TEXTILE TRADE BETWEEN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA DURING THE SONG, YUAN AND MING DYNASTIES

Abstract

For centuries relations between China and Southeast Asia pivoted on trade. Textiles - particularly Chinese silks - were among the most important of trade goods. Despite this dominance of Chinese imports, Southeast Asia was itself by no means textile-barren. On the contrary, knowledge of ikat dyeing and back-strap loom weaving were integral to the region's cultures since its Bronze Age. It was not scarcity but the special meaning textiles hold in Southeast Asian culture that made its people keen wearers of Chinese silks. To them textiles were more than a cover for the body: they were heirlooms, magic and power. Chinese silks - from the tributary system or through barter trade - fit perfectly into the rhythm of Southeast Asian life and reinforced the symbolic attributes of the society. Today's Southeast Asian textile traditions are likely to owe a great deal to the period under study - one which predates the arrival of European manipulated trade of the 17th century; and one that is made difficult to study in great depth due to the lack of written sources and the absence of physical evidence of textiles. One of the most important sources of information on Southeast Asian textiles of this period therefore is the Chinese records. By looking at these Chinese sources, the "lost history'' of Southeast Asian textiles may be reconstructed; while the foundation of Chinese influence on textile-making in the region could be more dearly mapped out. Chapter One explains the purpose of looking into the Chinese sources in more detail and surveys key writings published over the past two decades on Southeast Asian textiles. Chapter Two is a brief account of the textile production during the period between the Song and the Ming dynasties. Chapter Three is an attempt to reconstruct the tradition of textile-making and usage of Southeast Asia based on the Chinese sources. Dress styles of the Southeast Asians are also dealt with in the chapter. Chapter Four examines the textiles and textile-related materials exchanged or traded between China and Southeast Asia in the tributary system and the maritime trade. The active textile trade among the Southeast Asians also shows up in the Chinese sources. Chapter Five concludes and summarises the findings derived from the previous chapters.