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Maritime Silk Road

Type Object Region Southeast China coast Time 960–1279

The Song-era Maritime Silk Road was a network of ocean trade routes from southeastern Chinese ports through the South China Sea to Southeast Asia, So…

Timeline

  1. 960–1127Guangzhou port · GuangzhouThe Northern Song established Maritime Trade Offices along the coast to manage overseas trade; ports such as Guangzhou and Quanzhou became the main entry points for Arab and Southeast Asian merchants, and sea routes gradually replaced part of the overland routes as the main channel for East-West commodity exchange.
  2. 1131–1140Quanzhou port · QuanzhouDuring the Shaoxing era, Southern Song finances relied heavily on Maritime Trade Office revenue; Quanzhou surpassed Guangzhou to become the largest port, with Arab and Persian merchants residing there, and porcelain and silk shipped from here to Champa, Srivijaya, and even the west coast of India.
  3. 1150–1279Calicut (Kozhikode) · KeralaSouthern Song merchant ships sailed by monsoon to South India and Ceylon, meeting and transshipping with Arab vessels in the Indian Ocean, forming an Indian Ocean trade circle linking East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Persian Gulf.

Sources