# maritime trade supervisorate
**Wikidata**: [Q11059508](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11059508)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/maritime-trade-supervisorate

# Maritime Trade Supervisorate

## Summary

The maritime trade supervisorate is a government agency responsible for overseeing and administering maritime trade activities. Also known by several names including the Shibo Bureau, Shi Bo Si, and the Maritime Trade Bureau, it functions as an organizational part of government dedicated to specific public services related to maritime commerce and customs. It is recognized in the Encyclopedia of China and documented across Japanese, Korean, and Chinese Wikipedia.

## Key Facts

- **Classification**: Government agency — an organizational part of a government responsible for specific public services
- **Aliases**: Maritime Affairs Department, maritime customs office, the Maritime Trade Bureau, Shibo Bureau, Maritime Trade Offices, Shi Bo Si, the Department of Shi Bo Si, Shi-bo-si
- **Wikipedia presence**: Available in 3 languages — Japanese (ja), Korean (ko), and Chinese (zh)
- **Google Knowledge Graph ID**: /g/121m_ds1
- **Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition) ID**: 21526
- **Sitelink count**: 3

## FAQs

**What is the maritime trade supervisorate's organizational classification?**
It is classified as a government agency, meaning it is an organizational part of a government responsible for administering specific public services — in this case, services related to maritime trade and customs oversight.

**What are the alternative names for the maritime trade supervisorate?**
It is known by numerous names including the Maritime Affairs Department, the Maritime Trade Bureau, the Shibo Bureau, Maritime Trade Offices, Shi Bo Si, the Department of Shi Bo Si, and Shi-bo-si. These names reflect both English translations and transliterations from East Asian languages.

**In which languages is information about the maritime trade supervisorate available?**
Wikipedia articles about the entity exist in three languages: Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. This aligns with its historical relevance to East Asian maritime commerce and governance.

**Is the maritime trade supervisorate documented in any major reference works?**
Yes, it is catalogued in the Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition) under ID 21526, and it has an entry in Google's Knowledge Graph identified by the ID /g/121m_ds1.

## Why It Matters

The maritime trade supervisorate represents a significant mechanism of governmental oversight over maritime commerce, reflecting how states have historically organized themselves to regulate, tax, and manage seaborne trade. As a government agency dedicated to this domain, it sits alongside other specialized public service bodies responsible for areas like health, judiciary, education, transportation, and foreign affairs. The existence of multiple aliases — spanning English translations and East Asian transliterations — underscores its broad historical and geographic relevance across the East Asian region. Its documentation in the Encyclopedia of China and across three East Asian Wikipedia editions signals its recognized importance as an institutional form in the study of governmental administration and trade history.

## Notable For

- Possesses a wide array of aliases — at least eight documented names — reflecting its transliteration and translation across East Asian languages and English
- Recognized in the Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition), indicating established academic and encyclopedic significance
- Catalogued in Google's Knowledge Graph, confirming its status as a distinct, identifiable entity
- Wikipedia coverage is exclusively in East Asian languages (Japanese, Korean, Chinese), pointing to its primary relevance in that regional and historical context

## Body

### Classification and Function

The maritime trade supervisorate is an instance of a government agency. Government agencies are organizational components of a government tasked with delivering specific public services. In the case of the maritime trade supervisorate, that domain is maritime trade — encompassing customs operations, commercial regulation at sea, and related administrative functions.

### Names and Aliases

The entity carries a rich set of alternative names, which reveals both its functional role and its linguistic journey across cultures:

- **Maritime Affairs Department**
- **Maritime customs office**
- **The Maritime Trade Bureau**
- **Shibo Bureau**
- **Maritime Trade Offices**
- **Shi Bo Si**
- **The Department of Shi Bo Si**
- **Shi-bo-si**

The "Shi Bo Si" variants represent transliterations from Chinese (市舶司), directly referencing the historical offices that supervised maritime trade. The English aliases such as "Maritime Trade Bureau" and "Maritime Affairs Department" are functional translations describing the agency's role.

### Documentation and References

The maritime trade supervisorate is indexed in two major knowledge systems:

- **Encyclopedia of China (Third Edition)**: Entry ID 21526, establishing it as a recognized subject in Chinese encyclopedic scholarship.
- **Google Knowledge Graph**: Assigned the identifier /g/121m_ds1, marking it as a distinct entity in one of the world's largest structured knowledge databases.

### Digital Presence

The entity has a modest but regionally focused digital footprint. It has a sitelink count of 3 across Wikipedia, with articles in:

- **Japanese (ja)**
- **Korean (ko)**
- **Chinese (zh)**

The absence of an English Wikipedia article, combined with the presence of all three East Asian language editions, reinforces that the maritime trade supervisorate is primarily a subject of interest within East Asian historical and administrative study. No SEO data is currently available for the entity, suggesting limited public-facing commercial or general-audience content beyond reference works.