Page 34 - Chinese and Asian Ceramics from an Indonesian Collection

CHAPTER 3. CERAMIC TRADE AND THE MUSI RIVER

INTRODUCTION
Miksic (2009, 2017) extensively researched the ceramic
trade in South East Asia and China (see Figure 7) from
excavations on land, recoveries from shipwrecks and
historical texts. He painted a picture of wide trading
interactions between the mainland states and the broader
archipelago in the region with China, India, Sri Lanka
and the Far East. However, he noted that while there
was some movement of ceramics in the earlier Funan
Kingdom and the Chinese Han Dynasty, trade in ceramics
was not an important activity until the 9th century,
when Chinese ceramics became important in the region
and elsewhere. Movement of ceramics prior to the 9th
century may, however, be important in understanding the
history of trade along the Musi River during and prior to
establishment of Sriwijaya.
The role of Sriwijaya in both global and regional South
East Asian trade, especially ceramics, can best be assessed
in the context of other trading polities in South East
Asia (island, Peninsula Malaya, and mainland), as well as
trading partners in India (Chola and Gupta Dynasties),
and China (Han through to early-Ming Dynasties).
While there are numerous publications about the
ancient Indian and Chinese traders relatively little is
known of some of the impressive early-1st millennium
South East Asian polities. Although recent archaeological
studies have considerably advanced knowledge of such
polities much remains to be documented. Unfortunately, Figure 7. Key countries and places mentioned in the text.
much information is lost because the climate and acidic
soils in the region rapidly degrades cultural artefacts. at least the second half of the 1st century BC following
Further, development of their urban areas along rivers unification of China in 221 BC (Wang 1958). Manguin
and coastlines which erode, silt-up or change direction (2002) wrote that incipient states in southern Thailand,
and destroy or bury architectural structures and artefacts along the western coast of the Malayan Peninsula, the
more readily than occurs in more temperate climes. A eastern coast of Southern Sumatra, and the northern
lack of laws and policing aimed at the protection of sites coasts of Java and Bali had established trading links with
of heritage value in many South East Asia countries has both India and Vietnam as early as the last few centuries
also resulted in hundreds of years of looting which has BC. Glover (2005) considered that links between South
partially or completely destroyed sites of immense cultural East Asia and South Asia were earlier than this with both
value. This looting continues to this day (Liebner 2014). trade and cultural links as early as at least the 5th century
Although generally poorly documented, we can infer BC. Large iron smelters and port facilities at Sungai Batu,
that these other South East Asian polities influenced Kedah, Malay Peninsula, dated at 535 BC, indicate that
Sriwijayan culture and trade practices, as well as that of such trade links should be pushed back to the 6th century
the precursors of Sriwijaya, considered to be the Koying BC (Saidin 2016).
and Kantoli polities found along the lower reaches of the
Musi River and probably extending both northwards and REGIONAL SOUTH EAST ASIAN TRADE
southwards along the coast. There is evidence in Neolithic times of local and regional
coastal networks in South East Asia and China (Figure
GLOBAL TRADE 7), millennia before the earliest firm evidence of Indian
A global system of maritime and land trade links existed influence, which began about the 5th century BC (Donkin
at the beginning of the 1st century and perhaps as early 2003, Bellina 2007). As an example of the early South
as 200 BC. The global system connected ports in South East Asian trade Hung et al. (2007) document commerce
East Asia, directly or indirectly with: China, Central in two shapes of earrings made from a specific type of
Asia, South Asia, Ceylon, the Persian Gulf, Europe, the jade stone (nephrite) sourced in Fengtian, Taiwan.
Mediterranean, the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa. Earrings made from Fengtian jade or the ‘raw’ jade itself
China alone began to trade with ports in the Indian Ocean were distributed between 500 BC and 500 AD through