Economic Links with Ayutthaya: Changes in Networks between Japan, China, and Siam in the Early Modern Period

Abstract

Ayutthaya was a key transit port and a centre for the intra-Asian maritime trade in the early modern period. Consequently, Siam's international trade must have been transformed once the maritime trade in Asia changed on a large scale. This essay aims to offer a systematic picture of the changing trend in the maritime trade in the China Sea region, with particular emphasis on Ayutthaya's trade with Japan and China. To this end, the transition of the Siamese trade will be examined from the point of view of regional trade patterns and how these changed from the mid-seventeenth century to the end of the eighteenth century.This essay has two general purposes. First, it provides a multinational perspective for a comparative study of Japan and China's foreign trade. The second is to use this case study of the Siamese trade to examine the hypothesis posed by Leonard Blussé that the eighteenth century should be regarded as a “Chinese century.”Keeping these aims in mind, I shall analyse the Siamese trade with Japan and China in the long run and after detailed investigation, propose a model for the triangular trade between Japan, China, and Siam.