The Great Voyages of Discovery丨Why do Chinese ancient ships stand out in the world?

Ships have evolved from prehistoric wood-cut boats to canoes and wooden sailboats. The first steel ship was introduced at the end of the 19th century, and the era of steel ships began. Ship power also evolved from relying on manpower and wind power in the early 19th century to using machine power. China is one of the countries with the longest shipbuilding history in the world. Traditional Chinese wooden sailboats are very diverse. According to statistics, there were about a thousand types by the 1950s, and there were as many as 200 to 300 types of ocean fishing boats alone. The emergence of many types of ships is closely related to the complex geographical environment of China's inland rivers and long seas.

There are huge differences between Chinese and Western ancient ships!

Some experts pointed out that China's traditional sailing ships stand at the forefront of the world's sailing development with four characteristics: the proportion of the hull's outer lines and scale, the complete mast, rigging, sails, rudder, anchor and other accessories, the nailing and twisting craftsmanship of the wooden bulkhead structure, and the folk interior and exterior carvings and paintings. They are called Junks in the West and are different from ancient sailing ships in other parts of the world.

Chinese and Western sails collected by China Maritime Museum

Relatively speaking, Western ships are mostly modeled after fish, while Chinese ships are mostly modeled after waterfowl, with pointed bows and linear fluid features. As for sails, Western sails are mostly triangular or square soft sails, while Chinese sails are mostly louvered, with bamboo or wooden stays, and are rectangular or fan-shaped, liftable and foldable hard sails made of linen or bamboo mats. The China Maritime Museum houses a large number of Chinese and Western ship models, which clearly show the differences between Chinese and Western sailboats.

Model of the Tang Dynasty Envoy Ship in the China Maritime Museum

What categories are ancient Chinese ships divided into?

There are many names and types of ancient Chinese ships, but generally speaking, they can be divided into two categories based on the shape of the bow: pointed bow and square bow; and two categories based on the bottom style: pointed bottom and flat bottom. In the evolution of history, the Fu ship became the most famous representative of the pointed bow and pointed bottom ship, while the Sha ship became the most famous representative of the square head and flat bottom ship. Among the many types of ancient Chinese sailing wooden sailing ships, the Fu ship, Sha ship, and Guang ship are the most famous types of ships. Among them, the Fu ship and Guang ship are mostly sailed in the South China Sea, while the Sha ship is mostly sailed in the inland seas and rivers north of the Yangtze River.

Fuchuan

According to Mr. Liu Yijie's research, the Fujian ship was mainly used as a maritime trade ship. This type of ship built in Fujian may have originated from a bird ship unique to the Fujian Baishuilang, which was derived from the eight-boat ship invented by Lu Xun. The Fujian ship, with its pointed bottom, wide surface, high bow and stern, and good watertightness, was praised as "the best sea ship" by the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, and has since become a representative sea ship in my country.

In the thousands of years of development, Fujian ships were also selected as official ships for diplomatic envoys. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, due to the Japanese invasion, they were transformed into various warships and thus had the special name of "Fujian ships".

China Maritime Museum collects Fuchuan ship model

Guangzhou Shipyard

Compared with the Fuzhou ship, the Guangzhou ship is characterized by its strong hull, huge fan-shaped sails and open rudder. It originated in the Spring and Autumn Period or earlier, matured in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and was finalized in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties. It is one of the excellent Chinese sailing ship types. According to the "Sea Defense Compilation", Guangzhou ships are mostly made of iron wood, so they are much stronger than the Fuzhou ships made of pine and fir. Due to the hard material, Fuzhou ships often need to be burned and washed to avoid corrosion by sea worms, but Guangzhou ships have no such worries and are durable, with a lifespan of up to 60 years. However, the Guangzhou ship is narrow at the bottom and wide at the top. It is stable when sailing in the Caspian Sea, but easy to shake when sailing in the open sea. Moreover, its turning is not as convenient as that of the Fuzhou ship. Therefore, Zheng He used Fuzhou ships to travel to various places overseas when he sailed to the West.

China Maritime Museum Collection of Guangchuan Ship Model

Sand Ship

As an excellent type of ship used for offshore transport in ancient China, the sand ship was called "sand-proof flat-bottomed ship" because of its ability to prevent sand. After the Ming Dynasty, it was clearly called "sand ship". As one of the "three ancient ships" in China, the sand ship was already formed during the Tang and Song dynasties. Due to its large carrying capacity, good seaworthiness, high speed and good ship stability, it is very suitable for the sandy offshore environment in the north, especially around Shanghai. Therefore, the sand ship is widely used in inland and coastal transportation and has become an important Beiyang ship in my country.

China Maritime Museum Zangsha Ship Model

During the Yuan Dynasty, grain was transported northward, and Liujiagang in Taicang, Jiangsu near Shanghai became the starting and ending port for sea transportation of grain. As a result, the sand ship industry flourished and promoted the development of Taicang and its surrounding areas.

Shanghai City Emblem

Before and after the opening of Shanghai as a port, the sand ship transportation industry had become an industry with a huge scale, strong capital, lucrative profits and wide influence. It not only undertook the heavy task of transporting grain from the south to the north, but also played an important role in the economic development of Shanghai and even the Jiangnan region. Its special significance to the development of Shanghai has become the historical reason for it to become a part of the Shanghai city emblem, and Shanghai has also been recorded in history as the "Hometown of Sand Ships".

References|

Xi Longfei: A General History of Chinese Shipbuilding, Ocean Press, 2013

Jin Xingde: "On the Guangchuan in the Han Dynasty from Liu Xi's Perspective", Guangdong Shipbuilding, No. 1, 2015

Shen Yimin: "A Comprehensive Discussion on the Evolution and Development of Sand Ships", "Navigation" No. 3, 2015

Liu Yijie: "A Study on the Origin of Fujian Ships", Journal of Maritime History Studies, No. 2, 2016

China Maritime Museum, ed., "The Distant Shadows of the Sea: A Reader of Ancient Chinese Navigation Knowledge", Shanghai People's Publishing House, 2018