Commodity and Market 23
In fact, the Fujianese sea merchants in Song times had established
a great reputation for their shipping trade not only along the China
coast, but also sailing to Korea, Japan and the Nanhai.^75 Finds by marine
archeologists also support the existence of large-scale Chinese shipping
activities at this time. One instance is the discovery of a sunken ship
in Quanzhou Harbor in 1974. The junk probably foundered during the
Mongol attack on the port city in the late thirteenth century. Trade goods
found in the holds of the sunken ship consisted of large quantities of
pepper and scented woods from the Nanhai. Another sunken junk was
salvaged from Guangdong waters in 1987. The 800-ton vessel, that was
given the project name Nanhai I, was fully loaded with export ceramics.
On the basis of the kinds of merchandise they carried, the former was
a homeward-bound vessel and the latter an outward-bound vessel.
Nevertheless, it should be remembered that private shipping trade during
the Song era was kept under strict state control and often it devolved into
the hands of the powers-that-be.^76
The dominant position of Chinese junks in the shipping trade
between China and India in the early fourteenth century was recorded
by the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta. He witnessed 13 Chinese junks at
anchor in the port of Calicut awaiting the seasonal wind to set sail for
China. They carried 3 to 12 sails. One large ship carried 1,000 men, 600
of whom were sailors, the rest men-at-arms. The vessel had four decks
and the owner’s supercargo on board was like a great amir. Ibn Battuta
says that, “[t]here is no people in the world wealthier than the Chinese”.
He goes on to report that Chinese ships were the only mode of transport
for voyages from there to China.^77 This raises the question of who was
in control of the shipping trade during Yuan times. They would have
included two major groups. One was the state-sponsored trade controlled
by the Mongol nobility and merchants of Central Asian origin.^78 However,
- Shiba Yoshinobu 斯波義信, “Sōdai ni okeru Fukken shōnin to sono shakai Keizai
teki haikei” 宋代に けゐ福建商人とその社會經濟背景 [Fujian merchants in
the Song and their socio-economic background], Tōyōshi ronsō 東洋史論叢
[Studies on Oriental history], Wada hakase koki kinen 和田博士古稀記念 [In
honour of the 70th birthday of Dr Wada] (Tokyo: Kodansha, 1960), p. 494. - Huang Chunyan 黄纯艳, Songdai haiwai maoyi 宋代海外贸易 [Overseas trade
during the Song era] (Beijing: Shehui kexue wenxian chubanshe, 2003), p.
100; and Guan Luquan 关履权, Songdai Guangzhou de haiwai maoyi 宋代广州
的海外贸易 [Overseas trade in Guangzhou during the Song era] (Guangzhou:
Guangdong renmin chubanshe, 2013; orig. 1994), pp. 162–3. - Ibn Battuta Travels in Asia and Africa, pp. 234–6.
- Yu Changsen 喻常森, Yuandai haiwai maoyi 元代海外贸易 [Overseas trade during
the Yuan era] (Xi’an: Xibei daxue, 1994), p. 90; Qu Jinliang 曲金良, Zhongguo