Overseas Chinese Maritime Heritage

The seafaring and trading legacy of the Chinese diaspora across maritime Southeast Asia and beyond, built on the junk trade of Fujian and Guangdong merchants and migrants. Networks predate but expanded after the Ming voyages of Zheng He (1405 to 1433) and persisted through Qing-era and 19th-century migration to Nanyang ports such as Malacca, Penang, Singapore, and Manila. The heritage spans junk shipbuilding, the kongsi clan associations, sea-goddess temples to Mazu, and commercial diasporas that shaped regional trade. Sites include the Zheng He Memorial Hall in Nanjing.