Under the Song and later Yuan dynasties, Chinese maritime trade expanded significantly, with ports such as Quanzhou becoming major hubs for shipping across the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. Chinese shipbuilders developed large oceangoing junks equipped with sternpost rudders and, by this period, the magnetic compass for navigation. The Song government promoted overseas trade in part to replace revenue lost to northern territorial conflicts, licensing private merchants and taxing exports such as porcelain and silk. Foreign merchant communities, including Arab and Persian traders, settled in Chinese port cities to conduct business under Song and Yuan administration.
Relevance to Trade History
Song and Yuan maritime expansion made China a dominant force in Indian Ocean and East Asian seaborne trade and spread key navigational technologies across Asia.
Read the full story in our article Indian Ocean Trade Networks.
Source: Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. See our Sources & Methodology page for how we select and verify references.