Researchers studying a 14th-century shipwreck off the coast of South Korea have deciphered inscriptions carved into its valuable cargo, revealing how merchants identified and tracked goods moving across medieval East Asia. The findings include examples of the Yuan dynasty’s ‘Phags-pa script and a numbering system based on the Thousand Character Classic.
The discoveries come from the Sinan shipwreck, a trading vessel that sank in 1323 while sailing from China towards Japan. Excavated off the southwestern coast of South Korea between 1976 and 1984, the wreck yielded tens of thousands of ceramics, coins and other objects, providing exceptional evidence for maritime commerce between China and Japan.
Researchers at South Korea’s National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage have now revealed new findings from their examination of the ship’s cargo of rosewood. A total of 1,017 pieces of the valuable timber were recovered from the wreck, many bearing characters and symbols carved into their surfaces.
Recent three-dimensional documentation of the rosewood has allowed researchers to examine these markings in greater detail. Some inscriptions that had previously been difficult to understand can now be connected to systems used to organise and identify the cargo.
‘Phags-pa script found on the cargo
An inscription carved into a piece of rosewood recovered from the 1323 Sinan shipwreck. Photo: National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage / Korea Heritage Service.
One of the most notable discoveries is the identification of ‘Phags-pa script on six pieces of rosewood. The writing system was developed in the 13th century under the Mongol Yuan dynasty as part of an effort to create a unified script for the languages of the empire.
Researchers found that five of the rosewood pieces carry a very similar character, carved in approximately the same size and form. The repeated mark, which can be read as ji, may have served as an indication of ownership or may have been connected with the sale and distribution of the timber.
The discovery is particularly significant because some of the markings had previously been interpreted differently. Research by Chong Soon-il of Korea University has re-examined symbols on the Sinan rosewood that had earlier been described as resembling Arabic numerals or alphabetic characters, identifying some of them instead as ‘Phags-pa writing.
The inscriptions provide another indication of the complex commercial environment in which the Sinan vessel operated. The ship sailed during the Yuan dynasty and carried goods intended for merchants, temples and other customers across East Asia.
A medieval cargo-numbering system
Wooden labels recovered from the Sinan ship bearing inscriptions referring to Tōfuku-ji, a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto, Japan. Photo: Lepke99 / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Researchers have also identified what appears to have been a systematic method for classifying individual pieces of rosewood.
Approximately 160 pieces bear Chinese characters. Among them are markings such as Tian 3 (天三), Tian 6 (天六), Huang 5 (黃五) and Zhou 7 hao (宙柒號).
The characters Tian (天), Huang (黃) and Zhou (宙) appear at the beginning of the Thousand Character Classic, one of the best-known educational texts in premodern East Asia. On the Sinan cargo, researchers believe characters from the text were combined with numbers to distinguish and organise individual pieces or groups of timber.
The markings can also be compared with the 364 wooden cargo tags recovered from the wreck. These served as shipping labels, recording information such as owners, identifying marks, dates and quantities. Eight carry inscriptions specifically identifying the third year of the Yuan emperor Yingzong’s Zhizhi reign, corresponding to 1323.
Some names appear both on the tags and directly on the rosewood. Researchers have identified examples transliterated as Makosaburo and Iyajiro on the timber as well as on associated wooden tags.
Together, the evidence suggests that markings on the cargo could be checked against information recorded on the tags. Such a system would have helped distinguish shipments as goods were loaded, transported and eventually delivered to their intended recipients.
Trade between China and Japan
Artefacts from the Sinan shipwreck on display at the National Museum of Korea. Photo by Jeon Han / Korea.net, CC BY-SA 2.0
The Sinan shipwreck is particularly important for understanding the scale of maritime commerce in East Asia during the early 14th century.
The vessel departed from Qingyuan, present-day Ningbo on China’s eastern coast, and was apparently heading for Hakata in Japan when it sank near the Korean peninsula. Its cargo included enormous quantities of Chinese ceramics and coins alongside metal objects, medicinal materials and valuable timber.
The wooden cargo tags have provided particularly detailed evidence about the people and institutions involved in this trade. Some are associated with Japanese individuals and Buddhist institutions, including Tōfukuji, a major Zen temple in Kyoto.
The newly interpreted inscriptions add another dimension to that evidence. Rather than telling researchers only what was being transported, they offer clues about how merchants organised and tracked a large international shipment more than 700 years ago.
The findings are being highlighted in Rosewood: Timber That Crossed the Sea, a special exhibition at the National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage that opened on 15 September and runs until 14 February 2027.
The institute is also hosting an international academic conference on 16–17 September examining the Sinan rosewood and maritime exchange in East Asia. Chong Soon-il is scheduled to present research on the inscriptions and symbols found on the timber and what they reveal about the commercial networks connecting China and Japan in the 14th century.
