Product Details

• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Wgbh Boston
• VHS Release Date: February 6, 2001
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• ASIN: B000056C1J
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,591 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Watch as secrets of the Ming Dynasty emerge from a watery grave.

When a treasure-filled 500-year-old trading vessel was discovered recently in the waters off the coast of Borneo, a new picture of the Ming Dynasty in Asia rose to the surface. The divers didn’t find gold or silver or jewels, but a cache of over 2,000 jars and 3,000 pieces of beautiful porcelain.

Before the discovery of this spectacular time capsule, historians pieced together history from entombed luxury objects and museum artifacts—not everyday items. Now these recently discovered plates, pitchers and jars are helping to paint a more detailed picture of a culture.

Travel down 200 feet and back 500 years to a time when the East flourished in a golden age of culture and trade. Examine beautiful blue-and-white porcelain plates, cups and pitchers, and learn the surprisingly sophisticated methods devised to create these objects of tremendous purity and translucence. Explore the vital trade waters sailed by junks between China and other countries in Southeast Asia including the powerful Islamic monarchy of Brunei. Discover how China’s technological superiority helped expand its empire. And piece together the fascinating details of a vanished commercial empire, the beginning of today’s global economy.