When Hong Kong was a way station on the Maritime Silk Road – new exhibition showcases recent discoveries about city’s trading past
Hong Kong has been slower than some Chinese ports to trumpet its role in the history of East-West maritime trade, but a new exhibition at Hong Kong’s Maritime Museum shows the importance of places such as Tuen Mun and High Island to ancient mariners and is a timely reminder of the broader benefits to society of trade
Hong Kong’s historical place on China’s symbolic Maritime Silk Road is highlighted in a new exhibition at the city’s Maritime Museum.
“We can now prove Song and Ming dynasty Hong Kong had a transitional position on the Maritime Silk Road in places like Tuen Mun, High Island and Penny’s Bay,” says Dr Libby Chan Lai-pik, assistant director of the museum.
The exhibition, called “East Meets West: Maritime Silk Routes in the 13th-18th Centuries”, is co-organised by the Guangdong Museum and runs until November 11.
The exhibition’s timing is opportune. Beijing has launched a major publicity blitz to promote the benefits of its Belt and Road Initiative, a development plan to grow global trade, and this involves highlighting the historic silk routes that underpin it.
Following the apparent recent cancellation of three related infrastructure projects in Malaysia by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, and growing criticism that the development initiative is more about Chinese hegemony than bilateral exchanges, the historical context of the programme is more important than ever.
“The Maritime Silk Road is a hot topic and those trading routes and their impact on today is crucial,” Chan says. She adds that while previous related exhibitions at the museum have mentioned Hong Kong, none have attempted to stamp the city firmly on the ancient maritime trading network.
