Shi Jinqing

He was a key merchant in Palembang with good business links with the king of Ryukyu and Chinese and Muslim traders in the region. Besides a well-established merchant in Palembang, Si Jinqing was appointed by the Ming court as the pacification officer to Palembang.

Despite being a Ming official, Shi Jinqing still had to comply to the official anti-private trade policy in China. He was not allowed to engage in the imports and exports between China and the Southeast Asian native states. So his trading business was within the Malay Archipelago. His family enterprise also had extensive links with the Ryukyu (now Okinawa) market. The firm kept close ties with the king of Ryukyu in the 1430s and 1440s. During the Ming dynasty, Ryuky was active in the spice trade and China trade and it maintained access to the Chinese market through the tribute system. Thus, the Shi family formed a strategic partnership with the Ryukyu royal house. It might have used Ryukyu as a vehicle to export spices to China and import Chinese products. From the correspondence between the king of Ryukyu and Shi family, it was obvious that the latter served as a supplier of spices and other local produce to the Ryukyu royal house.

Upon his death around 1421, a family feud broke out over the control of the family business between Si Jinqing’s only son and two daughters. Eventually, the younger daughter, Shi Er-jie emerged as victor and took charge of the family business.