No. 237 Maritime Archaeology in the People's Republic of China ...

This report is the result of a joint China-Australia maritime
archaeological investigation of the shipwreck known as Bai
Jiao 1, located adjacent to the village of Dinghai, Fujian
Province, south east of China (Figure 1). The expedition,
which took place between May and July 1995 expanded upon
preliminary work conducted at the site in 1990. The following
document describes the 1995 excavation and gives an analysis
of the cultural material recovered.
The report is organised into three sections. The first section
will provide a background of maritime history for south
eastern China and the Dinghai area against which the Song
Dynasty shipwreck can be interpreted. The current knowledge
and scholarship about Chinese trade patterns (especially in
ceramics) for the period and boat building techniques will
also be briefly examined.
The second section of the report is primarily concerned
with the excavation of the wreck site and the analysis of the
artefact material (predominantly ceramics) that has been
examined and recovered from it. Section 3 deals with the
possible future work on the Bai Jiao 1 wreck site, and other
avenues for investigation relevant to the study of maritime
archaeology in China. Appendix 1 contains the excavation
dive log. Appendix 2 contains the wood sample identification
analysis.
All the original documentary material including dive record
sheets and photographs reside with the National Museum of
Chinese History, Beijing. The artefacts recovered from the
site are currently undergoing conservation treatment at the
Fujian Provincial Museum, Fuzhou.
Unless otherwise indicated the artefact drawings were
prepared by Zhou Rong Di of the Fuzhou City Museum, China
and the photographs taken by Jon Carpenter of the Western
Australian Maritime Museum (WAMM). All site plans, tables
and other figures are the product of the author. The maps were
drawn by Jeremy Green, and have been adapted from Clark,
1995. Jon Carpenter contributed the conservation assessment
of the wreck site. Ian Godfrey, curator of the Materials
Conservation Department at WAMM provided the timber
analysis contained in Appendix 2. The report was designed
and set by the author.
Chinese dynastic chronology
The main dynastic periods that are referred to in the text
are:
Han 206 BC - 220 AD
Tang 618–907 AD
Five Dynasties
and Ten Kingdoms 907–979 AD
Five Dynasties 907–960 AD
Song 960–1279 AD
Northern Song 960–1127 AD
Southern Song 1127–1279 AD
Yuan 1271–1368 AD
Ming 1368–1644 AD
Qing 1644–1911 AD
Ceramic types and glaze terminology
Ce l a d o n
Glaze coloured green by the introduction of iron oxide, fired
in a reducing atmosphere onto stoneware or porcelain. Term
coined in Europe (Guy, 1980: glossary).
Gr e e n wa r e
Broad generic term used to describe celadon (longquan and
qing chi). Technically defined as having a high fired (minimum
1200˚C) glaze which is felspathic and contains the elements
of iron that cause the green colour in the glaze. Tonality varies
with the iron content and firing conditions.
Po r C e l a i n (C i t z’u)
High fired pottery, fired at a temperature between 1300–
1350˚C, composed mainly of kaolin (gaolingtu) and petuntse
(baidunzi). It is entirely vitrified, white, extremely hard,
resonant when struck, and transparent when thin. Generally
covered with felspathic glaze.
St o n e wa r e
Pottery fired at about 1200–1280˚C, at which temperature it
melts, vitrifies and becomes impermeable. The body is heavy,
solid, close grained and not translucent.
tu h a o z h a n
‘rabbit’s hair’, ‘hares fur’ or ‘hare’s hair’ glazed bowl
Yi n G q i n G
light green celadon glazed bowl
Gl a z e S
Bai chi white glaze
Ying Qing chi misty blue glaze
He You chi black glaze
Qing chi celadon glaze
Jiang chi dark reddish brown glaze
Cav e t to
Curved inner wall of a dish or bowl (Guy, 1980: glossary).
re d u C t i o n firinG
With little oxygen entering the furnace, the combustion is
smoky. The kiln fills with carbon monoxide, which turns to
carbon dioxide by taking oxygen from the ferric oxide in the
clay. The iron oxide becomes ferrous oxide and colours the
body gray. If the clay has no traces of iron oxide, it remains
white whatever the type of firing (ibid.).
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