Qing Dynasty Cargo Is Recovered From a Ship Sunk during the Nineteenth Century

A Shipwreck from the Daoguang Era

1050 items that spent more than 180 years at the bottom of the East Chinese Sea have been hauled to the surface.

The priceless cargo was recovered from a Qing Dynasty ship (probably between 1821-1850). The ship went down not far from Xiangshan County (象山), Ningbo (宁波), Zhejiang (浙江). The cargo was composed of porcelains, ceramics, tea sets, jades, and Spanish silver coins. The items will be sent for further studies at the Institute of Archaeology of Ningbo.

Part of our China History Archive

The Wreck Site

The vessel has been identified as the Xiaobaijiao No. I (小白礁一号) shipwreck, first surveyed in 2008 by the National Museum of China together with the Ningbo Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. It lies at a depth of about 24 meters near Beiyushan Island, in the North Yushan Islands off Xiangshan County. Researchers have dated the ship to the Daoguang (道光) era of the Qing Dynasty, which ran from 1821 to 1850, matching the estimate given for the wreck.

Significance

The excavation ultimately recovered 236 pieces of the ship’s hull along with more than a thousand cultural relics, including hundreds of pieces of blue-and-white porcelain, pottery, metal coins, and a pyrophyllite seal bearing the inscription “Yuan He Sheng Ji.” Alongside the coins and porcelain, the mix of goods aboard, including pieces linked to trade with the Ryukyu Islands and Southeast Asia, has been cited by researchers as physical evidence of the maritime trade routes active along China’s eastern coast during the nineteenth century, part of what is now generally referred to as the Maritime Silk Road.