Page 63 - Vol_2_Archaeology of Manila Galleon Seaport Trade

30 M. Liu

the south and east coast as Quanzhou, Anxi (!#), Dehua (!$), Yongchun
(#!) and other adjacent regions next to the seaports for oversea trade. The arrival
of European merchants as a segment of maritime globalization and their active trade
with the local people further promoted the prosperous development of export
porcelain industry in this region during late Ming and Qing dynasties.

2.1 The Rising of the Maritime Trade in Zhangzhou Bay
in Mid-Ming Dynasty and Its Maritime
Transportation of Export Porcelains

Besides the Chinese, the maritime merchants from the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Siam
Dynasty, Champa and Malacca had been the important participants in the traditional
maritime trade network of East Asia since the beginning of Ming Dynasty. They
even replaced Chinese maritime traders as the most active ones in Southeast Asia
during the period of sea ban of Ming Dynasty. However, archaeological evidence
shows that overseas trade on the southeast coast of China did not completely
disappear even when the sea ban policy was strictly enforced. The archaeological
investigation and excavation in the southeast coast areas of China revealed many
kiln sites dating to early and mid Ming Dynasty, such as Anxi (Fig. 2.1), Zhangpu
(!") in Fujian, and Dapu ("!) in Guangdong, where a lot of kilns including
imitations of Longquan celadon were discovered. Longquan celadon was the most
popular export porcelains from Yuan to mid Ming dynasties. The emergence of
industry of Longquan celadon imitations in early and middle Ming Dynasty in the
south Fujian and east Guangdong might be considered as the evidence of the rising
of private maritime trade during this period.
Southeast Asia experienced the important period of Pan-Islamization since the
13th century. As the result of this acculturation, the Islamic cultures distributed
widely through the islands of southeast Asia in the 15–16th centuries. Some
important Islamic states such as the Malacca Kingdom, Sulu Sultan Kingdom and
Mud Kingdom emerged and became the maritime trade centers in this region.
Obviously commercial interests were the most important dynamic factor for
Muslim merchant emigration to Southeast Asia and cultural interaction with local
societies. The arrival of Muslim and Islamic culture in southeast Asia rebuilt a new
order for the maritime trade in the South China Sea region and Ming Dynasty was
subordinate to this trade network. With the shrinking of of!cial maritime trade of
the old period and the attraction of the overseas Islamic trade network, the private
business activities as secret smuggling emerged in the coastal areas of Jiangsu ($
!), Zhejiang (#$), Fujian and Guangdong provinces since mid-Ming Dynasty.
The remote bordering regions in Zhangzhou Bay, including the Wuyu ($") Island
of Xiamen, Yuegang and Meiling seaports of Zhangzhou, rose to be the important
lairs for the early private business activities. With the secret development of these
private maritime businesses, blue and white porcelains of Jingdezhen ("!")