Ancient port reveals its secrets

Export hub of porcelain

Three shipwrecks have also been found. The No 1 shipwreck dates to the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), and has been removed from the site for better study and preservation. The No 2 shipwreck, which dates to no later than the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), remains mostly buried, and only parts of it have been exposed. And the third one, smaller and more damaged, is kept underground with some parts exposed as well.

According to Liang, the No 1 shipwreck is of a fuchuan, a type of boat also known as a Fujian vessel, one of the four types of ancient wooden Chinese ships, and which was used as a cargo vessel from the Song Dynasty. The wreck contains a coin and bottles from the period.

"The ship was probably abandoned, and had no cargo," says Wu.

"It was a medium- to small-sized ship at the time, only about 20 meters in length, and could hold between 100 and 200 metric tons of cargo. During the Song Dynasty, many freighters were 50 to 60 meters long and had capacities of 700 to 800 tons."

He adds that during the Song Dynasty, Wenzhou was one of the most developed shipbuilding centers in China. Historical literature shows that during the late Northern Song period, Wenzhou built 600 ships for the government every year, the most built anywhere in China at the time.

Piles of porcelain items and pieces, lacquerware, glazed artifacts, shells and plant specimens dating from the Northern Song to the early 20th century have been unearthed, with Song and Yuan relics making up the largest proportion.

Around 2,000 complete porcelain items have also been found, as well as some 10 tons of fragments, 90 percent of which were produced at the Longquan kiln in Longquan, Zhejiang.

According to Liang, Longquan celadons accounted for a large part of the porcelain sold overseas from the Southern Song Dynasty until the middle of the Ming Dynasty, and is regarded as the first Chinese commodity to have global appeal before the Age of Exploration.

"The discovery shows that Wenzhou was a major distribution center, as well as a starting point for the transportation of Longquan celadons to other countries during the Song Dynasty," says Liang.

Wu adds that Longquan lies on the upper reaches of the Oujiang River, and Wenzhou is on the lower reaches, and so transportation by river was less costly that by road. As a result, a lot of Longquan celadons were shipped to Wenzhou, and then loaded onto ships bound for abroad.

He also mentions Ningbo in Zhejiang, another important node on the ancient Maritime Silk Road, as also being an important port for shipping Longquan celadons overseas during the Yuan Dynasty, but says that Wenzhou was involved in the trade earlier.

Besides ceramics, lacquerware was also a notable Wenzhou product. During the Song Dynasty, the city was home to a great number of workshops producing lacquerware, which made Wenzhou lacquerware a recognizable name.