About the authors

Judy Law- Researches Chinese export porcelain, specifically the Zhangzhou porcelain, to offer a more comprehensive picture of the Chinese porcelain trade during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.

Nitya Gundu - Is researching the impact of processes of early modern globalisation on epistemological thinking, visual and material culture and production in Deccan and South India.

Jeremy Goh - Is a student of business and banking in modern Southeast Asia. His research project deals with Chinese banking transnationalism in colonial Singapore, Malaya, and China (1900-1950).

Dynamics of Early Modern and Modern Economic and Social History: PhD Workshop at the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, London School of Economics

How has South East Asia been inserted into global networks of exchange and power? Through our discussion and research, we connect Southeast Asia with global economic networks, in direct conversation with shifts towards more inclusive global histories that look at the ‘peripheries’ of Empire as much as at its centres.

The workshop

On June 6, 2024, we attended a PhD student workshop hosted by the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre at LSE. At this workshop, 18 PhD researchers (including ourselves) had the opportunity to present our work to an interdisciplinary audience working on different aspects of Southeast Asia. Like us, our colleagues were based in UK universities.

We were privileged to have a panel to ourselves. Our panel, titled ‘Dynamics of Early Modern and Modern Economic and Social History,’ explored how Southeast Asia functioned not only as a market for commodities, but also as a cosmopolitan space witnessing cross-cultural interactions among consumers, entrepreneurs, and experts from the sixteenth to the early twentieth century. In this article, we discuss the key findings of our papers and reflect on the feedback received.

Nitya Gundu, ‘Threading the Globe: Trade in Kalamkari Cloth in Early Modern Southeast Asia’

In the seventeenth century, the export of painted cloth produced along the Coromandel coast of the Indian subcontinent to Southeast Asia had begun expanding. The growing scale of trade in painted cloth known as kalamkari with Southeast Asia rested on three elements – the adaptability of Kalamkari artisans in reinventing their techniques to adhere to the aesthetic sensibilities of the Southeast Asian market; the participation of multiple merchant groups trading in the Indian Ocean, including the introduction of the Dutch and English East India Companies and the increasing demand for painted cloth due to its inclusion into other cultural traditions in Southeast Asia.

Nitya’s paper thus explored kalamkari trade in Southeast Asia - Thailand, Indonesia; and Japan through an examination of some of the textile pieces that were traded to these regions. She argued that artisans adapted motifs in kalamkari textiles to those traditionally found in the Indonesian archipelago and demonstrated how kalamkari textiles were recognised for their ceremonial value, becoming coveted objects - particularly in Siamese courts. Through such examples, she showed how a tradition of dyed and painted textiles thus became a part of Southeast Asian cultural tradition.

Judy Law, ‘Southern Fujianese Merchants in Southeast Asia and their Impact on Zhangzhou Porcelain Trade (Late Sixteenth-Early Seventeenth Centuries)’

Judy’s paper discussed the trade of Zhangzhou porcelain in Southeast Asia and explored the indispensable role of Southern Fujianese merchants in this interregional trade. Zhangzhou porcelain was a distinctive group of Chinese export porcelain produced in a coastal city in China’s southeast corner named Zhangzhou in Fujian province. During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, a considerable amount of Zhangzhou porcelain had been traded to Southeast Asia and Japan. It was also considered an important commodity by Dutch merchants, targeted specifically for intra-Asian trade during the early seventeenth century.

The rise and growth of Zhangzhou wares were intricately linked to the historical context of the expansion of world markets in the early modern era. By highlighting the role of the Southern Fujianese merchants, she suggests that the rise of Zhangzhou wares in Southeast Asian markets, particularly in the Philippines and Indonesia, was a response by Southern Fujianese merchants to the changing market caused by the shift of Jingdezhen porcelain towards European and American markets, as well as the sustained demand for Chinese ceramics in Southeast Asia. Through studying the emergence of Zhangzhou wares in global markets, she strives to demonstrate the predominant role of Southern Fujianese merchants in intra-Asian porcelain trade during that time.

Jeremy Goh, ‘Chinese Big Business in the British Straits Settlements: The Transnational Enterprises of Lim Peng Siang (1904-1941)’

Jeremy’s paper analysed how an ethnic Chinese entrepreneur, Lim Peng Siang, developed an industrial business empire in colonial Singapore and Malaya during the early twentieth century. This was highly unusual as industrialisation is commonly understood to have taken place after these colonies became independent after 1950.

