Sea and inland: a reassessment of the role of northern central mountain passes

Abstract

Locating at the crossroads of economic and cultural connections, Vietnam’s central coast has been closely connected with mainland Southeast Asian countries from early times. Among the diverse exchanges in culture, politics and society, commercial relationship is the most frequent and oldest in forms. With a long coastline and rich resources, the system of central Vietnam’s commercial ports, especially in the northern central region, is the shortest and most convenient passage through which mainland Southeast Asia opened to the sea. In terms of trade relations, the bustling tributary exchanges of inland states such as Laos and Chenzla with Dai Viet not only brought great commercial benefits but also created a balance between sea and inland culture in human life. In this peculiar human geography, this paper concentrates on investigating how the trade routes between mainland Southeast Asia and the north central region were established and operated. What were commercial products collected and transported to seaports in the north central region? Due to some limitations in historical materials, this article focuses mainly on the commercial ports in Nghe An - Ha Tinh and Quang Binh - Quang Tri.