Chinese sailing ships in Hong Kong during the 1920s.(Photos courtesy of Hsu Chung-mao, unless otherwise stated.)
From ThinkChina by Hsu Chung-mao
China’s attempts to expand its maritime trade networks through the Belt and Road Initiative are reminiscent of its participation in the maritime Silk Road during the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties, says historical photo collector Hsu Chung-mao.
Here, he shares a collection of photos and illustrations that encapsulate China’s historical maritime heyday.
US President Donald Trump has declared that he wants to “take back the Panama Canal”, because he thinks that China is “operating” it.
However, Panama President José Raúl Mulino and major international media outlets have denied this assertion.
As China’s total international trade continues to grow and maritime transportation flourishes, China has become the second-largest user of the Panama Canal after the US.
It is reasonable to say that in recent years, China has made significant infrastructure investments in ports around the Panama Canal and has participated in port operations, but this is far from “operating the Panama Canal”.
So why does Trump have this impression? It likely stems from China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which focuses on expanding international investment and trade through land and maritime routes.
Many countries outside Europe and the US have embraced China’s development policies, leading to a sense of competition in the West.
These international political developments may also reflect recurring historical patterns.
In modern times, China’s decline and subsequent rebuilding efforts started with strengthening land-based national defence and trade expansion.
While China’s maritime development has not left a particularly strong impression on outsiders, it has historically played a significant role in maritime trade and prosperity.
A container ship crosses the Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal in Panama City, Panama, on 21 February 2025.
(Tarina Rodriguez/Bloomberg)
The Han empire expanded westward through military force, fostering trade in Central Asia.
The Tang empire, founded by nomadic peoples of the Eurasian steppe, established a vast empire spanning both continents, promoting trade and cultural exchange in Central Asia.
The Tang capital, Chang’an, was home to tens of thousands of Persian and Central Asian diplomats, merchants, and immigrants.
The golden age of the Tang dynasty is perhaps the most admired period in Chinese history — militarily powerful, economically prosperous and culturally and religiously vibrant.
Chang’an was a city that never slept, filled with music, dance and a romantic, intoxicating atmosphere at night.
The rise of maritime trade in China
During the Song dynasty, China’s territory shrank significantly, and its military strength was much weaker than before.
However, the Southern Song dynasty’s core region was in coastal Zhejiang, a famous water town in China, where maritime trade flourished and helped to drive the development of urban civilisation in southern China.
Although the Southern Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol empire, China’s maritime trade entered a new stage of development.
The Tatars of Crimea in the 1900s, descendants of the Mongols.
The Yuan empire had two distinct aspects.
One was the division of the Mongol empire into four major khanates after Genghis Khan: the Golden Horde (or Kipchak Khanate), the Chagatai Khanate, the Ögedei Khanate (the Yuan dynasty) and the Ilkhanate.
This vast and diverse empire, spanning Eurasia, reached an unprecedented peak in human history in terms of territorial expanse and ethnic diversity.
The second aspect was the Yuan dynasty, which governed China while maintaining traditional Chinese administrative institutions and cultural practices.
Meanwhile, China’s coastal regions continued to thrive in maritime trade, with Quanzhou Port in Fujian province being the most prominent example.
China as a naval power: the height of Chinese maritime trade and prowess
Italian traveller Marco Polo specifically mentioned in his memoirs that the two most prosperous ports in the world at the time were Alexandria and Quanzhou.
Ships travelling from the Middle East to China would dock at Quanzhou, and the port was home to nearly 10,000 Muslim merchants and their families.
In the city were mosques and Islamic cemeteries, including the tombs of notable Islamic scholars.
This port became the starting point of what China refers to as the Maritime Silk Road.
Florence, Italy, in the 1880s, where the development of city-state maritime trade generated immense wealth and gave birth to the Renaissance.
The pyramids of Cairo in the 1860s, located in an important city along the Maritime Silk Road in North Africa.
Istanbul, Turkey, in the 1870s, situated at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.
The Gulf of Aden in the 1880s, a key passage between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean.
Rotterdam Port, Netherlands, in the 1900s, once the world’s largest port.
Tower Bridge on the River Thames in London, 1900s.
China’s three main export commodities were porcelain, tea and raw silk, which were in high demand in Middle Eastern and European markets.
China hardly needed to actively promote these products — Arab merchants would sail across the seas in large numbers to purchase Chinese goods, transporting them to the Middle East, then to Italy, and from Italian port cities to Western Europe and Britain.
This trade fueled the prosperity of various Mediterranean city-states.
In this maritime trade network, China played a passive role, simply waiting for Arab ships to arrive and purchase goods.
Many sunken Arab ships full of Chinese porcelain have been discovered in southern China’s waters, serving as historical evidence of this period of global commerce.
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unlike Western maritime expeditions, which aimed to discover new markets and raw materials, the Ming dynasty’s purpose in sending Zheng He overseas was primarily to project national prestige, rather than economic gain.
