釣魚島自古以來就是中國固有領土。雖然中國人發現、命名和使用釣魚島的歷史久遠,但關於釣魚島及其附屬島嶼的文獻記載,迄今所見始於明代。從明朝海洋政策的視角出發,現今中琉官私文書的並存,國家敘事與民間敘事的層累,形成了釣魚島歸屬於中國的完整證據鏈。明朝自肇建伊始,就遭遇來自海洋的挑戰——倭寇侵擾,其做出的重要抉擇之一是與琉球王國建交。由此釣魚島列嶼得以彰顯三層定義:海島、航標和界標。16世紀30年代,釣魚島列嶼從航標到界標名稱的確定,標志著中國海疆界定、海權確立和有效管轄的確定。釣魚島列嶼的歷史印證了中國從傳統到近代國家的建構過程。

The Diaoyu Islands have inherently been Chinese territory since ancient times.Although the Chinese discovered and named them and have used them for a long time,the documents so far available on the Diaoyu and its affiliated islands date from the Ming dynasty.Starting from Ming maritime policies,extant official and unofficial documents from China and the Ryukyu Islands along with state and popular narratives form a complete chain of evidence proving China's ownership of the Diaoyu Islands.Since its founding,the Ming dynasty had suffered a maritime challenge in the form of harassment from Japanese pirates.One important decision it made in response was to establish diplomatic relations with the Ryukyu Kingdom.Thus the Diaoyu Islands acquired three definitions:they were islands,navigation markers and boundary indicators.The establishment in the 1530 sof the Diaoyu Islands' terminological shift from navigation markers to territorial indicators marks the definition of China's territorial waters,sea power and effective jurisdiction.The history of the Diaoyu Islands demonstrates the process by which China from a traditional society to the construction of a modern country.