One day over 800 years ago, a ship carrying porcelain departed from a dock on China’s southeastern coast, and began sailing toward Southeast Asia. However, the boat, later named Huaguang Reef 1, met with grave misfortune and sank into the deep waters of the South China Sea. What happened next? In this first episode of the ‘National Treasure Season’ of Hainan Mirror, we will explore these historical mysteries.

Since the opening of the ancient Maritime Silk Road, the South China Sea has been an important avenue of trade in the region. Merchant ships sailed back and forth constantly. However, due to the high winds of typhoons, the sharp rocks of hidden reefs, and the treachery of pirates, ships often ran aground or sank, carrying large numbers of cultural relics from many different historical regions down to a watery grave. The majority of these relics were porcelains, which are often called ‘sea-salvaged porcelains’ after being dredged up from the depths.

The recovered porcelains are mainly folk porcelains, meant for daily use, but there are also a smattering of high-quality porcelains as well. The Huaguang Reef 1 yielded exquisitely made Southern Song Dynasty blue and white glazed porcelain pots with carved patterns as well as Southern Song green-glazed porcelain bowls with carved patterns.

A total of over 20,000 porcelains have been recovered from the wreck of the Huaguang Reef 1, with 85% of the porcelains originating from Fujian kilns and classified by glaze color as blue and white glazed, green glazed, brown glazed, or black glazed, and by shape as bowls, plates, dishes, boxes, pots, cups, bottles, jars, and urns.

In ancient China, porcelains were as popular as silk or tea, and were loved by customers from all over the world, with some calling the Maritime Silk Road by another name - the Maritime Porcelain Road. The route between Quanzhou, Fujian to Hainan via Guangzhou was the main transport route for China’s flourishing porcelain trade.

China’s underwater archaeological discoveries have found that the porcelain salvaged from the waters of Hainan dates back to four different dynasties: the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. During the Song Dynasty, celadon and blue and white porcelain dominated, while during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing, blue and white porcelain was the main export. Exquisite Chinese porcelains were shipped to happy customers all across the globe.

The Renaissance period oil painting the Feast of the Gods, by Giovanni Bellini, which can be seen in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., capitol of the USA, features a Chinese blue and white porcelain plate at the center of the gathering of gods.

According to the historical document “Records of Foreign Countries”, during the Song Dynasty, Chinese porcelain was sold in Indochina, the Malay Peninsula, the Philippine Islands, and the East Indies, and then from Malacca the porcelains traveled on to Arabia, Persia, and Europe.

Sadly, the porcelain carried on the Huaguang Reef 1 did not reach its destination on the far side of the earth, but instead was rocked to sleep by the currents of the South China Sea, where it lay dreaming in a heap on the seafloor for over 800 years.

In the Chinese archaeological community, there is a team of underwater archaeology specialists who search for these lost treasures of history and awaken ‘sleeping’ ships and porcelains by bringing them back into the light of day. Thanks to their hard, careful work, we finally have the opportunity to see these porcelains shine.