Maritime relations between the Indian Ocean and the China Sea in the Middle Ages

Summary

ABSTRACT. From the time of Antiquity, maritime relations were established between China, Southeast Asia and India. Aided by the expansion of Buddhism, these relations were in full development prior to the Muslim merchants imposing their presence as of the 7^th century by means of the strong ties between the China of the Tang and the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates. Under the Song, maritime commerce was liberalized. The Chinese spread through Southeast Asia; the port of Guangzhou was on the rise. For ideological reasons, the Ming forbade maritime commerce except for seven naval expeditions led by Zheng He in the 15^th century to affirm Chinese domination over the seas.

RÉSUMÉ. Dès l'Antiquité, des relations maritimes se sont établies entre la Chine et l'Asie du Sud-est et l'Inde. Favorisées par l'expansion du bouddhisme, ces relations sont en plein essor, avant que les marchands musulmans s'imposent à partir du VII^e siècle, en instaurant des relations intenses entre la Chine des Tang et le califat abbasside et umayyade. Puis sous les Song, le commerce maritime est libéralisé : les Chinois se répandent en Asie du Sud-est ; le port de Guangzhou est en plein essor. Les Ming, pour des raisons idéologiques, interdisent le commerce maritime, à l'exception des sept expéditions navales conduites par Zheng He au XV^e siècle, pour affirmer la domination chinoise des mers.

The China Sea was definitely already connected with the Indian Ocean in early antiquity. Indian ports, for example, served as important trans-shipment centres for trade between China and the markets in the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea since at least the first century B.C. But maritime relations were not yet routinized at that time. This situation gradually changed. The seafaring trade of the Roman Empire connected south-eastern Europe and the Orient with the west coast of India, the Red Sea to the Arabian Sea and ports in India, and from there links existed that led into the China Seas, even though they were not yet routine. From the Chinese perspective, the search for the riches of the south constituted a major motivation to look to the southern seas.