Live Your Best Lives
How many Chinese treasures have been lost overseas?
The answer must be – countless!
Today, I want every Chinese person to know about this overseas "treasure museum", which tells a sad and comforting story about a shipwreck.
At the end of the 20th century, a German boss who ran a cement factory in Indonesia heard that cultural relics were often salvaged in the nearby waters. He made a quick decision to sell the cement factory and started a salvage company. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but with his incredible luck, he discovered a Ming Dynasty shipwreck named "Yingtan" in 1997. In 1998, he discovered another one in the waters of Belitung Island. Because there was a black reef next to the ship, it was named Batu Hitam, which means black rock, and its Chinese name is "Black Stone".
Archaeologists saw the words "Baoli Year 2" on the bottom of a porcelain bowl, which immediately caused a sensation around the world. It turned out that the shipwreck was an Arab merchant ship from the Tang Dynasty in China, and it was also the only complete Tang Dynasty shipwreck to date.
The ship was filled with approximately 67,000 pieces of porcelain, lacquerware, gold and silver wares, most of which were from the Changsha kiln, but also included celadon and white porcelain from the Ding and Yue kilns.
In particular, there is an octagonal gold cup food and drink utensil used by royal nobles, which is the largest of its kind discovered so far.
The patterns on the Changsha kiln porcelain bowls are customized according to Arab preferences. Each piece is a fine product, in no way inferior to the existing Changsha kiln collections in China, highlighting the vitality and competitiveness of Tang Dynasty porcelain in the world at that time.
There is also a legendary bronze mirror on board the ship, a tribute from Yangzhou that Emperor Xuanzong of Tang loved very much - the Jiangxin Mirror. Its crafting requirements are very strict. It must be forged after a complicated ceremony on May 5th every year in the middle of the Yangtze River.
Previously, it was only recorded in history books. Currently, the only physical object with a clear date and that can match the records in the literature is the one on the Black Stone.
In 2002, a German company was preparing to auction the Black Stone. At that time, museums in Shanghai, Yangzhou, Nantong, Hunan Province and other places all wanted to return these cultural relics to the motherland.
However, the other party only sells it as a whole, with a starting price of 40 million US dollars, equivalent to 300 million RMB, and it is not sold individually.
Because there was no buyer in the country, the Singapore government finally purchased the exhibition rights of the Black Stone. Later, with the investment of the descendants of Kuo Teck Puat, the former richest man in Singapore, the ship was finally sold for US$30 million, allowing the Black Stone to remain in Singapore forever.
This is really unfortunate, lamentable and sad for our country.
Based on the words "Baoli Year 2" (826 AD) on the bottom of the bowl, it can be inferred that one day after that, the Black Stone set out from Yangzhou, followed the Maritime Silk Road, passed Guangzhou and went south, and finally sank in Indonesia.
Due to the sophisticated transportation method, the porcelain was firmly tied with straw and then placed in these large jars. In addition, the sea area where the shipwreck occurred was not deep, and it was protected by the silt on the seabed. Therefore, when it was unearthed from the water again after a thousand years, it seemed as if it was new.
Especially this West Asian style white glaze green painted long handle high foot pot, similar devices have never been found in China.
Among the same type of colored porcelain, one can also see the words "Ying" and "Jinfeng", as well as the octagonal cup and Jiangxin mirror mentioned above. This suggests that this merchant ship was unusual. It may even have served as a diplomatic mission, which is why it had so many unique and exquisite items.
This museum is
the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. I hope it will be better known
than the National Museum of Singapore.
The Asian Civilisations Museum is located on the banks of the Singapore River, not far from the Merlion Park.
The above is the story of the origin of the "Black Stone".
Did you know that Black Stone is not its real name? It is just a small ship on the Maritime Silk Road. It is not even recorded in historical books. However, it is the only shipwreck from the Tang Dynasty. Whether 30 million US dollars is a lot or a little may no longer be important, but it was really important to these cultural relics at the time.
The Asian Civilisations Museum has put a lot of thought into the display of these porcelains. The porcelain bowls are arranged one by one, forming what looks like surging waves, which is very vivid.
I seem to be able to see that on that day 1,200 years ago, the Black Stone, perhaps because of the wind and waves, or because it ran aground, sank into the sea with 25 tons of cargo in chaos.
When I was visiting the museum, I saw teachers leading groups of local students to learn about the Black Stone and ancient China.
Although it is a pity that it could not return to its motherland, it is gratifying that the Black Stone can remain in the Chinese cultural circle to promote Chinese culture and history compared to those cultural relics that have been scattered in Europe and the United States, disappeared, or were placed and touched at will.
People always have to look forward. If there are still Tang shipwrecks undiscovered on the seabed, I only hope that one day in the future, when it reappears, we can bring it back to the embrace of our motherland.
Of course, this museum has more than just the Tang Dynasty shipwreck exhibition hall. It has three floors. In addition to the maritime trade on the first floor, the second and third floors also display many cultural relics from across Asia. Among them, the recent Pagoda Journey Exhibition Hall displays many exquisite Chinese pagodas and other proportional exhibits, which is well worth a visit.
