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An exhibition showcasing the remains of an ancient sunken ship recently drew a flood of attention in Beijing upon its opening on August 22. The ancient ship named Huaguangjiao 1， enchanted the capital with its mysteries after laying untouched for almost 800 years underwater.
Huaguangjiao 1 was first discovered by a fisherman at the bottom of the South China Sea in 1996. It is also the first ancient ship found by the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea. As a merchant ship， it was found full of items for trade， including porcelain， bronze ware and stone implements. Huaguangjiao 1 was originally built in southeast China’s Fujian Province during the Southern Song Dynasty（1127-1279）. When it traveled by the Xisha Islands near Hainan Island， it hit the reef known as Huaguangjiao and sank， and this is where the ship got its name.
The ancient sunken ship has great archeological significance. It is a record of the history of ancient China’s friendly exchanges with neighboring countries and it also exhibits China’s world-leading navigation capabilities at the time， say experts.
Exhibition
“This exhibition is so great！ It is so vivid and real. I feel like I am watching it set sail happily， sink regrettably and then finally get salvaged，” said Wei Luxi， a 10-year-old primary school student who came to the exhibition with her parents.
Because the exhibition was open during the summer vacation， many parents took their children to go and see it， with the aim of giving their children a lesson in the history of navigation and to see ancient cultural relics.
The exhibit consists of five parts that work together to tell the ship’s story， including how it would have looked originally when setting sail， how exactly the ship came to sink and the underwater archeological work undertaken in recovering the boat. In the exhibition hall， there are two specially designed sandpits. All cultural relics salvaged from the sunken ship were placed in the sandpits， to recreate the effect of looking at them on the sea bed where they were found.
The white sand was no ordinary sand either. Actual coral sand transported from Hainan Island， where the sunken ship was found， was used according to a museum attendant.
Out of all of the exhibits， which total more than 280， the precious antiques found inside the sunken ship were the main attraction. All of them are fine examples of artisan craft work of China at that time. Underwater archeology
The salvaged wreck of Huaguangjiao 1 has a long story. First discovered by a Chinese fisherman in 1996， a preliminary salvaging was conducted two years later in 1998， and about 1，800 relics were brought out of the water from the wreck. However， the official underwater archeological work didn’t start until 2007.
It was China’s first national survey on underwater relics and as such is a landmark accomplishment for China’s underwater archeological work， resulting in the recovery of more than 10，000 pieces of porcelain alone.
In fact， Huaguangjiao 1 is neither the first nor the only sunken ship that has been found in the region. It was one of the busiest international maritime trading routes in history， sometimes known as the Marine Silk Road， along which ancient Chinese merchants shipped porcelain， silk， and other commodities overseas. As a result， the region has thousands of ancient shipwrecks.
The protection of underwater cultural heritage has already gained the attention of the Chinese Government.
“The protection of underwater cultural heritage is an important part of China’s ocean strategy，” said Shan Jixiang， Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
In recent years， coastal states across the world have accelerated the development of the methods used to harness ocean resources. The protection and utilization of underwater cultural heritage has attracted extensive attention on the back of this trend， explained Shan.
“China’s underwater archaeology and cultural heritage protection has made significant progress throughout the last two decades，”Shan added.
China’s first underwater archaeology organization， the Underwater Archaeology Research Center， was founded by the National Museum of China in 1987. So far， the center has trained more than 80 underwater archaeological divers.
After more than two decades of development， China’s underwater cultural heritage protection has taken shape. It has expanded from one department leading the work to active cooperation between multiple departments. It has also changed from dealing with purely underwater archeology to dealing with overall underwater cultural heritage protection.
Driven by potentially massive profits， the stealing of underwater relics occurs frequently， especially in Guangdong and Fujian provinces where many wrecks are located. For instance， in the fight against illegal salvage and the selling of underwater cultural relics， Fujian’s frontier defense forces successfully concluded 45 investigations into the stealing of underwater cultural relics and reclaimed 7，144 underwater cultural relics as a result of their work in October 2006.
“The situation is very severe，” said Pu Gong， Vice Director of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Guangdong. Pu was responsible for the archeological expeditions undertaken on the two sunken ships named Nanhai 1 and Nan’ao 1 found near Guangdong.
Currently， the clues that archeologists receive about the locations of sunken ships come almost entirely from cultural relic thieves. The salvage of Nanhai 1， which had been successfully lifted out of water whole and intact， and Nan’ao 1 was undertaken urgently in order to beat relic thieves to the punch， according to Pu.
