| The Chinese Junks |
Junks were originally developed during the Han Dynasty (220 BC-200 AD).
2nd century Junks (Han Dynasty)
The 3rd century book "Strange Things of the South" by Wan Chen describes junks capable of carrying 700 people together with 260
tons of cargo. He explains the ship's design as follows:
"The four sails do not face directly forward, but are set obliquely, and so arranged that they can all be fixed in the same direction, to
receive the wind and to spill it. Those sails which are behind the most windward one receiving the pressure of the wind, throw it from
one to the other, so that they all profit from its force. If it is violent, (the sailors) diminish or augment the surface of the sails
according to the conditions. This oblique rig, which permits the sails to receive from one another the breath of the wind, obviates the
anxiety attendant upon having high masts. Thus these ships sail without avoiding strong winds and dashing waves, by the aid of which
they can make great speed" ("Strange Things of the South", Wan Chen, from Robert Temple).
10th-13th century Junks (Song Dynasty)
A 260 AD book by Kang Tai also described ships with seven masts, traveling as far as Syria.
The great trading dynasty of the Song employed junks extensively. The naval strength of the Song, both mercantile and military,
became the backbone of the naval power of the following Yuan dynasty. Particular the Mongol invasions of Japan (1274-1284), as well
as the Mongol invasion of Java essentially relied on recently acquired Song naval capabilities.
14th century Junks (Yuan Dynasty)
The enormous characteristics of the Chinese ships of the Medieval period is described in Chinese sources, and is confirmed by Western
travelers to the East, such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta and Niccolo Da Conti. According to Ibn Battuta, who visited China in 1347:
"... We stopped in the port of Calicut, in which there were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and disembarked. On the China Sea
traveling is done in Chinese ships only, so we shall describe their arrangements. The Chinese vessels are of three kinds; large ships
called chunks (junks), middle sized ones called zaws (dhows) and the small ones kakams. The large ships have anything from twelve
down to three sails, which are made of bamboo rods plaited into mats. They are never lowered, but turned according to the direction of
the wind; at anchor they are left floating in the wind. A ship carries a complement of a thousand men, six hundred of whom are sailors
and four hundred men-at-arms, including archers, men with shields and crossbows, who throw naphtha. Three smaller ones, the "half",
the "third" and the "quarter", accompany each large vessel. These vessels are built in the towns of Zaytun (a.k.a Zaitun; today's
Quanzhou) and Sin-Kalan. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers
and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupants."
The depiction of a Chinese junk, Atlantic ship and Mediterranean ship in the 1459 Fra Mauro map indicate that Europeans had some
knowledge of Chinese junk designs even before they first rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. This is the manner after which they
are made; two (parallel) walls of very thick wooden (planking) are raised and across the space between them are placed very thick
planks (the bulkheads) secured longitudinally and transversely by means of large nails, each three ells in length. When these walls have
thus been built the lower deck is fitted in and the ship is launched before the upper works are finished. (Ibn Battuta).
Niccolo Da Conti in his relations of his travels in Asia between 1419 and 1444, matter-of-factly describes huge junks of about 2,000
tons, more than four times the size of 16th century Western galleons: They make ships larger than ours, about 2,000 tons in size, with
five sails and as many masts. The lower part is made of three decks, so as to better resist storms, which occur frequently. These ships
are separated into several compartments, so that if one is touched during a storm, the others remain intact." (Niccolo Da Conti)
15th-17th century Junks (Ming Dynasty)
The largest junks ever built were probably those of Admiral Zheng He, for his expeditions in the Indian Ocean. According to Chinese
sources, the fleet comprised 30,000 men and over 300 ships at its height.
The 1405 expedition consisted of 27,000 men and 317 ships, composed of:
• "Treasure ships", used by the commander & his deputies (9-masted junks, 400 ft long & 160 ft wide).
• "Horse ships", carrying tribute goods & repair material (8-masted junks, 339 ft long & 138 ft wide)
• "Supply ships", containing food-staple (Seven-masted junks, about 257 feet long and 115 feet wide).
• "Troop transports" (Six-masted junks, about 220 feet long and 83 feet wide).
• "Fuchuan warships" (Five-masted junks, about 165 feet long).
• "Patrol boats" (Eight-oared, about 120 feet long).
• "Water tankers", with 1 month supply of fresh water and sustainability.
Chinese junks were used extensively in Asian trade during the 16th and 17th century, especially to Japan, where they competed with
Japanese Red Seal Ships, Portuguese carracks and Dutch galleons, and to Southeast Asia. Richard Cocks, the head of the English
trading factory in Hirado, Japan, recorded that 50 to 60 Chinese junks visited Nagasaki in 1612 alone. These junks were usually three
masted, and averaging between 200 and 800 tons in size, the largest ones having around 130 sailors, 130 traders and a sometimes
hundreds of passengers. In 1661, a naval fleet of 400 junks and 25.000 men led by the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong (Cheng Ch'eng-
kung in Wade-Giles, known in the West as Koxinga), arrived in Taiwan to oust the Dutch from Zeelandia. Following a nine month
siege, Cheng captured the Dutch fortress Fort Zeelandia. A peace treaty between Koxinga and the Dutch Government was signed at
Castle Zeelandia on February 1st 1662, and Taiwan became Koxinga's base for the Kingdom of Tungning.
19th century Junks (Qing Dynasty)
Junks remained considerable in size and played a key role in Asian trade until the 19th century. One of these junks, Keying, sailed from
China around the Cape of Good Hope to the United States and England between 1846 and 1848. She testifies to the power of Chinese
shipping and shipbuilding at the time of the beginning of industrialization in the West.
