according to dr. zhang wei, director of the china's underwater research center with the national museum at the time of the discovery, even though the wreck had been robbed many times and severely damaged by looters, the retrieval of the more than 10,000 pieces of antique pottery and porcelain, which seems to have mainly come from the fujian and guangdong kilns, most certainly provide a very important piece of information and undeniable evidence of an already well established maritime trade route, known as the "marine silk road", between china and the rest of the world during the song and yuan dynasty (1280-1368).