廈門島，位處九龍江河口，扼控泉、漳二府海上交界，戰略地位特殊。明初洪武年間，為防止倭寇侵擾，明政府便在此，設立中左守禦千戶所和塔頭巡檢司，來保衛內地百姓的安全。然而，影響廈門發展成為明代中後期閩南海防重鎮，莫過於浯嶼水寨的內遷。因為，廈門位近內地，生活條件良好，軍需補給容易，又有港澳可供船艦泊靠，便成了該寨新址的理想地點，至於，遷入的時間應不晚於弘治二年(1489)。隆慶四年(1570)時，明政府又將新設的浯銅遊兵駐防在廈門，讓廈門在閩南海防上扮演愈來愈重要的角色。萬曆二十年(1592)中日朝鮮之役爆發後，明政府調派泉、漳沿海軍事指揮官――南路參將於春、冬汛期駐防廈門，讓其海防地位又再次地提升，正式地成為泉、漳沿海兵防的指揮中心。之後，明政府對廈門的重視亦有增無減，如萬曆四十四年(1616)設立的浯澎遊兵，該遊指揮官亦以廈門做為駐防地點。天啟元年(1621)時，又在廈門設置泉南遊擊，統轄泉州的水、陸官軍！次年(1622)，荷人佔據澎湖，要求直接互市，侵擾泉、漳沿海，福建巡撫、總兵更親赴廈門視導軍務或駐劄指揮，該地是明政府逐荷復澎工作的指揮中心！然而，在啟、禎年間，隨著明國力的衰頹，海防重鎮的廈門，卻備受荷人和海盜的交相侵擾，不僅，荷人來此進行走私或劫掠活動，各路的海盜亦不遑多讓，將此視為是競逐的場域或勢力的爭奪地盤。

Located at the coastland between the Quan-Zhou and the Zhang-Zhou in Fu-Jian, Xia-Men is essential for its military position. After the Ming Dynasty was established, the Ming government posted the Zhong-Zuo-Qian-Hu- Suo（中左千戶所）and the Ta-Tou-Xun-Jian-S（i 塔頭巡檢司） in Xia-Men. Besides, the movement of the naval base, the Wu-Yu-Shui-Zhai（浯嶼水寨）, gave Xia-Men the opportunity to become a major military district in Fu-Jian in the middle and late years of the Ming dynasty. After the movement, the naval fleets, the Wu-Tong-You- Bing（浯銅遊兵）and the Wu-Peng-You-Bing（浯澎遊兵）, both took the Xia-Men to be their berth. Moreover, the military officer, the Nan-Lu-Can-Jiang（南路參將）, and the troop, the Quan-Nan-You-Ji（泉南遊擊）, also once regarded the Xia-Men as their control and command center. In the Tian-Chi period of the Ming Dynasty, when the Dutch occupied the Peng-Hu islands, the Xun-Fu（巡撫）, the prime administrator of Fu-Jian, and the Zong-Bing（總兵）, the military commander in chief, both came to Xia-Men to direct the military action to expel the Dutch from the Peng-Hu islands. Thereafter, because of the weakness and inability of the Ming government, Xia-Men became a place for the Dutch’s smuggling, and the Chinese pirates fought with each other in order to rule this place.