>>> Recently, a thousand year old Tang Dynasty Shipwreck,
came in view at Asia Society New York.
For the first time, American audiences get a chance to
witness the treasures discovered around
Belitung Island in the Java Sea.
>>> ADRIANA PROSER: We put together of cargo that
was part of a shipwreck discovered in 1998
off the coast of Indonesia. It was actually discovered
by fishermen who were looking for sea cucumbers and
excavation took place and ultimately what they discovered
was that this was a 9th century shipwreck, contained many many
Chinese ceramics. Altogether there were probably originally
about 70,000 ceramics on this quite small ship.
>>> This is the earliest ship found in Southeast Asia,
and it provides the proof of an active maritime trade in the
ninth century between two powerful empires: The Tang
Empire of China and the Abbasid empire in West Asia.
>>> ADRIANA PROSER:The ship itself was not a Chinese ship.
The ship was actually a ship that had originated in
west Asia, probably in the Persian Gulf and had sailed all the way to China.
>>> The ship assembled its goods from Yang Zhou China,
then headed to Baghdad in the middle East.
Unfortunately, due to bad weather,
it sunk around Belitung Island, Indonesia.
How could so many pieces of cargo fit in one small ship?
The wreck contained many storage jars made in Guangdong,
>>> ...contained 70,000 items. The majority was all for
trading or commerce. So these were how they packed them and
this is how they were found, and they would
put up to 150 pieces - bowls inside there.
>>> Thanks to this packing method, many of the bowls were
able to survive intact for over 11 hundred years.
There are so many unusual objects discovered on this ship.
This dragon-head object with its middle-eastern shape,
reflects a mixture of cultural influences.
>>> ADRIANA PROSER: This is really one of the masterpieces
that was discovered with the shipwreck. It includes this
fabulous top which is in the shape of a dragon's head.
And then the body of the ewer is covered with decorative
pattern that was very popular in Iran and Iraq.
>>> The nose drinking cups are examples of the strange drinking
customs of the past, customs only documented in writing
during the later Song dynasty.
>>> The nose drinking cup. They would put them in the nose,
close off the other and drink their wine during the winter
through their nose and drink their water in the summer
through their nose.
>>> Are you sure? [laughter]
>>> Yue ware was popular because its greenish color looks like
jade. Many forms of ceramics, including these,
were developed as the tea culture grew.
>>> This is when the tea culture really took off,
and there was a poet, a Chinese poet who said enrich
your tea experience you must have this...
>>> More than thirty gold and silver objects
were also recovered.
>>> We have jewelry boxes that were beautifully made and
according to art historians they say that the quality of the
detail is the level of the imperial court. Now what I think
is actually very interesting is they found 29 mirrors. We have
four here. They were made out of bronze. This had such a high
concentratin of tin. And on the reverse side is the actual
mirror part.
>>> One of the mirrors is dated 759 CE,
almost 70 years before the ship took sail.
These three blue white pieces made history.
They were made in Gong Xian Kiln in China,
and its design was clearly from Abbasid of West Asia.
It was commonly believed China started to make blue white
porcelain around the 13th century.
>>> Tang Dyansty is from 600 to 900. Look at this. They found a
blue and white on the boat. This is hundreds of years earlier.
This pattern is an Arabic pattern. So we know this
was being made much earlier than the blue and whites than we ever
thought because we found this on this particular shipwreck.
>>> Some luxury pieces were made from famous kilns through China,
and offer a superb demonstration of the
aesthetics of the Tang dynasty.
>>> On the boat they found white ware. If you cut to the side
look at how thin it is. It didn't crack, it didn't break.
It is so thin that the material is so strong.
>>> The largest portion of the cargo was made in Chang Sha
Kiln. 55 thousand pieces, each hand painted with a different
design in green and brownish red.
Many abstract symbols represent different
cultures and religions.
>>> ...it was the first physical proof that there had been this
kind of industrial sized mass production.
>>> This cargo was the first evidence of the Tang Dynasty’s
mass production capabilities, and the scale of their trading
over a wide geographical area.
Thousands of hand-painted pieces, produced without
electricity, without the help of modern equipment,
and most of them for export to foreign markets.
Perhaps most interesting are the pieces featuring Chinese
calligraphy, a word, a sentence or even a full poem.
The Tang Dynasty in China is famous for its poetry.
Legend says that everyone during that time could recite a poem.
There were over 200 poems found on the bowls of this one ship.
Lonely eagle above the Sky
Wind blows chills down the spine
A lady misses her man, out to sea,
When will he reach the shore, morning or night?
This is a rare chance for New York audiences
to view these pieces.
The Asia Society, collaborating with the Asian Civilizations
Museum Singapore, selected 75 pieces to showcase the cargo.
This exhibition demonstrates that,
even a thousand years ago, our ancestors already engaged far
and wide in trade and cultural exchange.
The impact of these exchanges still shape the world in which
we live today.