eLibrary: Nanhai One

Discovered off the coast of Guangdong in 1987, the Nanhai One is a Southern Song merchant vessel preserved beneath the sea for over 800 years. This exhibition traces its recovery and conservation, revealing a remarkable cargo of ceramics, metals, and luxury goods once bound for global markets. A rare glimpse into Maritime Silk Road trade.

This is the latest version of an electronic library of resources supporting the exhibition. It offers free and immediate access to online resources for anyone wanting to explore further the context of the museum’s artifacts.  As the museum develops, more resources, in more languages, will be added.

NOTE: Some of these links come from Academia.edu and Researchgate.net. These require a free one-time registration. To research further yourselves, you may consider registering with Jstore.org which gives limited but free monthly access to its collections

Articles

Chan, I.H., 2018. The Nanhai 1, Maritime Silk Routes, and Macao

Gao, M., e.a., 2018. Microbial erosion assessment on waterlogged archaeological woods (WAWs) from a Chinese ancient shipwreck, Nanhai No. 1. Heritage Science, 6(1), pp.1-13.

Han, Y., e.a., 2021. Chemical properties and microbial analysis of waterlogged archaeological wood from the Nanhai no. 1 shipwreck. Forests, 12(5), p.587.

Han, Y., e.a.., 2021. Fungal community and biodeterioration analysis of hull wood and its storage environment of the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck. Frontiers in microbiology, 11, p.609475.

Jia, Y., 2020. Fungal community analysis and biodeterioration of waterlogged wooden lacquerware from the Nanhai no. 1 shipwreck. Applied Sciences, 10(11), p.3797.

Li, N.S., e.a. n.d., Scientific analysis and conservation of porcelain recovered from the Nanhai I in the South China Sea.

Li, P., 2020. The trade patterns of the South China Sea during the Song period. Asian Archaeology, 3(1), pp.83-93.

Li, Q., e.a., 2021. The Analysis on Nanhai No. 1 Shipwreck Site Based on the Mollusca Debris Data. Environmental Archaeology, 26(1), pp.1-12.

Liu, Z., e.a., 2018. Microbial community analysis and biodeterioration of waterlogged archaeological wood from the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck during storage. Scientific Reports, 8(1), p.7170.

Ma, D., e.a., 2022. Archaeometallurgical research on the bronze coins of Song Dynasty (960–1279AD) from Nanhai No. Ⅰ shipwreck, the south China sea. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 45, p.103581.

Pan, J.,  e.a.,  2023. Analysis of microbial community and biodeterioration of maritime cultural relics (ironware, porcelain, axes, hull wood) from the Nanhai No. 1 shipwreck. Annals of Microbiology, 73(1), pp.1-12.

Wei, K. and Zhang, T., 2019, October. The Underwater Archaeological Career Progress of Research in China Showed by” Nanhai I”. In 2nd International Conference on Contemporary Education, Social Sciences and Ecological Studies (CESSES 2019) (pp. 1131-1134). Atlantis Press.

Wu, J., Zhang, Y. and Ding, E, 2010, Key Techniques in the Integral Salvage of  Ancient Sunken vessel Nanhai No 1.

Xu, W., e.a., 2025. Unveiling maritime trading practices: micro-provenance analysis of Dehua-style porcelain from the Nanhai I shipwreck. Antiquity, 99(404), pp.517-535.

Yongjie, X., 2008. The dream and the glory: integral salvage of the Nanhai No. 1 Shipwreck and its significance. The Silk Road, 5(2), pp.16-19.

Zhang, H., Shen, D., Zhang, Z. and Ma, Q., 2022. Characterization of degradation and iron deposits of the wood of Nanhai I shipwreck. Heritage Science, 10(1), p.202.

Zhang, Y., Xie, M. and Wang, Y., 2024. Metal trade and contraband: archaeological discoveries and insights from the Nanhai No. 1 merchant shipwreck. Journal of Maritime Archaeology, 19(2), pp.265-289.

Zhou, B., e.a., 2023. Corrosion of glaze in the marine environment: study on the green-glazed pottery from the Southern Song “Nanhai I” shipwreck (1127–1279 AD). Heritage Science, 11(1), p.134

Videos

A Life In China: Nanhai 1 Museum (A Scott in China) 44.44mins (museum visit starts at 20.04