The Ming gap and shipwreck ceramics in Southeast Asia (China, Thailand, Vietnam)

This dissertation uses shipwreck archaeological materials in Southeast Asia to discover the extent of trade ceramics shortages from China in the early Ming period and to describe the Southeast Asian ceramics that take their place. Firstly, some 120 maritime sites are organized into an approximate relative chronology. The chronology is shown on 24 tables that cover the years from the first centuries AD to the 20th century. The analysis then focuses on 15 sites that cover the period circa 1368--1487. These sites reveal two types of shortages. Once Thai and Vietnamese ceramics join shipwreck cargoes in the Hongwu reign (1368--98) or very shortly thereafter, there is not a single shipwreck with 100% Chinese ware until the 16th century. On shipwrecks from circa 1368--1430 the percentage of Chinese ware, which comprises primarily celadon and brown glazed wares, is 30--40%. On ships from approximately 1430--1487, the percentage of Chinese ceramics drops to 2% and usually less, and then in the Hongzhi (1488--1505) reign the percentage abruptly rises to about 90%. The Ming gap, a term that refers to a near absence of Chinese blue and white ware, runs from about 1352 through to the beginning of the Hongzhi reign when Chinese ware, including a large proportion of blue and white, floods onto the Southeast Asian market. Only one to three blue and white Chinese pieces are documented on shipwrecks from circa 1352--1450, and about a hundred examples are known for the years circa 1450--1487. Many thousands fill the shipwrecks from the Hongzhi reign. Besides finding evidence for shortages of Chinese ceramics, the research reveals, for the first time, a six-phase chronology for Thai ceramics. This chronology covers the late 14th to late 16th centuries. Vietnamese ceramics are divided into two major phases, circa 1368--1430 and circa 1450--1510. The abrupt disappearance of Vietnamese ware after about 1510 until about 1600 is here dubbed the 'Mac (dynasty) gap.' The ships also show evidence for the export of Central Vietnam Champa ceramics circa 1450--1475, and for Burmese ceramics circa 1470--1510. They also suggest minor shortages of Chinese ware in the middle 16th century circa 1520--1560/70 when the only Southeast Asian exports came from Thailand.