（Photos by Wei Yao）
Huaguangjiao 1 was first discovered by a fisherman at the bottom of the South China Sea in 1996. It is also the first ancient ship found by the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea. As a merchant ship， it was found full of items for trade， including porcelain， bronze ware and stone implements. Huaguangjiao 1 was originally built in southeast China’s Fujian Province during the Southern Song Dynasty（1127-1279）. When it traveled by the Xisha Islands near Hainan Island， it hit the reef known as Huaguangjiao and sank， and this is where the ship got its name.
The ancient sunken ship has great archeological significance. It is a record of the history of ancient China’s friendly exchanges with neighboring countries and it also exhibits China’s world-leading navigation capabilities at the time， say experts.
Exhibition
“This exhibition is so great！ It is so vivid and real. I feel like I am watching it set sail happily， sink regrettably and then finally get salvaged，” said Wei Luxi， a 10-year-old primary school student who came to the exhibition with her parents.
Because the exhibition was open during the summer vacation， many parents took their children to go and see it， with the aim of giving their children a lesson in the history of navigation and to see ancient cultural relics.
The exhibit consists of five parts that work together to tell the ship’s story， including how it would have looked originally when setting sail， how exactly the ship came to sink and the underwater archeological work undertaken in recovering the boat. In the exhibition hall， there are two specially designed sandpits. All cultural relics salvaged from the sunken ship were placed in the sandpits， to recreate the effect of looking at them on the sea bed where they were found.
The white sand was no ordinary sand either. Actual coral sand transported from Hainan Island， where the sunken ship was found， was used according to a museum attendant.
Out of all of the exhibits， which total more than 280， the precious antiques found inside the sunken ship were the main attraction. All of them are fine examples of artisan craft work of China at that time. Underwater archeology
The salvaged wreck of Huaguangjiao 1 has a long story. First discovered by a Chinese fisherman in 1996， a preliminary salvaging was conducted two years later in 1998， and about 1，800 relics were brought out of the water from the wreck. However， the official underwater archeological work didn’t start until 2007.
It was China’s first national survey on underwater relics and as such is a landmark accomplishment for China’s underwater archeological work， resulting in the recovery of more than 10，000 pieces of porcelain alone.
In fact， Huaguangjiao 1 is neither the first nor the only sunken ship that has been found in the region. It was one of the busiest international maritime trading routes in history， sometimes known as the Marine Silk Road， along which ancient Chinese merchants shipped porcelain， silk， and other commodities overseas. As a result， the region has thousands of ancient shipwrecks.
The protection of underwater cultural heritage has already gained the attention of the Chinese Government.
“The protection of underwater cultural heritage is an important part of China’s ocean strategy，” said Shan Jixiang， Director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
In recent years， coastal states across the world have accelerated the development of the methods used to harness ocean resources. The protection and utilization of underwater cultural heritage has attracted extensive attention on the back of this trend， explained Shan.
“China’s underwater archaeology and cultural heritage protection has made significant progress throughout the last two decades，”Shan added.
China’s first underwater archaeology organization， the Underwater Archaeology Research Center， was founded by the National Museum of China in 1987. So far， the center has trained more than 80 underwater archaeological divers.
After more than two decades of development， China’s underwater cultural heritage protection has taken shape. It has expanded from one department leading the work to active cooperation between multiple departments. It has also changed from dealing with purely underwater archeology to dealing with overall underwater cultural heritage protection.
Driven by potentially massive profits， the stealing of underwater relics occurs frequently， especially in Guangdong and Fujian provinces where many wrecks are located. For instance， in the fight against illegal salvage and the selling of underwater cultural relics， Fujian’s frontier defense forces successfully concluded 45 investigations into the stealing of underwater cultural relics and reclaimed 7，144 underwater cultural relics as a result of their work in October 2006.
“The situation is very severe，” said Pu Gong， Vice Director of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Guangdong. Pu was responsible for the archeological expeditions undertaken on the two sunken ships named Nanhai 1 and Nan’ao 1 found near Guangdong.
Currently， the clues that archeologists receive about the locations of sunken ships come almost entirely from cultural relic thieves. The salvage of Nanhai 1， which had been successfully lifted out of water whole and intact， and Nan’ao 1 was undertaken urgently in order to beat relic thieves to the punch， according to Pu.
（Photos by Wei Yao）