Museum team headed to Sri Lanka

SHANGHAI Museum’s archeological team will set off for the Sri Lankan harbor city of Jaffna this month, where it will delve into the ancient Maritime Silk Road.

Initiated by the joint efforts of Shanghai Museum and the Sri Lanka Central Cultural Foundation, the trip is part of a larger research project. The museum’s pottery and porcelain experts will also participate.

The entire project will last three to five years, and carry out archeological fieldwork at ancient harbor cities in Sri Lanka.

Shanghai Museum’s archeologists have already undertaken preliminary research in cities such as Mantai, Trincomalee and Galle, where they have discovered large amounts of porcelain related to China.

Jaffna will be the team’s first fieldwork site, as it was a key link connecting China and South Asia in the past.

“This is the first time for Shanghai Museum to go overseas and conduct archeological research,” said archeologist and team leader Chen Jie.

“The trip is about to find more precious relics, which will greatly help us study the Maritime Silk Road in terms of economics, culture and religion.”

Trade and cultural exchange between Sri Lanka and China started hundreds of years ago.

The earliest item found to be Chinese in Sri Lanka is a silk fragment which can be dated back 2,000 years.

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty (AD 317-420), monk Fa Xian arrived in Sri Lanka where he wrote the book “Country of Buddhas,” recording his journey to the south.

During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), explorer Zheng He passed through Sri Lanka several times, leaving many relics including a stone stele which was carved in three languages — Chinese, Persian and Tamil — as an emblem of Sino-Sri Lankan friendship.