During the Ming dynasty, the Chinese emperor actively organised naval expeditions to explore overseas territories.
The most famous of these was the series of voyages from 1405 to 1433, when the ambitious Yongle Emperor of the Ming empire dispatched his envoy, Zheng He, to lead seven grand maritime expeditions known as the “voyages of Zheng He to the Western oceans” (郑和下西洋).
These large-scale voyages spanned East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian peninsula and various regions of East Africa.
They are considered the largest maritime expeditions of their time, with each voyage consisting of over 200 ships and more than 27,000 crew members, visiting more than 30 countries and reaching as far as the Arabian Peninsula and East Africa.
This remarkable feat took place nearly 80 years before Christopher Columbus’s voyage to the Americas.
An illustration from German magazine GEO EPOCHE, showing the Ming Empire’s envoy Zheng He’s seven voyages to the Western Ocean.
An illustration from German magazine GEO EPOCHE, showing the grand fleet led by Zheng He.
An illustration from German magazine GEO EPOCHE, showing Zheng He’s fleet arriving at the Arabian Peninsula.
An illustration from German magazine GEO EPOCHE, showing Zheng He’s treasure ship.
However, unlike Western maritime expeditions, which aimed to discover new markets and raw materials, the Ming dynasty’s purpose in sending Zheng He overseas was primarily to project national prestige, rather than economic gain.
Since these costly expeditions lacked commercial incentives for wealth accumulation, they were eventually discontinued.
This historical phenomenon has long been a subject of study in modern international academia, raising questions such as: Why did China’s large-scale maritime explorations not develop into modern capitalism? Why did they fail to drive technological advancements? Why did they not lead to an industrial revolution? And why did they not result in overseas military expansion? These questions continue to spark debate within Chinese academia and serve as a point of reflection, shaping discussions on how China should adjust its maritime strategy if it seeks to re-establish itself as a naval power.
By the time of the Opium Wars in the 19th century, China’s technological capabilities had already fallen more than a century behind the West.
In fact, by the late Ming dynasty, southeastern China had already developed a regionally driven maritime force.
Armed maritime groups emerged in Fujian and Guangdong, engaging in international trade for profit and sometimes posing political challenges to the central government.
One notable example was the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga), who led a military campaign to expel the Dutch from Taiwan, turning the island into a base for counterattacks against the Qing dynasty.
The military campaign marked the first time that an Eastern naval force successfully defeated a Western colonial empire.
A nautical map of Xiamen and Kinmen drawn by the Dutch in the 17th century.
A 17th-century Dutch depiction of Taiwanese people worshipping Mazu.
A 17th-century Dutch illustration of the Dutch army cooperating with Qing forces to attack Zheng Chenggong’s army in Kinmen.
A 17th-century Dutch illustration of the Battle of Xiamen at sea.
A 17th-century Dutch depiction of Fort Zeelandia in Tainan, a military fortress built by the Dutch.
The Qing dynasty onwards: a decline in Chinese maritime networks and capabilities
The establishment of the Qing empire represented the peak of China’s land-based power.
The ruling Qing emperors came from the Manchu nomadic tribes and created the largest territorial empire in Chinese history.
However, they showed little interest in maritime affairs, viewing China as the centre of the world and believing there was no need to learn from the outside.
As a result, China missed the crucial period to connect with the Western Industrial Revolution.
By the time of the Opium Wars in the 19th century, China’s technological capabilities had already fallen more than a century behind the West.
Facing Western military forces, China was utterly defenceless and became a target for invasion and colonisation.
Yokohama Port, Japan, in the 1880s, an important port in Japan’s modernisation and opening to the outside world.
Nanjing, China, in the 1880s, a key city for China’s maritime expansion.
Suzhou, China, in the 1910s, an important centre for silk production.
Penang Port, Malaya, in the 1910s, a crucial port in the Straits Settlements.
After the 1911 Xinhai Revolution, both the Chinese government and intellectuals regarded openness and maritime expansion as essential national policies.
During the Republican era, many Chinese emigrated abroad, establishing successful businesses and accumulating vast wealth, which later became an important source of support for China’s development.
However, following the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the country entered nearly 30 years of isolationism.
It was only after its economic reforms that China once again pursued an active overseas strategy.
Can China re-establish itself as a maritime power?
Today, China’s maritime trade expansion is backed by both historical precedent and contemporary realities, especially with the vast network of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs and investors.
During times when the Chinese government was weak, overseas Chinese merchants naturally formed powerful commercial networks.
Now, the Chinese government is stronger and has become more capable of providing comprehensive development plans, funding, and technology.
Cooperation between domestic enterprises and overseas Chinese business communities enables China to offer significant construction support to port-based nations, so that the influence of China’s maritime commercial activities is expected to grow rapidly.
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