Oriential ceramic finds in West Malaysia: a study of their distribution and typology

Abstract

No serious attempt has so far been made to study the types and the distribution of oriental ceramic finds in West Malaysia. This thesis is the first of such an attempt. The oriental ceramic finds in West Malaysia are ranging from the Chinese, South-east Asian to the Japanese and Middle Eastern origins which are discussed in Chapters II, III and IV respectively. It is generally accepted that Malay Peninsula is known to the Indian, Arab and Chinese traders since ancient times. The presence of ceramics originated from those countries in West Malaysia in particular, though scanty but are not altogether lacking, provides the proof for this. Indeed, Malay Peninsula by virtue of its geographical position astride the sea routes between the Middle East and the Far East, became the sites of economic importance where Chinese merchants could meet merchants from India and the West Asia. They carried out their business while waiting for the favourable wind to take them to their destination. This is the age when the sailing activities were entirely depend on the changing of the monsoon winds. Historically, West Malaysia were once subjected to many outside powers; the Khmer and the Thais just to mention a few. Indeed, the presence of the Khmer and Thai ceramics, beside the one came with the trade, are of course of no surprise. Many of the Chinese ceramic finds in West Malaysia are similar with those discovered in the Philippines and Indonesia. This is not only proves the extent of Chinese ceramic trade in South-east Asia, and the uses of ceramic by the West Malaysian people, but it also provides further indication as this thesis intends to prove that the study of the West Malaysian culture cannot be approached in complete isolation but in association with her neighbouring countries which belong to the same general cultural context. This thesis also emphasizes the significant role played by the West Malaysia in the ancient overland and maritime trades as discussed in Chapter I, and stresses the value of ceramic as an invaluable historical source while other cultural materials have perished due to the humid tropical climate.