Priceless 14th-century Chinese treasure seized in South Korea after looter attempts sale to Japanese collectors
- The cache of pottery was plundered from a Chinese trade vessel, now called the Sinan ship, that sank off the southern coast of South Korea in 1323
- The haul confirms long-standing rumours that undersea treasure hunters were pillaging the ship, according to an expert
The celadons – a term given to ceramics with a signature greenish glaze – were part of the cargo loaded on the ship which sank in 1323, possibly in a summer storm, as she was sailing from China’s Ningbo port to Fukuoka in Japan.
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Among the treasures seized are 46 blue ceramics manufactured at the Longquan kilns in China’s Zhejiang province, five pieces of white porcelain produced in Fujian province, three white celadons from Jingdezhen in Jaingxi province and three priceless black-glazed celadons, which were especially adored by Japanese nobles at the time.
Han Sang-jin, a senior official at South Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration, said the suspect had hired divers to loot the porcelain in 1983.
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“This confirms rumours that undersea treasure hunters were pillaging the treasures of the Sinan ship,” Han said, adding that it was the first time such a haul had been retrieved in more than three decades.
Salvage works from 1976 to 1984 returned more than 24,000 pieces of treasure – mostly the Chinese celadons, but also 8 million coins weighing 28 tonnes – from the wreck, which has been named Sinan ship after the place she was found.
“They are all in an excellent shape, as if they had been pulled out of the kiln moments ago,” said curator Shim Ji-yeon.
“This is a welcome coup for researchers. [These are] highly valuable objects for studying the development of Chinese celadons.”
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The 28.4-metre-long, 6.6-metre-wide vessel was also recovered and partially restored.
Reflecting the historical importance of the treasures, South Korea’s national museum in Seoul has assigned them a permanent exhibition space.
