What the Maritime Silk Road Teaches Us: Difference Needs Both Space and Rules

In the 1990s, local fishermen discovered the remains of an ancient shipwreck in the waters between Borneo and Sumatra. It was a ninth-century Arab sewn-plank vessel, whose cargo hold yielded 67,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain. Some of the bowls featured Arabic inscriptions and date-palm motifs, designs tailored to the aesthetic preferences of West Asian markets. The vessel connected Arab merchants, ancient Chinese porcelain-making techniques, and the maritime trade networks of Southeast Asia. But it also raises a question: In a world of different cultures, beliefs and institutions, how can people build lasting cooperation?

The answer lies not only in the benefits of trade, but also in the rules that make it possible for differences to coexist. Looking back at the Maritime Silk Road, we can see that diversity does not automatically lead to understanding. Sustainable coexistence requires institutions that create space for equal interaction and establish a common framework of order.

During the Tang dynasty, Guangzhou was the starting point of the Route to Foreign Countries across the Sea from Guangzhou, then the world's longest ocean-going trade route. Since overseas merchants often needed to stay in the city for months or even years, the Tang government designated a special foreign merchant quarter, known as the Fanfang, in the western part of the city. A community leader, or Fanzhang, handled day-to-day affairs within the quarter. Internal disputes could be settled according to the customs of the communities concerned, while inter-community conflicts and serious crimes fell under the jurisdiction of Tang law. This arrangement recognized the customs and practices of different groups while preserving a common set of public rules. Centuries later, the Yuan dynasty introduced further regulations governing maritime trade, including the Zhiyuan Maritime Trade Regulations (1293) and the Yanyou Maritime Trade Regulations (1314). These rules not only standardized seaborne commerce but also prohibited officials from making things difficult for foreign merchants. Quanzhou's rise to become the largest port in the East during the Yuan dynasty was therefore built not only on a spirit of openness, but also on relatively clear rules that applied to all parties. Modern social research points to a similar lesson. Psychologist Gordon Allport's contact hypothesis suggests that positive intergroup relations are more likely to develop when contact takes place under conditions of equal status, shared goals, cooperation and institutional support.

Although the ancient Fanfang and maritime trade regulatory systems were not models of modern governance, they both demonstrate that exchange requires not only a setting in which people can interact, but also rules to govern that interaction.

Singapore offers a notable example of this principle in modern governance. Chen Jiongrui, President of the China Chapter of The Young SEAkers, recalls that Singapore is a highly diverse society where Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians and numerous immigrant communities live side by side. In education, work and everyday life, people regularly interact with members of different ethnic groups.

Since 1989, Singapore's Housing and Development Board (HDB) has implemented the Ethnic Integration Policy (EIP), which sets limits on the proportion of residents from each ethnic group in public housing blocks and neighborhoods. The bilingual education policy and Racial Harmony Day provide institutional support in everyday life, while the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act and the Maintenance of Racial Harmony Act, which took effect in 2026, establish the legal boundaries. Singapore's approach is to use spatial policies to bring different ethnic groups together, then rely on laws and regulations to maintain harmonious relations among them. This reflects a governance principle rooted in the long history of the Maritime Silk Road: differences must be recognized, but coexistence must be governed by rules.

Of course, institutions are never a universal solution. They can establish the boundaries of coexistence, but they cannot replace the process of mutual adjustment between people. Laws and everyday mechanisms can help contain conflict, but they cannot eliminate the inherent distances between different perceptions and customs. The ideal of embracing diversity still requires sustained commitment and care from all parties.

"We've done a lot," Chen says, "but it feels more like an ideal we haven't yet fully reached. We don't have to force ourselves to truly understand one another, but we need to be willing to take that first step."

From the ancient Silk Road to today's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has signed more than 200 cooperation agreements with over 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations. Landmark projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, the China-Laos Railway, and the Port of Piraeus in Greece have taken shape, alongside numerous smaller yet impactful projects that directly improve people's lives.

What the Maritime Silk Road teaches us is not merely a set of rules for accommodating differences, but also a broader wisdom about embracing diversity. Differences are neither noise that needs to be silenced nor burdens that need to be accommodated. They are sources of mutual enrichment and shared growth among civilizations. There is no standard answer to this question, nor is there a final destination. Coexistence is not an ideal we have already reached, but an ongoing journey that every generation must continue together.

 Chen Jiongrui (Singapore) is President of the China Chapter of The Young SEAkers (TYS).