134 The Porcelain Museum

In early September 1983, inside the office of the nation’s second-generation leader at Zhongnanhai, the leader finished reading a report and smiled as he spoke to his secretary.

"This young man, Weihua, is truly thoughtful. Over the past few years, he has done a great deal for our country. It seems we should find an opportunity to thank him. What is your take on this young man's proposal?"

"My view is that we should agree to Weihua's proposal and let him handle the salvage," the secretary replied. "As you know, our primary focus right now is economic development, and our funds are entirely dedicated to infrastructure, where we are already stretched thin. Even if we were to salvage the items from the ship, we lack the capacity to properly protect such artifacts. However, we could cooperate with Weihua. We could send experts and scholars from our cultural relics and archaeological departments to assist him, and then decide how to manage the artifacts afterward. We cannot let the heritage left by our ancestors fall into the hands of foreigners. I don't believe Weihua intends to sell these items, as he is not in need of money. Even if he were, we could request the most significant artifacts for research purposes, and I am certain he would not refuse."

"That makes sense!" the leader agreed. "Let us proceed this way. First, have the Palace Museum in Beijing send personnel to Hong Kong. I also trust that Weihua’s intention is not to sell these artifacts. Let us see what his plans are, and then we will decide how to handle them. As for the salvage operation, we will provide the experts and the fleet, while Weihua will cover the costs. After all, he has the means, and he was the one who initiated this." The leader then instructed his secretary to convey this decision.

Three days later, Weihua met with representatives from the Palace Museum at the Qiyuan. The director, a man named Yuan, was an expert in archaeology. Once they met, Director Yuan got straight to the point: "Mr. Weihua, I have come under the orders of my superiors to ask for your specific proposal regarding the handling of the artifacts soon to be salvaged. The state has decided to join you in this operation; we will send experts and a salvage fleet to assist, but you will be responsible for the funding. This is a project of great historical significance, and we take it very seriously."

"Director Yuan, I have never had any intention of keeping these artifacts for myself," Weihua replied. "I simply do not want these treasures of our ancestors to benefit foreigners. Those foreign devils have already plundered enough from our country; we cannot allow them to take more. As for how to handle them, I have an unrefined idea. Would you be willing to hear it?"

"Please, speak freely, Mr. Weihua," said Director Yuan. "My purpose here is to hear your suggestions and report them back."

"My proposal is to establish a dedicated porcelain museum. We would house all the porcelain salvaged from this wreck there and open it to our citizens. I want to build the largest and finest museum in the world dedicated to porcelain culture. As an expert, you know better than I the charm of Chinese porcelain and its influence on world culture. I will cover the construction costs and manage the operations, but the protection of the artifacts will require the expertise of people like you. I intend to build this museum in Shenzhen and open it to our people for free. What do you think?"

"If that could be done, it would be magnificent!" Director Yuan exclaimed, clearly in favor of the idea. "The state is currently under tight budget constraints for construction, and funding for cultural relic protection is limited. Many of our artifacts cannot be properly preserved, which pains us deeply. But we have no choice; we cannot neglect national development for the sake of preservation. If the leadership agrees, this would be wonderful. It is a new approach to cultural preservation and, in a sense, a form of reform."

A week later, the second-generation leader reviewed the report on Weihua's proposal. After reading it carefully, he signed his approval and handed it to his secretary: "Proceed according to Weihua's suggestion. Tell the comrades in charge to cooperate fully. Have our best architectural institute design this museum. Weihua is doing a good deed for our descendants, and we should provide our full support." Normally, the salvage of a single shipwreck would not concern the national leadership, but given Weihua’s string of significant contributions to the national interest, the leader had requested to be kept informed of all his activities, especially those involving state cooperation.

With the leader’s directive, everything moved swiftly. Within a month, the state design institute produced the plans for the Porcelain Museum. By the end of November, construction began in Shenzhen on what was envisioned to be the world's largest and finest museum of its kind. Simultaneously, the China Ocean Shipping Company’s salvage fleet, along with a team of historians, archaeologists, and oceanographers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Palace Museum, and Tsinghua University, arrived at the South China Sea.

Following two weeks of operations, the merchant ship *Geldermalsen* was successfully salvaged. The more than 200,000 pieces of porcelain and 45 kilograms of gold were secured by Weihua. The porcelain was then transported to Shenzhen, where experts and professors meticulously cataloged and appraised the collection. Artifacts of major historical research value were sent to the Palace Museum in Beijing, while the remainder were kept in Shenzhen under the care of specialized archaeological staff, awaiting the completion of the Porcelain Museum.