Maritime Silk Road Trade

Timeline

1. 1372–1380Quanzhou, Fujian · FujianDuring the Hongwu reign, the Ming established Maritime Trade Supervisorates in Quanzhou, Ningbo, and elsewhere to manage overseas trade. Ryukyu, Siam, Champa, and other states sent envoys bearing tribute and received gifts of the Datong calendar, silk, and porcelain. Tribute ships became the main vehicle for legitimate maritime trade, incorporating East Asian ports into the Ming's vassal network.
2. 1371–1380Java · JavaThe Majapahit kingdom maintained its hegemony over the Java-Malay archipelago in the 1370s, and in 1377 expeditioned against Melayu in Sumatra, controlling the strategic straits. Southeast Asian local polities cooperated with Arab and Indian merchants, keeping the sea lanes from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean open.
3. 1371–1380Bay of Bengal · Bay of BengalChinese porcelain and silk were exchanged via the South China Sea for goods on India's east coast and in Bengal, then transshipped as spices and gems to Persian Gulf and Red Sea ports. In the 1370s the Timurid Empire controlled the western overland Silk Road, making the sea route all the more important and forming a global trade pattern in which land and sea routes complemented each other.