Southeast Asia-China Economic Interactions in the Late First to Mid-Second Millennium C.E.

Abstract

This essay provides an overview of the economic interactions between China and Southeast Asia during the late first and early second millennia C.E.. It positions the development of this relationship within the context of the Old World, and looks at how the interactions manifested in the ports that grew as a result of the economic exchanges that took place, the transportation networks that were developed to facilitate the exchanges, the growth in the demand and production of products from both regions, the migration of traders, and the development of economic codependency between both economies. The essay also provided sub-topics and online sources with which this topic could be approached in a classroom, including art materials, archaeological information, and textual documentation.