By Chung Ah-young
A merchant ship carrying a large quantity of Chinese celadon sank off the Korean coast in Sinan, South Jeolla Province in 1323, on the way from Ningbo, China to Kyoto, Japan. The ship was inadvertently discovered by a fisherman in 1975 some 650 years later and the site was excavated from 1976 to 1984.
Over 30,000 artifacts, including more than 20,000 ceramic pieces, of which more than 14,000 pieces were Longquan wares, were discovered at that time. Longquan wares refer to Chinese ceramics manufactured in Longquan, China, which exude the beauty of unique jade colors and shapes.
The National Museum of Korea is hol ding an exhibition to showcase the time-honored beauty of Longquan wares recovered from the Sinan shipwreck from March 22 to June 19 at the Sinan Shipwreck Collection Room in the Asia Gallery.