Commodity and Market 5
triple analytical foundations, namely: time, space and structure.^12 He
proposes to explore “the unity and diversity of Indian Ocean civilizations
through the study of long-distance trade”.^13 Studying the topic has
enabled him to discover that, “the sea which washed the desolate
beaches of Suez or the marshes around Basra provided an unbroken
means of travel all the way to China”, and that the myriads of traders,
commodities and markets along the way are the best manifestation of
diversity and unity.^14
A large number of the studies on the various aspects of the subject
have been produced on maritime trade in East Asian waters. To build
on this large body of scholarship, the present survey attempts to track
the long historical development of maritime trade in the East Asian Seas
up to the early decades of the nineteenth century when the European
powers began to attain dominance. Attempts will also be made to
clarify a few contending interpretations in the different writings. The
discussion revolves around the structure of long-distance trade as
seen in the movement of commodities from their areas of production
to their end-markets. Without doubt, commodity and market are two
propelling engines of long-distance trade. However, the movement of
commodities from the area in which they are produced to their end-
market does not necessarily imply a process of direct shipment. Often,
the commodities were sent through transfer stations and transshipment
centers. When describing the trade movement from the Red Sea to South
China in early times, Paul Wheatley observes, “Possibly this would be
better described as a series of trade-routes, for during this period no
one group of merchants operated throughout its length and no one
category of merchandise travelled from end to end.”^15 His depiction of
long-distance maritime trade holds good for the developments over
many centuries thereafter. In other words, the merchandise was brought
to the transfer station to be transshipped to the designated market.
This was a salient feature of the structure of long-distance trade. This
structure is considered to mean the different composite segments within
which the trade is operated. In other words, long-distance trade contains
several layers in its structure, namely: (1) the local layer of activity of
gathering merchandise from its production-area, often by small traders
- Chaudhuri, Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean, p. 2.
- Ibid.
- Ibid., pp. 2–3, 6.
- Paul Wheatley, The Golden Khersonese:Studies in the Historical Geography of
the Malay Geography before AD 1500 (Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya
Press, 1961), p. 282.