Cross-Regional and -Chronological Perspectives on East Asian Seafaring and Shipbuilding

Abstract

A maritime archaeology project in Vietnam has revealed the evidence of the active engagements of the early Southeast Asian seafarers on long-distance-maritime trade by evaluating the shipwreck found in Central Vietnam. Around the eleventh–twelfth centuries, Chinese traders began to be involved on the intra-South China Sea trading system. Salvaged ceramics from the waters of the Central Vietnam indicate the early and medieval voyages of Chinese merchant ships to the coast. Shipwrecks and maritime cultural landscape including port facilities and naval battlefields in Vietnam illustrate epochs in the maritime commerce and political events in the South China Sea. This chapter intends to demonstrate how the archaeological evidence contributes to the argument of the significant transitions in South China Sea’s history between the eighth and thirteenth centuries.