Anyone lucky enough to stroll on the white sands of Nanshazhou, a tiny islet in the middle of the South China Sea, should not be surprised to come across fragments of ceramics, hundreds of years old.
Located in the east of the Xisha archipelago, part of China's southernmost city of Sansha, the unspoiled, uninhabited island is protected by a massive reef which only allows the smallest of boats to pass at high tide.
Fragments of ancient porcelain are scattered along the beach. Snorkelers can easily find more among the coral in the crystal clear waters.
"Made in the era of Chenghua" read the characters on the bottom of one broken blue and white porcelain bowl. Chenghua, the eighth Ming emperor, reigned from 1464 to 1487.
It was in the Ming Dynasty that the blue and white porcelain that characterizes "china" for so many people, was fully developed and became one of China's -- or indeed any nation's -- first mass exports.
Such pieces of sea-washed china can be found on almost every island in the Xisha archipelago, mostly washed ashore from sunken ships that once plied the ancient maritime silk road from China through Southeast Asia, onward across the Indian Ocean to the Arab world and beyond.
The South China Sea was the heart of all this frenzied traffic and trade. Today it would be called a "hub," but not just of trade. The islands and ports of the South China Sea were washed by a vast, vibrant tide of cultural and scientific exchange, a huge marketplace where ideas, religions, philosophies, technology and techniques competed and cooperated to drive civilization forward.
LOOKING SEAWARD
In his definitive speech at the May 14 opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, President Xi Jinping spoke of the Belitung shipwreck in Indonesia as testament to the timeless friendly engagement of nations whose seaborne trade comprised the ancient maritime silk route.
The ship's remarkable cargo consisted of outright treasure in the form of gold and silver, but also more than 60,000 pieces of ceramics produced in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
No one knows for sure exactly where the Middle Eastern ship, or dhow's voyage began, nor for where it was ultimately bound, but what is certain is that its cargo is early proof of the strong trading links between China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
Starting from China's coastal cities, such as Guangzhou and Quanzhou, the rise of maritime trade began during the Qin and Han dynasties more than 2,000 years ago, and came to full flower in the Tang and Song dynasties around a thousand years later.
Silk, porcelain, tea, bronze, brass and iron were ferried out of China, while spices, exotic plants and animals and other rare treasures were carried back.
In the early period, ships crossing the South China Sea would sail along the east coast of the Indochina Peninsula but as shipbuilding and navigational techniques improved, seaways were opened through the islands of Xisha and Nansha in the middle of the sea, cutting hundreds of miles and many days off the journey, said Zhang Yiping, a history professor with Hainan Normal University.
As journey times and distances fell, the risks of an already hazardous journey rose. With rising risk, of course, came rising returns for the skillful and lucky. To this day the seas around the Xisha and Nansha islands are prone to stormy weather. Hidden rocks and reefs lie in wait for the inexperienced navigator. Many a sailor has found a watery grave and many a precious cargo has been lost to the depths.