2nd century Junks (Han Dynasty)
The 3rd century book "Strange Things of the South" by Wan Chen describes junks capable of carrying 700 people together with 260
tons of cargo. He explains the ship's design as follows:
"The four sails do not face directly forward, but are set obliquely, and so arranged that they can all be fixed in the same direction, to
receive the wind and to spill it. Those sails which are behind the most windward one receiving the pressure of the wind, throw it from
one to the other, so that they all profit from its force. If it is violent, (the sailors) diminish or augment the surface of the sails
according to the conditions. This oblique rig, which permits the sails to receive from one another the breath of the wind, obviates the
anxiety attendant upon having high masts. Thus these ships sail without avoiding strong winds and dashing waves, by the aid of which
they can make great speed" ("Strange Things of the South", Wan Chen, from Robert Temple).
10th-13th century Junks (Song Dynasty)
A 260 AD book by Kang Tai also described ships with seven masts, traveling as far as Syria.
The great trading dynasty of the Song employed junks extensively. The naval strength of the Song, both mercantile and military,
became the backbone of the naval power of the following Yuan dynasty. Particular the Mongol invasions of Japan (1274-1284), as well
as the Mongol invasion of Java essentially relied on recently acquired Song naval capabilities.
14th century Junks (Yuan Dynasty)
The enormous characteristics of the Chinese ships of the Medieval period is described in Chinese sources, and is confirmed by Western
travelers to the East, such as Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta and Niccolo Da Conti. According to Ibn Battuta, who visited China in 1347:
"... We stopped in the port of Calicut, in which there were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and disembarked. On the China Sea
traveling is done in Chinese ships only, so we shall describe their arrangements. The Chinese vessels are of three kinds; large ships
called chunks (junks), middle sized ones called zaws (dhows) and the small ones kakams. The large ships have anything from twelve
down to three sails, which are made of bamboo rods plaited into mats. They are never lowered, but turned according to the direction of
the wind; at anchor they are left floating in the wind. A ship carries a complement of a thousand men, six hundred of whom are sailors
and four hundred men-at-arms, including archers, men with shields and crossbows, who throw naphtha. Three smaller ones, the "half",
the "third" and the "quarter", accompany each large vessel. These vessels are built in the towns of Zaytun (a.k.a Zaitun; today's
Quanzhou) and Sin-Kalan. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers
and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupants."
The depiction of a Chinese junk, Atlantic ship and Mediterranean ship in the 1459 Fra Mauro map indicate that Europeans had some
knowledge of Chinese junk designs even before they first rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1487. This is the manner after which they
are made; two (parallel) walls of very thick wooden (planking) are raised and across the space between them are placed very thick
planks (the bulkheads) secured longitudinally and transversely by means of large nails, each three ells in length. When these walls have
thus been built the lower deck is fitted in and the ship is launched before the upper works are finished. (Ibn Battuta).
Niccolo Da Conti in his relations of his travels in Asia between 1419 and 1444, matter-of-factly describes huge junks of about 2,000
tons, more than four times the size of 16th century Western galleons: They make ships larger than ours, about 2,000 tons in size, with
five sails and as many masts. The lower part is made of three decks, so as to better resist storms, which occur frequently. These ships
are separated into several compartments, so that if one is touched during a storm, the others remain intact." (Niccolo Da Conti)
15th-17th century Junks (Ming Dynasty)
The largest junks ever built were probably those of Admiral Zheng He, for his expeditions in the Indian Ocean. According to Chinese
sources, the fleet comprised 30,000 men and over 300 ships at its height.
The 1405 expedition consisted of 27,000 men and 317 ships, composed of:
• "Treasure ships", used by the commander & his deputies (9-masted junks, 400 ft long & 160 ft wide).
• "Horse ships", carrying tribute goods & repair material (8-masted junks, 339 ft long & 138 ft wide)
• "Supply ships", containing food-staple (Seven-masted junks, about 257 feet long and 115 feet wide).
• "Troop transports" (Six-masted junks, about 220 feet long and 83 feet wide).
• "Fuchuan warships" (Five-masted junks, about 165 feet long).
• "Patrol boats" (Eight-oared, about 120 feet long).
• "Water tankers", with 1 month supply of fresh water and sustainability.
Chinese junks were used extensively in Asian trade during the 16th and 17th century, especially to Japan, where they competed with
Japanese Red Seal Ships, Portuguese carracks and Dutch galleons, and to Southeast Asia. Richard Cocks, the head of the English
trading factory in Hirado, Japan, recorded that 50 to 60 Chinese junks visited Nagasaki in 1612 alone. These junks were usually three
masted, and averaging between 200 and 800 tons in size, the largest ones having around 130 sailors, 130 traders and a sometimes
hundreds of passengers. In 1661, a naval fleet of 400 junks and 25.000 men led by the Ming loyalist Zheng Chenggong (Cheng Ch'eng-
kung in Wade-Giles, known in the West as Koxinga), arrived in Taiwan to oust the Dutch from Zeelandia. Following a nine month
siege, Cheng captured the Dutch fortress Fort Zeelandia. A peace treaty between Koxinga and the Dutch Government was signed at
Castle Zeelandia on February 1st 1662, and Taiwan became Koxinga's base for the Kingdom of Tungning.
19th century Junks (Qing Dynasty)
Junks remained considerable in size and played a key role in Asian trade until the 19th century. One of these junks, Keying, sailed from
China around the Cape of Good Hope to the United States and England between 1846 and 1848. She testifies to the power of Chinese
shipping and shipbuilding at the time of the beginning of industrialization in the West.
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