The ceramic trade between China and Southeast Asia during the Song Dynasty (960-1279)

This thesis studies the shipwrecks in the South China Sea and their recovered artefacts to discuss the ceramic trade between South China and Southeast Asia during the Song dynasty (960-1279). This period is of particular interest because it was when Chinese ceramics started to be exported in bulk and make its name around the world. And shipwrecks in the South China Sea are the best materials to uncover the first leg of the long-distance trans-Asian trade route that led from China to the Mediterranean. Although there have been cases studies regarding one or several shipwrecks, thorough research that examines the overall findings of this period and addresses not only the products but also the trade network and the market of the products is somewhat lacking. To this aim, this thesis attempts to address the central questions as to how the trade was conducted and by whom, what are the changes of the exported ceramic types during this period and why, and whether there were vessel forms and decoration made to cater to the need of the Southeast Asian market. In doing so, the thesis provides a broader picture of the ceramic trade during the Song period and manages to extract some information on the human level. First, I argue that in the tenth century, as represented by the Intan and Cirebon shipwreck, the trade of major cargo was organized by a few people or a single authority possibly the state government and headed towards limited destinations. During the later period, as the case studies of the Nanhai No.1 and Quanzhou Bay wreck show, the sea-borne journey was mainly a profit-oriented peddler trade undertaken by individual merchants whose identities were not confined to traders with an official background or abundant assets, but also included those of lower social status such as sailor and small merchants. Secondly, through the systematic comparison between the findings on the wrecks and those from domestic sites, especially kiln sites, the provenance of most ceramic cargo is assigned and the shift of production from Zhejiang to Guangdong and then Fujian province is revealed. The reason behind the first shift, I argue was due to the change of the nature of maritime commerce, from being part of a tributary system to profit-orientated, from state-monopoly to being mainly conducted by private shipping. As for the shift of trade to Fujian province, it was driven by merchants based on the products and regional manufacturing industrial competitiveness. By examining a large number of published materials, it is demonstrated that effort was made to cater to the need of the Southeast Asian market. Nevertheless, the detailed analysis of the recovered ceramics indicates high uniformity among ceramic cargos of contemporaneous shipwrecks despite the differences in the targeted markets. I suggest that the ceramic trade between South China and Southeast Asia during the Song period was mainly dominated by the seller instead of the buyer.