The relations between the societies and states of Southeast Asia and China have been of enormous significance to both these regions, extending back for literally thousands of years. This useful single-volume edition of key studies on Southeast Asia-China interactions, which were first published in the Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (and its precursors), includes classics such as Wang Gungwu's The Nanhai Trade and Paul Wheatley's Geographical Notes on Some Commodities Involved in Sung Maritime Trade. In this compendium, 18 studies examine political, economic and social interactions, as well as the flows of people and technologies which have tied these regions together over that period. The work provides a comprehensive summation of the Southeast Asia-China historical relationship, while situating the various individual works in their broader context.



Today, as China re-emerges as a global power, it is essential to understand that East Asia has long existed as a region of interactions, with China and Southeast Asia forming major parts of this system. The history of these interactions - the patterns and processes of the links, the conditioning events and trends, technological exchanges and migrations, and individual accomplishments as well as institutional and organizational change - offers a way to understand developments currently underway.