Retrieved relics on display at the National Museum of China

Xie Xiaoquan, the deputy director of the National Museum of China, said: "The unearthed relics indicate they belonged to Zhang Xianzhong. Our experts found that the items came from different parts of China, where Zhang's army went through. The discovery is regarded as one of China's top 10 archaeological finds of 2017."

The work to retrieve the relics began early last year, China's first ever underwater excavation.

Liu Zhiyun, the project leader, said it was quite a difficult task. "We had to do our job under extreme pressure. Nobody in our country had done this before; we didn't have any experience. It was really difficult and challenging to dig underwater. We gathered many experts and volunteers in this field to help us. Many new technologies and equipment were used in our work."

Photographs of the excavation work are also on display, allowing visitors to get a sense of the effort and patience that was required. The exhibition will run until the end of September.