1640
Shang Feng， the king of Ryukyu， submitted a report to the Emperor of Ming dynasty and stated that “As Ryukyu is governing the east of China for generations。 Ryukyu is bordering Fujian， sharing the same base with Fujian， and the god demarcated Ryukyu and Fujian by the water （HeiShui Gou）。 Our interests are highly correlated in case of a good or bad turn”。
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Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty， Shi Yongtu compiled Wubei Mi Shu （secret copies of defense preparations）。 The Wan Li Haifang Tu was simplified and attached to Fujian Haifang Tu （map of coast defense， Fujian Province）， volume II。 In the map， Diaoyu Shan， Huangmao Shan， Chi Island and others were included。
1650
The 7th year of the reign of Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty。
Asahide Hachi （Xiang Xiangxian）， a pro-Japanese leading Ryukyuanese politician， wrote Zhongshan Shijian （The Reign of King Zhongshan）。 The book copied voyages from Chen Kan’s Shi Ryukyu Lu （Commissioner’s travel record to Ryukyu）， including the above quotation： “… we were in sight of Gumi Island， an island in SW Ryukyu …”
1683
The 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty。
Wang Ji， the Cefengshi， wrote Shi Ryukyu Za Lu （notes on mission to Ryukyu）， in which we have： “Question： what does the word ‘jiao’ mean？ Answer： It means the boundary between China and foreign countries。” Thus it confirms that the Heishui Gou， or the Ryukyu Trench， lying between Chiwei Island and Gumi Island， serves as a natural boundary between China and Ryukyu。
1701
Cai Duo， the Chinese cefengshi for Ryukyu， presented Zhongshan Shi Pu （The Kings of Zhongshan， a Genealogy）， in which the attached map showed all 36 Ryukyu islands without including the Diaoyu Islands。
1719
Xu Baoguang， the deputy Cefengshi， wrote Zhongshan Chuan Xin Lu （notes by an imperial messenger to Zhongshan） after comparing opinions with the Ryukyu authorities。 It was based on materials （documents and maps） that were provided by the Ryukyu Government。 In the book we have： “Bachongshan is the southwestern edge of Ryukyu… Gumishan is a mountain serving as a landmark in the southwest border area of Ryukyu。” On the attached map， “Map of 36 Islands of Ryukyu，” we find that Chinese territory， west of Guimishan， was plotted as a vast expanse of sea。 It was the traditional plotting method by which Chinese people plotted boundaries in ancient times。
1722
Huang Shujing， the Royal Censor， went around and inspected Taiwan。 In his Tai Hai Shi Cha Lu （an inspection tour of Taiwan）， he kept a detailed record depicting every part along the patrol route。 （vol。 II ： Wu Bei）。 As for the Diaoyu Islands， he stated that “behind the mountain （Taiwan） there lies an islet named Diaoyu Tai （i。e。 island） in the north of the ocean， with an anchorage capacity of ten and more ships。”
1747
The 12th year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty。
In Chong Xiu Taiwan Fu Zhi （a revised edition of the annals of Taiwan Prefecture） （ed。 by Fan Xian et al。） and Xu Xiu Taiwan Fu Zhi （a continuation of the annals of Tai-ran Prefecture） （ed。 by Yu Wenyi et al， 1764）， editors pointed out defects in the original text： “A pioneer work lost in sketchiness。” They emphasized the present supplementation since coast defense was omitted in the original text。 In volume 11 of the revised edition， we discovered the quotations about the Diaoyu Islands that were mentioned above are copied from Huang Shujing’s note。
1757
Zhou Huang， the cefengshi China， wrote Ryukyu Guo Zhi Lue （a sketch of Ryukyu）。 In his book we have： “（Ryukyu is） surrounded by the sea， afar from its west lies Heishui Gou （now the Okinawa downfold） bordering Fujian waters。” On the attached Ryukyu Map， Mount Gumi Shan Island is marked as the boundary of Ryukyu。 The map does not include Chiwei Island or Wangwei Island， which are west of Mount Gumi。
1767
By the imperial order， French missionary Michael Benoist made Kunyu Quan Tu （map of the earth）。 On the map the Haoyu Xu （i。e。 island）， Huanwei Xu， and Chewei Xu are equivalents of Diaoyu Island， Huangwei Island， and Chiwei Island， respectively。 They were colored as red in yellow， which is the same as Mainland China and Taiwan。 On the other hand， 36 islands and the Ryukyu mainland were colored as dark green。
1785
Shihei Hayashi， a Japanese of Sendai origin， wrote An Illustrated Manual for Touring Three Countries。 On the attached map of the book， The Map of Three Provinces of Ryukyu and Its 36 Islands， the Chinese mainland and Diaoyu Islands， Huangweishan Island， and Chiweishan Island are the same color。
1800
The 5th year of the reign of Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty。
Zhao Wenkai， the Cefengshi， wrote Cha Shang Cun Gao （a book record）。 In this book we have： “… by the 11th day we were in sight of Guimishan （close to Ryukyu）。”
1808
Qi Kun， the Cefengshi， noted the location of the “gou” trench （Ryukyu trench， or Heishui Gou）： “（on intercalary May 13th） … in sight of Chi Island around noon， continued for around 12 hours， passed the ‘gou’ and offered up a sacrifice to Sea…”。 In the book “Hanghai Ba Yong” （8 odes to voyage）， Qi Kun gave an annotation on Guimishan： “The island is within the boundaries of Ryukyu…”
1863
The 2nd year of the reign of Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty。
A Huang Chao Zhong Wai Yi Tong Yu Tu （a map of the Qing Empire and its adjacent countries） was made under the direction of the Military Governor of Hubei Province。 The manufacture of this map was based on maps in the Royal Library。 On the map， Diaoyu Island， Huangwei Island， and Chiwei Island are named after the customary Chinese appellations。
1871
In eighty-sixth volume of Book “Fujian Gazetteer （version 2）”， which was originally written when Emperor Daoguang was in control， the Diaoyu Islands were included as an important channel in Naval battle and belonged the Taiwan government Kavalan Hall （Hall is a military institution one level lower than county。 [Kavalan Hall is now known as Yilan County in Taiwan Province]）。
1879
The 5th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty。
Japan was about to abolish Ryukyu Phan and establish Okinawa County。 Xiang Dehong， the Chinese official in charge of Ryukyu affairs， called on China “to send troops to Ryukyu， work with Ryukyu people to defend the invasion of Japan。 Follow what China did in Ming Dynasty， when the Chinese emperor ordered Wu Zhen to led the Navy to protect Ryukyu， so that Japan is less likely to have the ambition to invade”。 In his reply to the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Terashima， he reaffirmed that Ryukyu embraced no more than 36 islands， while all the islands between Jiumi Island and Fuzhou belonged to China。