The people who lived in Fujian district along the south-eastern coast of China long ago began to construct ships and go fishing. For this reason, they grasped sound navigation skills and gained rich navigation experience. These skills and experience laid basis for the following large-scale overseas trade. In the Tang dynasty, with the development of economy, the people who lived in Fujian district started to leave home town and engage in overseas trade. In the Song dynasty and the Yuan dynasty, with the fast development of overseas communication, more and more Fujian maritime merchants, navigating the Fujian ships which were safe, fast and could arrive at destination on time, engaged in overseas trade. The Fujian ships made it possible for the Fujian maritime merchants to shorten trade time, catch business opportunity, level up the chance of success in trade and make full use of capital. As a result of this, Fujian maritime merchants gained fast development and they reached far areas such as eastern Asia, south-eastern Asia, southern Asia, and eastern Africa. This study deals with the issues such as the reasons for the development of Fujian maritime merchants, the trade engaged in by Fujian maritime merchants, the Fujian ships which played a decisive role in the overseas trade of Fujian maritime merchants.