2011 AAS/ICAS Joint Conference ~ Honolulu, Hawaii

 

 

2011 AAS/ICAS Joint Conference ~ Honolulu, Hawaii  

March 31-April 3, 2011

Panel “Cultures and Societies of the Indochinese Peninsula and the Ancient South China Sea Trade Routes”

Abstract of Panel

Ancient societies centered in the geographic space that is now Vietnam and flowing over into territory now part of other states, have been active players on the international scene in the South China Sea in terms of exchanges of elements of culture since prehistoric times.  C. Michele Thompson will examine trade, tribute, and exchange of aromatics, spices, and Materia Medica between the Han Chinese and the peoples they conquered in the territory stretching from the Yangtze Delta to the Red River Delta.  Lam My Dzung will present information from archaeological sites in central Vietnam which provides evidence of long term contact between the ancient Sa Huynh culture and the Chams who came to control passage along the trade routes off the coast of Vietnam.  Nguyen Tien Dong will discuss the Cham and their early interaction with local inhabitants through a detailed examination of an archeological site which provides clear evidence of a period of overlap between the two cultures.  Le Thi Lien will examine the evidence for early penetration of Hinduism into the Mekong Delta and the role of maritime networks in the development of Hindu beliefs in the area.  This discussion of ancient cultures in Vietnamese territories speaks not only to recent interest in the South China Sea but also to recent scholarship on regionalism and regional identity in colonial era and modern Vietnam and commentator Wynn Wilcox's insights into early colonial Vietnam will link these studies of ancient societies to recent scholarly controversies.

Michele Thompson (Southern Connecticut State University)