China's Legacy

Trade War on the High Seas

Author: Robert Wortmann

Length: 52'

Globalization and world trade are not modern comforts. Already in the Middle Ages, the Chinese crossed the sea in search for new markets. Later they were followed by the Spaniards, Portuguese, Dutch and English, who often violently tried to get a hold of the gold, spices, silk and treasuries. With fascinating details the renowned French underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio has detected sunken ships in the South-Chinese Sea for the past eighteen years with which the history of early world trade can be reconstructed. The treasure is within reach: “White Gold” – Chinese porcelain of stunning beauty, the freight of seven Chinese junks. The documentary adjourns to the search of trail in Southeast-Asia, reconstructs by means of diving expeditions, complex computer animation and movie-scenes, an agitating chapter in the early history of seafaring.

year of production: 2004