Abstract: The Patrol and Inspection Department (Xunjiansi) is an agency established in various places during the Song dynasty to combat smuggling,quell grassroots unrest,and maintain local security. With the prosperity of overseas trade,various types of smuggling were rampant in the coastal areas in the Southern Song Dynasty. Smugglers in large quantities were widespread,and the maritime bandits were unprecedentedly powerful. Thus,the number of patrol and inspection officers responsible for combating smuggling and bandits increased accordingly. The soldiers commanded by the coastal patrol and inspection offices were the standing patrol forces at the grassroots level. According to the anti-smuggling objects,the scale of bandit activities and the levels of difficulties involved in their governance,the coastal patrol and inspection offices would either conduct joint operations with the nearby patrol and inspection soldiers,or cooperate with the navy and other main troops as well as local civil defense forces in suppressive operations,and they played an important and fundamental role in the control of offshore perils. Revealing the layout characteristics of various coastal patrol and inspection offices in the Southern Song Dynasty,analyzing changes in their functions,and exploring the status and role of patrol and inspection offices in the control mechanism of coastal perils at that time are of great significance for deepening and promoting relevant research on local control mechanisms.

Key words: the Southern Song Dynasty, coastal patrol and inspection, suppressing smuggling, coastal areas, the control of coastal perils