A Comparative Study of the Commercial Seafaring Organizations of China and Arab in the Medieval Age

Based on previous studies, by making use of extant literature, stele inscriptions, documents and underwater archaeological materials, Yexuan Chen reconstructs the routes of the commercial seafaring of Arab and Chinese merchants, analyzes the organization and cargo management of merchant ships, and explores the international trade patterns during the Medieval era. During this lecture, Yexuan Chen will reveal that the Arab and Chinese seafaring merchants had developed and maintained the maritime commercial routes in the Indian Ocean successfully before the coming of the Portuguese. The commercial seafaring of Arab and Chinese merchants had significant influence on the development of ancient economic history, and their contact became one part of the early global history.

*This lecture will be conducted in Mandarin.