Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce: Key Features.

Introduction: The Lands below the Winds

Southeast Asia is naturally demarcated by geological arcs from the Pacific and Indian ocean plates (e.g., Sunda Islands, Philippines) and the eastern Himalayas. The region includes Sundaland/Sunda Shelf, a former landmass connecting major islands to the Asian mainland, now a significant fishing ground. The environment is dominated by water and forest, facilitating maritime trade due to predictable monsoons and abundant wood, while high temperatures and rainfall yield luxuriant evergreen rainforest. Traditional life revolved around shifting cultivation and elevated pole houses made from wood, bamboo, and palm.

Southeast Asia as a Human Unit

Despite linguistic and cultural diversity, commonalities exist in popular beliefs and social practices. Austronesian languages (Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, SE Vietnam) share a common origin (~5,000 years ago). Intensive interaction among various language groups (Mon-Khmer, Austronesian, Vietnamese, Tai, Burmese) fostered shared elements. Adaptation to the environment led to a common diet of rice, fish, and palms, with specific harvesting methods like the finger-knife. Beyond environment, unifying cultural traits include betel chewing, the finger-knife, piston bellows, cockfighting, takraw, bronze gong music, the concept of "soul-stuff," prominence of women (descent, ritual, marketing, agriculture), and the importance of debt in social obligation.

The Age of Commerce (1450-1680) and Regional Links

Southeast Asia maintained strong internal maritime connections, influencing its development more than external forces. Known as "Lands below the Winds" by Indian/Persian/Arab/Malay traders (due to monsoons) and "Southern Ocean" (Nanyang) by the Chinese, signifying its sea-dependent access. This era marked peak maritime activity and the dominance of Malay-speaking entrepôts (e.g., Sri Vijaya, Melaka). Malay became the lingua franca for trade, leading to widespread adoption and classification of diverse traders as "Malays."

Peripheral Zones: The Case of Vietnam

While the study focuses on a maritime region, excluding hill peoples, Vietnam presents a unique case as a critical frontier with China. It shared some Southeast Asian cultural elements (diet, pastimes, women's roles) but was profoundly influenced by Chinese political, intellectual, and basic habits (e.g., chopsticks, dense population leading to abandonment of pole houses). Vietnam's successful resistance to Chinese political dominance prevented greater land-based expansion and preserved distinctiveness in much of maritime Southeast Asia, even while Vietnam itself largely looked to China as a cultural model.