Draft:General Number One

General Number One

General Number One's shipwreck site is located near Jiangjun Island, Wangan Township, Penghu County. It was discovered by a Penghu County resident, Jia-chin Huang, in 1987 while diving. From 1995 to 1998, the National Museum of History investigated the "General Number One" shipwreck. Today, some of the relics of General Number One are preserved on site, while other relics uncovered from the sea are stored in the Penghu Living Museum, with 12 of them on display at the Penghu Living Museum. This site has been listed as an underwater cultural asset.

Discovery

A Penghu fisherman, Jia-chin Huang, discovered a Song Dynasty shipwreck in the waters of Jiangjun Island in 1987. He found many pottery fragments and porcelain under the sea, which he reported to the National Museum of History. In 1995, the National Museum of History began the "Excavation Research Project of Ancient Shipwrecks in the Penghu Sea Area." Since this shipwreck was discovered near Jiangjun Island in the Penghu Sea area, it was named "General Number One." Between 1995 and 1998, the three stages of "preliminary exploration, "physical investigation," and "trial excavation" were successively performed, where excavation and underwater archaeological operations were initiated.

Preservation

"General Number One" is the first discovered underwater archaeological case in the Republic of China. The site is 25 meters long and 9 meters wide. The hull (bow) is oriented from northwest to southeast. The wooden boards at the bottom of the ship were placed flat on the sandy seabed, with cargo scattered across. The excavated area is 110 square meters. There are three methods to preserve underwater cultural assets: "preservation in situ," "excavation from the sea," or composite methods. The "General Number One" shipwreck site was preserved in a composite manner, i.e., some of the cargo and shipboards remain at the current site, and some underwater cultural assets have been excavated. Therefore, cultural relic preservation is divided into "on-site preservation of underwater relics" and "preservation and maintenance of relics uncovered from the sea." ^:159

Excavated from the Sea

Mr. Jia-chin Huang excavated a total of 738 ancient relics from 1987 to 1995, and later donated them to the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Penghu County, which placed them in a warehouse of the Cultural Affairs Bureau. From 1995 to 1998, 284 items were excavated through underwater archeology by the National Museum of History. The Bureau of Cultural Heritage, MOC assisted in the inventory and organization and revised the total number to 317 items in 2021. Between 2009 and 2017, the Bureau of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of China and the MOC Underwater Archaeological Team unearthed 12 ancient relics; these have been placed in the R08 Underwater Relics Collection Room of the Bureau of the Ministry of Culture Cultural Assets.