Ancient ship a symbol of enduring China-Oman friendship

An ancient Arab ship named the Sohar has come to represent the friendship between China and Oman that has formed and grown over more than 1,000 years.

The replica model of the Sohar is shown here in the Guangzhou Museum, in south China’s Guangdong Province. (Photo/Wang Yadie)

According to Zhu Xiaoqiu, the deputy curator of the Guangzhou Museum, China-Oman interactions between the 7th and 13th centuries were some of the most important episodes in China’s foreign relations.

Zhu told the story of an Omani navigator, Abu Obeida, who in the middle of the 8th century set sail in a dhow named the Sohar from the Omani capital, eventually arriving in south China’s Guangzhou. The legendary journey lasted seven and a half months, marking the opening of the maritime trade route between the Arab Empire (632-1258) and the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Guangzhou Museum’s main building, built in 1380. (Photo/Wang Yadie)

“The Sohar brought linens, blankets, metal products and Omani frankincense to China and took back home Chinese silk, porcelains, camphor, musk and spices, which has brought the two countries closer,” Zhu said.

The events of the journey were later adapted for the tales of the classic fictional character Sindbad, in the work “the Arabian Nights”.

To explore the tales of the fictional mariner Sinbad the Sailor, Tim Severin, an adventurer, sailed from Oman to China in a replica of the Sohar. Beginning in November 1980, Severin followed the ancient Maritime Silk Road trade route, arriving in Guangzhou on July 1, 1981 after passing through the ports of India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and the Strait of Malacca.

A monument to the ship Sohar in a park in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district, Guangdong Province. (Photo/Piao Xinyu)

On July 14, 1991, to mark the 10th anniversary of the arrival of the replica Sohar in Guangzhou, a delegation from UNESCO’s Maritime Silk Roads Program visited the Guangzhou Museum. During the visit Oman’s Ministry of Heritage and Tourism presented the museum with a replica model of the Sohar ship, as a symbol of China-Oman friendship.

In 1995 Oman presented a monument commemorating the Sohar in Guangzhou’s Haizhu district, with the assistance of the Chinese Ministry of Culture. The monument was created to celebrate China-Oman friendship, according to Deng Yingyu, a staff member of the Guangzhou Museum.

The Oman Ministry of Heritage and Tourism presents a replica model of the Sohar, a symbol of China-Oman friendship, as a gift to the Guangzhou Museum. (People’s Daily Online/courtesy of the Guangzhou Museum)

In addition to the replica model of the Sohar, the Guangzhou Museum also houses collections that reflect historical friendships between China and Arab countries, including porcelain, figurines, and a tombstone of the Pu family of Arab origin.

Photo shows ceramic fragments unearthed from a kiln of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) in Guangzhou. (Photo/Wang Yadie)

A ceramic pot of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). (Photo/Wang Yadie)

Figurines in Guangzhou Museum’s collections. (Photo/Wang Yadie)

A tombstone of the Pu family of Arab origin. (Photo/Wang Yadie)