Early Water Craft

Ancient Chinese craft doubtless derived from more than one tradition, perhaps simultaneously, as skin and bamboo rafts and floats continued in use for millennia along with canoes and planked craft. Some archaeologists suggest that the first Chinese craft may have been canoes, like those shown on the bronzes and these jade carvings.

Archaeologists have discovered inscriptions on bone and shell fragments from the Shang Dynasty (1600-1050 BC) that depict simple, raft-like craft suited to the rivers and sheltered coastal waters of China. From these beginnings, plank boats gradually came into use for fishing, and the movement of people and goods by water.

The Chinese word “sampan,” is a name that comes from combining “san,” (three) and “pan,”(planks.) It was these craft, not bamboo or skin rafts that gradually evolved into larger boats and ships, although the internal structure of bamboo is what probably suggested bulkheads and watertight compartments for wooden ships to the Chinese. The word “junk” for a Chinese ship is as old as the 14th century, and may come from the word “chhuan” (ship).