Xinhua Agency, Haikou, September 27 (Reporter Zhou Huimin)"Deep Blue Treasure-Special Exhibition of Archaeological Achievements of Shipwreck No. 12 on the Northwest Slope of the South China Sea" opened on the afternoon of September 27 at the Nanhai Museum in China (Hainan). 408 pieces (sets) of cultural relics from two shipwreck sites sleeping more than 1500 meters in the deep sea were made public for the first time.

This exhibition is located in Exhibition Hall No. 6 on the third floor of the South District of Nanhai Museum, with an area of nearly 1000 square meters. The content is divided into three parts: "Exploring the Deep and Searching for Treasures","Water Mansion Linlang" and "Clever Restoration and Renewal". It displays 408 cultural relics (sets) from two shipwreck sites, as well as 34 cultural relics (sets) borrowed by the Palace Museum and others, bringing a total of 442 pieces (sets) on display.

The most eye-catching exhibit in this exhibition is Fanghua porcelain, with a total of 13 pieces (sets) of fine works on display. Archaeological discovery of enamel porcelain is very rare. The enamel porcelain from the No. 1 Shipwreck Site on the northwest slope of the South China Sea was first discovered in a shipwreck. These new archaeological discoveries prove that Jingdezhen's colorful porcelain was exported in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, providing physical information for searching for kiln sites and clarifying their sources. In addition, there are also red and green colored bowls "Made in the Year of Bingyin", confirming that the No. 1 shipwreck belonged to the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty and was of great value and contribution to the study of trade routes in the South China Sea.

It is understood that the two shipwreck sites will also be followed up by excavation, investigation, and cultural relics restoration. This exhibition adopts a dynamic update model, and the content and cultural relics on display will be updated from time to time based on new results of deep-sea archaeology. The exhibition also sets up a special site for the protection of cultural relics from the water, using multimedia to present the cultural protection work, including preparation, implementation, equipment and methods, to let the audience understand the process and significance.

In October 2022, two ancient shipwreck sites were discovered in the northwest slope of the South China Sea. From 2023 to 2024, the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering of China Academy of Sciences, and the Nanhai Museum of China (Hainan) jointly teamed up to carry out a three-stage deep-sea archaeological survey on the No. 1 and No. 2 shipwreck sites on the northwest slope of the South China Sea, and extracted more than 900 pieces (sets) of water cultural relics.

This exhibition is co-sponsored by the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Institute of Deep Sea Science and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Hainan Province Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (South China Sea Deep Sea Archaeology Institute), and the China (Hainan) South China Sea Museum.