Also known as "Wang", it is said that it is impersonated by his mother's surname, and it is called "Wang" when doing illegal trade at sea. At that time, Wang Zhi's hometown was poor, and doing business became the best way for them to make a living. Wang Zhi started out selling salt. He didn't make much money. He once said to his friend, "China has a strict legal system, so it is better to go overseas to play."

So, in the 19th year of Jiajing, that is, A.D. 1540, he went south to the southeast coast to start maritime trade, and soon developed his goal to Japan.

Historically, there have been good and bad comments on Wang Zhi. Because of the maritime ban promulgated by the Ming Dynasty at that time, the Ming Dynasty had a historical evaluation of Wang Zhi: "Wang Zhi was selfish, ignored the maritime ban policy of the Ming Dynasty and smuggled into the sea.

Our historical evaluation of Wang Zhi's maritime smuggling trade is also biased. They think they are "Japanese pirates" who collude with Japanese pirates. In fact, after careful analysis, they were the folk maritime trade that was forced to rise under the maritime ban at that time. If the maritime ban was opened at that time, they would not necessarily become pirates from maritime merchants, and might even promote economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries.

Therefore, it is not difficult to see from here that if China had adopted the British attitude, it would certainly have its own naval fleet earlier. In this case, China would not be carved up by the great powers. China historians also have the view that Japanese pirates agree, that is:

At that time, the Japanese pirates also promoted the coastal trade to a certain extent and provided living conditions for the local people. Up to now, the Japanese people admire this China.