Ningbo Incident

• Japanese: 寧波の乱 (Ninpou no ran)

The Ningbo Incident was a clash between forces of the Ôuchi and Hosokawa clans, in the Chinese port of Ningbo in 1523, over dominance of maritime trade with China.

Ships from both clans arrived in the port, seeking to unload goods and engage in trade. The Hosokawa tribute mission was led by Song Suqing, a native of Ningbo who had illegally fled to Japan in 1496, and who had come to serve the Hosokawa; this was his second mission to China on their behalf. The Ôuchi representative, Sôsetsu, did not have the connections that Song did, and received less privileged treatment. In response, the Ôuchi men attacked their Hosokawa counterparts, seized the Hosokawa's tribute and trade goods, and pillaged the neighboring countryside, capturing Song Suqing and imprisoning him upon their return to Japan.

The incident marked a major turning point in Sino-Japanese relations. While China did not ban its people from going to Japan, and Japanese from coming to China, until 1557, the Ming Court did shut down its shibo si port offices in Ningbo and Fuzhou, demanded of the Ashikaga shogunate that it turn over those responsible, and also demanded the return of the tallies the shogunate had been given to engage in formal trade relations with China. Since those receiving these demands and claiming to represent the shogunate were in fact agents of the Ôuchi clan, and not true shogunate representatives, nothing came of the Ming Court's efforts.