Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to analyze the usage of the tally, which functioned as a pass between Muromachi Japan and Ming China. Judging from some existing historical materials, it can be said that the flexibility of the tally system contributed toward sustaining the relationship between those two countries.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to analyze the usage of the tally (j. kangō, ch. kanhe 勘合), which functioned as a pass between Muromachi Japan and Ming China. The tally was a certificate of the Ming's imperial permission to come and go between Ming China and other countries. Each envoy ship had to bring one tally, and only those bringing it were officially allowed to enter the boundaries of China.

Because one hundred tallies were issued simultaneously with numbering by the Ming every time its emperor changed, each set of tallies was distinguished by preceding it with the name of the Chinese era when it was issued, such as Yongle tallies, Jingtai tallies, etc. In the case of Sino-Japanese relations, a set of tallies was given to the Japanese envoy when he came to China for the first time since the enthronement of the new emperor. After the new set was conveyed to Japan, the next envoy returned the remaining old ones that were unused. The first set was given in 1404, and until the middle of the sixteenth century, it continued to be used as proof of the legitimacy of the envoys that brought them.

Although recent studies have described the form of the tally, its actual usage has not been clarified sufficiently. Moreover, it tends to be considered a rigid system. However, some existing historical materials show that the system was flexible. In the late fifteenth century, although the new Chenghua tallies had been conveyed to Japan, the old Jingtai tallies still continued to be used because of the political strife in Japan. In the second quarter of the sixteenth century, instead of issuing the usual set of one hundred tallies, the Ming only issued one "quasi-tally 准勘合" in an attempt to straighten out the confused situation after the Ningbo Incident. Judging from these facts, it can be said that the flexibility of the tally system contributed toward sustaining the relationship between Muromachi Japan and Ming China.