Special Exhibition: “The Shinan Wreck and Ceramic Trades in East Asia”

 

National Maritime Museum holds a special exhibition “The Shinan Wreck and Ceramic Trades in East Asia” from September 22nd to December 10th, 2006, in celebration of the 30^th anniversary of the Shinan Wreck excavation which was the first underwater archaeological activity in Korea and awakened people to the importance of underwater cultural heritage.

 

This special exhibition is designed to help people better understand the outstanding cultural capacity of East Asian countries in the 14^th century and flourishing cultural exchanges in the region in the 14^th century, by displaying the evidence of ceramic trade such as the Chinese ceramics excavated from the wrecked ship “Shinan” which went between China and Japan via Korea, and the Goryeo celadon which exported to Japan from the Goryeo dynasty of Korea.

 

This exhibition aims to give a glimpse of the ship “Shinan” and the trading culture of East Asia of the time through the display of the objects retrieved from the Shinan wreck excavation which opened a new chapter in the Korean underwater archaeological history; Chinese ceramics excavated from Korea, China and Japan; Goryeo celadon, the exports of Goryeo to Japan; and the watchtower of the ship.

 

It is the first exhibition of its kind in Korea, showing the level of Goryeo and Japan in the field of ceramics in the 14^th century: while the former became the world’s second to produce the porcelain after China, the latter was only able to produce the stoneware imitating the porcelain of Korea and China.

 

The items to be displayed are 230 relics including ceramics recovered from the Shinan wreck, Chinese ceramics from the same period but excavated from land, and the Chinese or Goryeo celadon discovered in Japan. The most valuable are the celadon jar with a lid and pleats design, which was excavated from the Sujongsa temple and now housed in the Buddhist Museum after being designated as Treasure No. 259-1; the celadon saucer with inlaid chrysanthemum design in the possession of the National Museum of Korea; and the celadon vase with fish and dragon designs under the care of Gwangju National Museum.

 

Other rare, precious relics are also on display. Visitors can appreciate the part of the collections of six Japanese institutes, such as the celadon vase with Chinese phoenix design and the celadon incense burner with eight signs of divination. The institutes include the Museum of Oriental Ceramics in Osaka, Idemitsu Museum of Arts in Tokyo, Kamakura City Board of Education, Fukuoka City Center for Buried Cultural Properties, Kyoto City Archaeological Research Institute, and Aichi Prefecture Ceramic Museum. Also displayed is the fragmented stoneware which is in imitation of the porcelain produced at the Lung Chuen kiln site of China and excavated from the remains of Fustat in Cairo, Egypt.

 

The excavation of the Shinan wreck began in 1976 when it surprised the world with its sheer number of relics. Drawing wide attention from home and abroad, the excavation continued until 1984 and resulted in salvage of the 14^th century ship and tens of thousands of trading goods.

 

The “Shinan”, which named after Shinan County of Korea the place where it was found, left Qingyuan (current Ningbo City of China) for Hakada and Kyoto of Japan with a full load of cargo in 1323.

 

The 14^th century was the time of a brisk exchange of culture and human resources between the East and the West. Between the two major routes connecting the world, namely the “Silk Road” and the “Marine Silk Road”, the latter was predominantly used at the time due to the advanced seamanship and the advantage of mass transportation. The marine route is also known as the “Ceramic Road” or the “Spice Road” since the East exported ceramics, spice and tea to the West through the route.

 

The Marine Silk Road covered an extensive area from Europe to Japan, the easternmost country of Asia: ships sailed westward from the southern ports of China such as Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Quanzhou and Qingyuan to Europe through Sri Lanka, India and the Middle East; and eastward to Goryeo and Japan. The ship Shinan has a significant meaning because it proves the very existence of the Marine Silk Road.

 

On the sideline of the Exhibition, an international symposium is held under the theme of “The Shinan Underwater Relics and 14^th Century Asian Marine Trades” from November 17^th to 19^th at the Community Education Center of the National Maritime Museum. Many experts are expected to attend this symposium from home and abroad: about 30 attendants from 10 countries including the U.K., the U.S., Indonesia, Sri Lanka, China and Japan and 20 from Korea. In particular, individual and organizational participants are expected from Japan and China. The 3-day symposium will serve as an opportunity for experts to reaffirm the importance of Asian marine traders of the 14^th century and excavation of the Shinan underwater heritage in the history of ceramics, ships and cultural exchanges. This exhibition will also be counted as one of the large-scale international events in the fields of trading history and ceramics.

 

■ Exhibition Information