Under the Mongol rulers of the 13th and 14th centuries, China's overseas trade flourished. An imperial emissary dispatched to the southern port of Quanzhou to inspect the items being traded there noted that some of the goods came from Ryukyu.
承續宋代，元代也熱中海外貿易，當時有位御史馬祖常曾奉命到泉州南方察看海貨，他所作的「舶上謠」：「薰陸胡椒溫肭齊，明珠象齒骸雞犀，世間莫作珍貴看，斛使英雄價盡低」，描述的南海寶貨，一部份就來自琉球。