ABSTRACT
Strong commercial maritime linkages developed between Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia from at least the time of the Tang Dynasty and contributed significantly to the coastal economies of both regions. The Han Empire began to decline from the first century CE when tax revenues became increasingly difficult to exact from the powerful landholding families. From these independent bases emerged generals who became virtual warlords. The Chinese writing system was as great an asset to the intellectual development of Pacific Asia as Latin was to Europe. It contributed to the preservation of unity within a diverse empire and supported a broad community of scholarship throughout China and in regions beyond it. Building upon the commercial growth of the Yangzi valley and the southern coast that had developed in the Tang Dynasty, the Song commercial centers of Guangzhou (Canton) and Quanzhou expanded under the stimulus of foreign trade.
