the second day, offering the sea to board the boat. Nine days, vaguely see a small mountain, is a small Liuqiu also. Ten days, the south wind is very fast, the boat traveling like flying ...... over Pingjia Mountain (Pengjia Island), over Diaoyu Island, over Huangmao Island, over Chiyu Island, dazzling, a day and night and three days road. Eleventh night, see Gumi Mountain, is a Ryukyu. The barbarians sing and dance in the boat, happy to reach home." This passage shows two meanings, first, the Diaoyu Islands is the way through the Ryukyus must pass, has long been marked for our charts; Second, the Diaoyu Islands belong to the Chinese territory, because the "barbarians" in the Diaoyu Islands, "a day and night and three days of the road," see the It was only after they had crossed the Diaoyu Islands and traveled for three days in one day that they saw the "Gumi Mountain" and began to be happy because they had almost reached home. This shows that Diaoyu Island, Huangmao Island (Yellow Tail Island), and Chiyu Island (Red Tail Island) have not been under the jurisdiction of the Ryukyus since ancient times.

Qi Jiguang had used Diaoyu Island as a strategic defense line

In the 34th year of the Ming Dynasty, because of the frequent attacks by Japanese pirates on our sea defenses, Emperor Shizong of the Ming Dynasty ordered Yang Bo, then the Minister of War, to be responsible for sending a messenger to the King of Japan, ordering him to restrain the Japanese and release the Chinese nationals who had been plundered and captured. The name of the envoy sent by Yang Bo was Zheng Shungong, which was the first official dispatch of the "accountability envoy" to Japan.

Jung wrote a book called "Nihon Ichikan" (1555), which included nine volumes, including "Miles and Songs", "Canghai Jinjing" and "Angel's Chronicle", after he returned to Japan. The book consists of nine volumes, including three parts: "The Long Song of Ten Thousand Miles", "The Mirror of the Ocean", and "The Angel's Chronicle", in which important accounts of Taiwan, the Ryukyus, and the Diaoyu Islands have become the first-hand information for the study of China, Japan, the Ryukyus, and Taiwan during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. The book "Miles of Song" clearly records the Diaoyu Islands belongs to Taiwan's subsidiary islands: "take the small east island of the chicken cage mountain, about ten more, take Diaoyu Island. Since the Meihua ferry Penghu, the small east, to the Ryukyus, to Japan, for the former Chen gave the governor in the mission to the Ryukyus from its from the people to get this equation also. And Penghu island in the spring sea, back 60 miles away from each other." The so-called "small east" refers to the island of Taiwan at the time of the title, clear Taiwan, Penghu and Diaoyu Islands for China.

The book also emphasizes that the Diaoyu Islands belong to Taiwan: "Diaoyu Island, Xiaodong Xiaoyu also", that is, the Diaoyu Islands are Taiwan's subsidiary islands. The reason why here focuses on the Diaoyu Island belongs to and the location, is inseparable from the background of the anti-Japanese at that time. At that time, Qi Jiguang used the Diaoyu Islands as a strategic line of defense to contain the invasion of Japanese invaders. Since then, the Diaoyu Islands have become an important frontline for mainland China to resist Japanese invasion and pirate harassment. Whether it was the "Ten Thousand Miles of Sea Border Map" drawn by Zheng Ruozeng of the Ming Dynasty, and the "Preparation of Sea Map" compiled by him and Hu Zongxian, the governor of Zhejiang Province, or the Chinese sea defense map "Wu Bei Zhi - Sea Defense II - Coastal Mountains and Sandy Map of Fujian Province" drawn and published by Maoyuan Yi and the "Full Map of the Kun Bi" drawn by the imperial order of the Qianlong Emperor, etc., all of them marked "Diaoyu Island", "Huangwei Mountain" and "Chiyu Island" as Chinese territory, and to focus on defense.