The Reflection of Historical Diamond Economic Pathway in c.900–1650: Asia Pacific, China, and Maritime Silk Roads

This article reinterprets the economic and cultural linkages between China, Southeast Asia, and the broader Asia–Pacific world during c.900–1650 through what may be termed a historical diamond economic pathway. At its core, the study situates Southeast Asia as the pivotal “axis” of the maritime silk roads that connected the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. Drawing on textual, archaeological, and comparative historical sources, it reconstructs two principal phases of maritime development: the Song–Yuan commercial expansion (c.900–1350) and the Ming-era Age of Commerce (c.1400–1650). The findings highlight that, although overseas trade constituted a modest share of aggregate output, it played a transformative role in shaping coastal economies, technological diffusion, and cross-cultural exchange. Song liberalization of maritime policy, the Mongol maritime turn, and the Ming voyages under Zheng He each contributed to new circulation patterns of commodities such as ceramics, pepper, and cotton textiles. The paper also underscores the emergence of diasporic merchant networks as Arab, Indian, Malay, and Chinese that organized commerce through interlocking regional circuits. Methodologically, the study adopts a qualitative historical synthesis emphasizing multi-source triangulation and network interpretation. By re-envisioning the long-distance maritime economy as a “diamond” linking four vertices such as China, India, the Islamic world, and Southeast Asia the paper reframes the pre-modern global economy as a polycentric and interconnected system rather than a precursor to later European dominance.