The Nan Hai No. 1 Museum in the Guangdong Province of the People’s Republic of China exhibits China’s first nautical archaeological excavation. The museum, also known as the Guangdong Marine Silk Road Museum, has on display an ancient Chinese shipwreck that is still notably intact.
In a previous article published on 08 December 2010, nautical archaeologist Shelley Wachsmann told WaterWideWeb, “Shipwrecks are important because in any given society, a ship is the most developed or technologically advanced piece of equipment that the society has.”
In the case of China’s Nan Hai No. 1, information about ship building will unveil details about the society’s capacity to construct intricate naval vessels. Clues about the way China conducted marine trade with the Middle East and the rest of the world over 800 years ago could perhaps write a new chapter in the country’s history.
Zhang Wei, director of the Underwater Archaeology Center of China, discovered the Nan Hai No. 1 site. in 1987. At the time, the field of nautical archaeology was still a relatively new discipline in China. A state funded organization to protect and preserve findings from submerged sites in Chinese waters was not in place in China.
Nevertheless, Wei assembled a team of nautical archaeologists and experts to excavate the Nan Hai No. 1 ship in 1988. Unfortunately, funding for research was not available for Wei to continue his excavation. The project was temporarily put on hold until additional financial resources could be obtained.
In 2001, Wei was granted money from Hong Kong’s Underwater Archaeology Association to support his efforts. Now, the Nan Hai No. 1 exhibit is displayed as an aquarium in Guangdong Province. The shipwreck is housed in a water palace that is filled with water of the same quality, temperature, and environment as the site where it was first discovered.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Nan Hai No. 1 Museum is “to become certainly one of the most important museums of underwater cultural heritage worldwide.”
Rescuing this shipwreck by Wei’s archaeology team was also a fascinating venture and contribution to nautical archaeology projects. A team of experts first covered the shipwreck with a bottomless steel container.
The end pieces of the steel encasement were sharpened and driven into the seabed using weights that were placed on the steel covering. Then, team members dug around the encasement and placed steel sheets underneath the vessel. Finally, the wreck was raised to the surface.
This approach was almost a way of saying that the site was the exclusive property of the China’s government. Treasure hunters and other potential intruders were not welcome at the site of the shipwreck.
Sadly, China has lost similar opportunities to examine their history by the sea because of treasure hunters like Mike Hatcher and Luc Heymans. Hatcher and Heymans robbed China of its underwater cultural heritage via nefarious and barely legal means, auctioning precious artifacts of sunken Chinese cargo for personal gain.
Furthermore, international law to protect submerged treasures off a country’s shores did not stipulate that said nations had direct rights to these finds.
The Nan Hai No. 1 Museum is significant for of its role in preserving cultural posterity and contributing to economic development in China. Revenue generated from ticket sales and tourists’ visits to Hailing Island in Guangdong Province will certainly have a positive financial impact on the country. Increased profits from museum visits will potentially support an effort to allocate more government funding for research and excavation of other sunken Chinese heritage.
On 22 October 2010, a report published by China.org indicated that the first freshwater nautical excavation in China will take place in the Poyang Lake. This endeavor is evidence that the interest and urgency in extending China’s nautical archaeology discipline are at hand.
Occurrences like these are just a couple of the myriad examples of sea exploitation on a sovereign nation’s submerged cultural property. Too often, developing and emerging countries are at risk for such tragedies due to a lack of expertise, resources or policing and legal protection.
The U.N. Convention on the Protection of Underwater Cultural Heritage, together with the Underwater Cultural Heritage Division of UNESCO works to prevent this and other exploitation, from endangering underwater heritage. But China’s nautical archaeology field is emerging and the country is firmly grasping this initiative with steel encasements and a tight fist.
If you enjoyed this article, you should also read
Baiheliang: The World’s Ancient Hydrological Station
UNESCO Works to Preserve Nautical Archaeology
Nautical Archaeology Threatened by Trawlers
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