The Tang Shipwreck: Art and Exchange in the 9th Century

Editors:
Alan Chong and Stephen A. Murphy

Publication date:
December 2019

Publisher:
Singapore : Asian Civilisations Museum

Abstract:
This book tells the story of the Tang Shipwreck, discovered off Belitung Island in Indonesia in 1998, and now housed at the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore. It is one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of recent times. Found at the site was a remarkable cargo of some 60,000 Chinese ceramics dating from the Tang dynasty (618-907), along with finely wrought gold and silver objects, bronze mirrors, and more ordinary objects belonging to the crew. Just as remarkable were the remnants of the ship itself, which consisted of wooden planks sewn together with rope. This construction technique clearly indicated that the vessel had been built in the Persian Gulf or western reaches of the Indian Ocean, and had sailed all the way from the Middle East to China, and was on its way home when it ran aground in the Java Sea. The ten essays in this profusely illustrated volume discuss the ceramics and other commodities on board, the ship's construction and possible origin, China's maritime trade in the Tang period, Chinese ceramic production, ports of call in Asia and Southeast Asia, and life on board the ship.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Alan Chong

Asia in the ninth century: The context of the Tang Shipwreck
Stephen A. Murphy

The origin of the Tang Shipwreck: A look at its archaeology and history
Michael Flecker

A Middle Eastern ship in Southeast Asia

Ceramics from Changsha: A world commodity
Kan Shuyi

The kilns of Changsha

Green, white, and blue-andwhite stonewares: A precious ceramic cargo
Regina Krahl

As green as jade: Celadons

As white as snow: White ceramics

Green-splashed ceramics for the Middle East

The art of tea

The Tang Shipwreck and the nature of China’s maritime trade during the late Tang period
Derek Heng

Hollow and useless luxuries: The Tang Shipwreck and the emerging role of Arab traders in the late first millennium Indian Ocean
John Guy

Middle Eastern taste: Lozenges and flowers

Gold and silver on the Tang Shipwreck
Qi Dongfang

Gold and silver luxuries

Metal objects on the Tang Shipwreck
François Louis

Mirrors

Sinbad, shipwrecks, and Singapore
John N. Miksic

Ports of call in ninth-century Southeast Asia: The route of the Tang Shipwreck
Stephen A. Murphy

Life on board

Chinese on board

Middle Easterners on board

Southeast Asian sailors

Gambling at sea

Storage jars