Yoshimitsu Opens Ming Relations and Tally Trade

In 1401, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu sent the monk Soa and a Hakata merchant to Ming China. Their gifts included horses, fans, screens, armor and swords. Yoshimitsu had already passed the shogunal office to Yoshimochi, but still directed policy. His mission sought an official channel into a maritime order in which the Ming court restricted private overseas trade and demanded action against coastal raiders.

A returning Chinese mission in 1402 brought recognition from the Jianwen emperor addressed to the King of Japan, Minamoto Dōgi—Yoshimitsu’s Buddhist name. Yongle seized the Ming throne that year. Further exchanges placed Yoshimitsu in the new emperor’s tributary relationship, and official tally trade began in 1404. The tallies allowed officials to authenticate authorized missions by checking matching credentials. Monks handled diplomatic exchanges alongside the merchants carrying trade goods.

The language of king and subject was consequential: Yoshimitsu accepted a subordinate position in Ming diplomatic documents in return for recognized access. It did not replace Emperor Go-Komatsu’s domestic imperial title. Nor could tally checks eliminate every unauthorized voyage. The relationship continued through further missions; a 1407 letter from Yongle, preserved at Shōkokuji, is one surviving document of those exchanges.