Born in Zhangzhou (Fujian province, China), Lim achieved fame for building an industrial conglomerate that included not only older types of businesses like parboiled rice, but also new ones such as the mass production of cement, soap, as well as the creation of a regional (and later transregional) steamship line. He also led the establishment of two modern ethnic Chinese banks in Singapore, with branches located across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Southern China, including the cities of Xiamen and Shanghai.

The intriguing story of Lim’s career is not only important to Southeast Asian history, but also related fields such as global history and business history. His transregional conglomerate indicates that processes of industrialisation and modernisation were already underway in Southeast Asia before the Second World War. These processes did not take place in the form of a linear trajectory from ‘traditional’ to the ‘modern’. Instead, they developed in a more complex manner, including the adoption of modern organisational structures and dynamics, professional managerial expertise, as well as continued dependence on family networks and ancestral ties in a cosmopolitan setting. Lim’s story reinforces the potential of situating colonial Southeast Asian Chinese business and entrepreneurial histories within the broader nexus of modern industrial capitalism, colonialism, and globalisation.

Moving Forward

We received feedback and questions following the presentation of our papers, which are useful to our ongoing research projects.

Nitya received queries from Indonesian scholars regarding the exchange of knowledge on producing dyed and painted textiles between South Asia and Southeast Asia, which motivated her to investigate the technical knowledge traditions of dyed textiles in South Asia, as well as the dissemination of such knowledge as part of her thesis. She further explored the journeys of such textiles by mapping their movement using data from the Dutch Textile Trade Project, which threw light on how the trade was carried out by Tamil, Armenian and Dutch merchants between the Coromandel Coast and Siam. Ultimately, she showed that Southeast Asia was both a central intermediary site and a significant market in the trade of kalamkari cloth.

Judy received valuable feedback and insightful suggestions from the audience. In the existing scholarship on Zhangzhou porcelain, the differences between Southeast Asian countries—rooted in variations in local customs, religions, and distinct roles in trade—are often overlooked. This workshop, which brought together scholars from various UK institutions specialising in Southeast Asia, offered fresh perspectives that addressed this gap in her research. One particularly significant question came from an Indonesian scholar, who inquired about Indonesia’s specific role in the trade of Zhangzhou porcelain. The question has motivated her to further explore the differing roles and consumption practices between Indonesia and the Philippines in her ongoing research and fieldwork. This exchange has added to her understanding of ceramic consumption in Southeast Asia and the interconnectedness of the region.

For Jeremy, even though his paper has been published as a research article, his research on Lim remains ongoing. As part of his current PhD project, ‘Globalising from the Periphery’, he is exploring Lim’s involvement and leadership in the banking industry of colonial Singapore and Malaya. At this workshop, the audience expressed curiosity about the extent of modernisation and the extent to which it included individuals beyond the elite. Comments and questions following this strand of thought reaffirm the relevance of incorporating the voices and lived experiences of individuals from the working and middle classes, which are necessary for a fuller and more inclusive understanding of economic modernisation on the colonial periphery.

In sum, participating in this workshop has given us an enriching experience in presenting our research to an international audience. We had the opportunity to interact with colleagues who are working in the social sciences and international affairs who offered novel questions and perspectives, that will enrich our own approaches to writing global histories. This experience has undoubtedly enhanced our receptiveness and ability to engage with scholars from non-historical fields!

Figure 1. 18^th century, produced in the Coromandel Coast for the Javanese market, Ceremonial Skirt Cloth (Dodot) with tambal miring design, mordant and resist dyed, Victoria and Albert Museum, IS.41&A-1988.

Figure 2: Zhangzhou polychrome kendi painted in overglaze iron red, green, turquoise blue, and black enamel. Late Ming to early Qing dynasties (early 17th century). Height: 21.5 cm. Collection of The British Museum (PDF, A.756).

Figure 3: Bill of Exchange, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation. This bank was formed in October 1932 through the amalgamation of three ethnic Chinese banks, including the Ho Hong Bank managed by Lim Peng Siang, in Singapore. Collection of Jeremy Goh.