neutral Funan, after which the Indians sent an ambassador to China although
Chinese records do not mention this. Notable quantities of artifacts dating
from the Han dynasty have started turning up in scattered locations in
Thailand, and pottery from the same period has been found in southern
Sumatra and Java. Nevertheless, the archaeological record for Chinese con-
tacts with Southeast Asia beyond northern Vietnam is surprisingly meager
just as the literary record is vague. In thefifth centuryCEsilk began to be
sent in more significant amounts by sea, and stoneware jars made in China
appeared as far away as the Persian Gulf, but even for this time the quantity
of artifacts is not impressive and would remain so until the Song dynasty at
the end of the millennium.
The Chinese were interested in much the same exotic luxury products as
the Romans. The Han Shu chronicle notes that in the second centuryBCE
China had become so prosperous“rarities such as luminous pearls, striped
shells, lined rhinoceros horn, and kingfisher feathers [were seen] in plenty in
the empress’s palace.”Rhino horn became so popular among Chinese men as
an aphrodisiac that rhinoceroses were driven to extinction in Southeast Asia.
Birds, especially kingfishers, peacocks, and parrots, were in great demand as
were their feathers, which made rather striking fashion statements as wit-
nessed by another passage from the Han Shu describing the emperor“with
his back against a screenfigured in black and white decked in a coverlet of
kingfisher plumes.” The Chinese also imported quantities of resins, aro-
matics, incense, drugs, and spices. Some frankincense and myrrh made it all
the way from Arabia, but for the most part the substitute products of
Southeast Asia were successfully integrated into the Chinese market. Pepper,
cloves, and nutmeg were used more as ingredients in medicine than asfla-
voring for food. Official trade was carried on through the tribute system, a
form of high-level royal gift exchange the Chinese chose to interpret as for-
eign states sending tribute in token of their submission, for which the
Chinese emperor in return bestowed gifts in gracious magnanimity, a conceit
the Chinese shared with the pharaonic Egyptians. Records show that the
rulers of Funan dispatched 25 missions to China between 226 and 649CE.
Both Funan and Champa sent live elephants–the Cham kings did this a
reported 14 times–and Funan also sent a live rhinoceros. In one instance,
the Funanese sent a troupe of trained elephants that Chinese authorities
considered to be too dangerous and returned.
The Chinese presence was most apparent in northern Vietnam since this
was the one place in Southeast Asia that was conquered by an outside power,
a process that began in the second century BCE. The class of Chinese–
Vietnamese who came to rule over this most distant province of the Han
Empire proved to be less interested in setting up an elaborate system of
government than in taking advantage of local commercial opportunities. The
Vietnamese coast became the passageway between Southeast Asia and south
China, offering excellent opportunities for trade, smuggling, and piracy.
The all-water route 117