Chinese Sea Trading in the 15th century

The existence of a sea trading route by virtue of which goods were exchanged between the Mediterranean basin and China as early as the Han dynasty (second century BC to third century AD) is easily proven. Roman coins of the second century, Hellenistic intaglia, Chinese bronzes and Indian jewels have been found at the excavations at Oceo, a port at the southern tip of the Indo-Chinese peninsula. Some Chinese silks were exported by sea to the Roman world under the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD), bringing prosperity to ports such as Guangzhou on the south coast. In the fifth and sixth centuries, large colonies of foreigners from countries engaged in this trade settled in China; some came from as far away as the Middle East.

The reunification of the Chinese states under the Sui dynasty (581-618 AD) and the prestige of the Tang Empire (618-907 AD) facilitated the expansion of sea trade in southern China. Guangzhou was extremely busy, becoming large and prosperous. The ships of the various foreign trading companies carrying wares such as incense, ivory, camphor, tin, spices and rare woods, entered the port and left again laden with ceramics and silks. But armed conflicts between the Chinese and Arab and Persian pirates marked the start of the decline. Although there had been sea trade between the Persian Gulf and South China since ancient times, it was only under the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD) that it expanded so greatly. The reasons for this was the capability to build large junks that were capable of long voyages as well as the development of the compass and the axial rudder as new navigation techniques. Political and economic circumstances favoured this expansion. The intensity of sea trade was reinforced when the imperial Song family withdrew southward, abandoning their capital of Kaifeng after it had been captured by the Nuzhen, and settling in Hangzhou in 1127. From then on, sea trade overtook trading on land.

The sailors of the Chinese empire used big, four- to six-masted vessels and learned from the Arab and Persian navigators. The increase in the number of vessels under the Song dynasty was due to the development of shipbuilding yards which produced large numbers of seagoing vessels. The route followed by the junks can be retraced thanks to contemporary Chinese writings. Of course, the Chinese place names used in these texts are different to those used today and it sometimes requires complex research in order to find out the names of the ports at which the junks called during their trading voyages.

Under the Song dynasty, Quanzhou and Guangzhou traded mainly with the countries of South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Middle East. Quanzhou grew to become the largest port in China. Marco Polo was amazed when he arrived at the port of Zaitun (Quanzhou) and in the first part of the fourteenth century, the Arab traveller Ibn Battuta claimed that Zaitun was the largest port in the world with berths for innumerable small junks and a hundred or so enormous ships.