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Maritime Silk Road :A network of ASEAN civilizations
By Kang Hee-jung (Director of the Institute for East Asian Studies at SogangUniversity)

Maritime Museum in Malacca, Malaysia

The Maritime Silk Road began developing in the years just before and after the transition to the common era as a searoute that linked West Asia and India as well as India with Southeast Asia. Trade occurred between Rome and Southeast Asia as early as the second century AD, as proven by acoin bearing the face of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius that was discovered in Óc Eo, a city in southern Viet Nam. The Maritime Silk Road expanded in leaps and bounds in the 5th and 6th century with the forging of tribute-based relationships with China by several Southeast Asian countries. It was also starting from this period that Chinese court records mention various types of Southeast Asian produce. Trade inspices (sugar, pepper, cloves, etc.), imported from ancient kingdoms in Cambodia and Viet Nam, had a significant impacton the advancement of Chinese food and medicines.
By decree of the Ming dynasty’s Yongle Emperor, Zheng He, a Muslim eunuch and eventual admiral, made seven major expeditions of the South Pacific, resulting in the creation oftrade routes that connected China to Southeast Asia and Africa. It is this foundation of trade routes, which spanned as far as Malacca, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka by way of central Viet Nam (Champa) and Indonesia (Java, Sumatra), through which Malacca amassed significant wealth over the next century as the hub of sea trade for both East and West. This sea route was the site of trade among ships from Southeast Asian countries and those of India, West Asia, and China. It was also the site of battles over dominance of the international sea trade. Of course, the Maritime Silk Road was more than a trade route: it also served as a thorough fare for the exchange of religions and ideas. In the early years, the Maritime Silk Road was the means by which India spread Buddhism. Later, it played a key role in the export of Islam from West Asia via India to Southeast Asia.

Glass beads discovered at Óc Eo, an archaeological site in An Giang Province, Viet Nam © Óc Eo Cultural Heritage Management Committee of Viet Nam

The Age of Exploration, which began in the late 15th century, was a turning point in world history that was created through the wide-scale infiltration of ASEAN countries by many European powers. The Age of Exploration was based on European countries each being interested in monopolizing the highly profitable Southeast Asian spice trade, resulting in the intensely competitive pioneering of sea routes to India and Southeast Asia and the subsequent occupation of the latter. Portugal and Spain, the first to fight over Southeast Asia, were soon followed by the Netherlands and England. Spain was especially resourceful, engaging in triangular trade by using silver from Mexico to purchase Chinese silk and porcelain in the Philippines. It was the start of international sea trade.
The availability of rare and precious ASEAN goods through the Maritime Silk Road expedited large-scale migration of people from India, China, and Europe to Southeast Asia. However, it also sped up colonization: ASEAN countries, which accumulated massive wealth through their dominance of the sea trade, were colonized by European powers. It is because of sea trade routes that it was possible tobring coffee and rubber trees from South America to create plantations in Southeast Asia. The Maritime Silk Road was avenue for the interaction of civilizations, transitioning from material trade to the migration of people. More importantly, it is the network that created the cosmopolitan outlook of today’s ASEAN.