Top Image: The reconstructed Sinan ship and artefacts recovered from the wreck on display at the National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage in Mokpo, South Korea. Photo: National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage / Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea
Researchers studying a 14th-century shipwreck off the coast of South Korea have deciphered inscriptions carved into its valuable cargo, revealing how merchants identified and tracked goods moving across medieval East Asia. The findings include examples of the Yuan dynasty’s ‘Phags-pa script and a numbering system based on the Thousand Character Classic.
The discoveries come from the Sinan shipwreck, a trading vessel that sank in 1323 while sailing from China towards Japan. Excavated off the southwestern coast of South Korea between 1976 and 1984, the wreck yielded tens of thousands of ceramics, coins and other objects, providing exceptional evidence for maritime commerce between China and Japan.
Researchers at South Korea’s National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage have now revealed new findings from their examination of the ship’s cargo of rosewood. A total of 1,017 pieces of the valuable timber were recovered from the wreck, many bearing characters and symbols carved into their surfaces.
Recent three-dimensional documentation of the rosewood has allowed researchers to examine these markings in greater detail. Some inscriptions that had previously been difficult to understand can now be connected to systems used to organise and identify the cargo.
‘Phags-pa script found on the cargo
One of the most notable discoveries is the identification of ‘Phags-pa script on six pieces of rosewood. The writing system was developed in the 13th century under the Mongol Yuan dynasty as part of an effort to create a unified script for the languages of the empire.
Researchers found that five of the rosewood pieces carry a very similar character, carved in approximately the same size and form. The repeated mark, which can be read as ji, may have served as an indication of ownership or may have been connected with the sale and distribution of the timber.
The discovery is particularly significant because some of the markings had previously been interpreted differently. Research by Chong Soon-il of Korea University has re-examined symbols on the Sinan rosewood that had earlier been described as resembling Arabic numerals or alphabetic characters, identifying some of them instead as ‘Phags-pa writing.
The inscriptions provide another indication of the complex commercial environment in which the Sinan vessel operated. The ship sailed during the Yuan dynasty and carried goods intended for merchants, temples and other customers across East Asia.
A medieval cargo-numbering system
Researchers have also identified what appears to have been a systematic method for classifying individual pieces of rosewood.
Approximately 160 pieces bear Chinese characters. Among them are markings such as Tian 3 (天三), Tian 6 (天六), Huang 5 (黃五) and Zhou 7 hao (宙柒號).
The characters Tian (天), Huang (黃) and Zhou (宙) appear at the beginning of the Thousand Character Classic, one of the best-known educational texts in premodern East Asia. On the Sinan cargo, researchers believe characters from the text were combined with numbers to distinguish and organise individual pieces or groups of timber.
The markings can also be compared with the 364 wooden cargo tags recovered from the wreck. These served as shipping labels, recording information such as owners, identifying marks, dates and quantities. Eight carry inscriptions specifically identifying the third year of the Yuan emperor Yingzong’s Zhizhi reign, corresponding to 1323.
Some names appear both on the tags and directly on the rosewood. Researchers have identified examples transliterated as Makosaburo and Iyajiro on the timber as well as on associated wooden tags.
Together, the evidence suggests that markings on the cargo could be checked against information recorded on the tags. Such a system would have helped distinguish shipments as goods were loaded, transported and eventually delivered to their intended recipients.
Trade between China and Japan
The Sinan shipwreck is particularly important for understanding the scale of maritime commerce in East Asia during the early 14th century.
The vessel departed from Qingyuan, present-day Ningbo on China’s eastern coast, and was apparently heading for Hakata in Japan when it sank near the Korean peninsula. Its cargo included enormous quantities of Chinese ceramics and coins alongside metal objects, medicinal materials and valuable timber.
The wooden cargo tags have provided particularly detailed evidence about the people and institutions involved in this trade. Some are associated with Japanese individuals and Buddhist institutions, including Tōfukuji, a major Zen temple in Kyoto.
The newly interpreted inscriptions add another dimension to that evidence. Rather than telling researchers only what was being transported, they offer clues about how merchants organised and tracked a large international shipment more than 700 years ago.
The findings are being highlighted in Rosewood: Timber That Crossed the Sea, a special exhibition at the National Research Institute of Maritime Heritage that opened on 15 September and runs until 14 February 2027.
The institute is also hosting an international academic conference on 16–17 September examining the Sinan rosewood and maritime exchange in East Asia. Chong Soon-il is scheduled to present research on the inscriptions and symbols found on the timber and what they reveal about the commercial networks connecting China and Japan in the 14th century.
Top Image: The reconstructed Sinan ship and artefacts recovered from the wreck on display at the National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage in Mokpo, South Korea. Photo: National Research Institute of Maritime Cultural Heritage / Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea
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