← Explore on the interactive map
Southeast Asian Maritime Silk Road Network
The Southeast Asian Maritime Silk Road network was a multi-centered system of trade and political exchange linking southern China, Champa, Java, Siam…
Timeline
- c. 600–1279Guangzhou-Champa-Srivijaya route · South China SeaThe Tang and Song maritime trade institutions and the rise of Southeast Asian port city-states formed an early maritime trade network in which China exported silk and porcelain while Southeast Asia transshipped spices.
- c. 1300–1400Java-Siam-Champa-Quanzhou port cluster · Strait of MalaccaIn the 1310s nodes such as Majapahit, Sukhothai, Champa, and Quanzhou operated in parallel through junks and tributary envoys, with the network covering spices, ceramics, metals, and religious and cultural exchange.
- c. 1400–1500Strait of Malacca · Strait of MalaccaZheng He's voyages and the rise of the Malacca Sultanate shifted the network's center of gravity toward the strait, laying structural groundwork for European merchants to enter Southeast Asian waters directly in the 16th century.
Sources
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600-1400 — Tansen Sen (2003)
- Wang Gungwu. The Nanhai Trade: A Study of the Early History of Chinese Trade in the South China Sea — Wang Gungwu (1958)