What is a Chinese Junk

Junks have sailed throughout South-East Asia and India for over two thousand years.  There are many designs and sizes.  Some have been used as warships, some as merchants carrying both cargo and passengers, and some as pleasure craft.  They have traveled rivers, coastal waters, inland waterways and the open oceans.  Some were very large, larger than any of the European sailing vessels, with many masts.  And some were quite small with only a single mast.  Some were for carrying cargo, some for ocean voyages, some for pleasure and some have been used as live-aboard vessels for their owners.

Modern Day Junk under sail showing battens

The single unifying characteristic is their rigging.  This always involves fully battened sails.  Battens are horizontal members typically made of bamboo.  In principle, this rigging could provide both shape and strength.  However, due to materials available and current technologies, the batten rigging provided neither of these characteristics.  Instead, the battens make the sails easily adjustable to varying wind conditions and provide resistance to large tears.  Even though they are comparatively heavy due to the battens, the sails provide performance which is similar to Arab, Polynesian or even western contemporary sail plans.  This rigging makes a junk fast and more easily handled with a small crew.

                Old Photo of Chinese Junk running "goose-winged" from South China Morning Post



The sail is made up of four primary parts - the boom at the bottom of the sail, the yard at the top of the sail (similar to a gaff), the battens between the yard and the boom, and the sheet or sail itself.  The sail can be raised and lowered from the deck by use of a pulley at the top of the mast attached to the yard.  The battens are attached sequentially to each other and to the yard.  This allows the sail to be managed from the deck.  Additionally, there is no standing rigging needed to hold the mast in place.





13th Century Junk showing flat bottom and stern mounted rudder

The hull of a junk has several interesting and innovative features.  Its relatively flat bottom and nearly rectangular shape offers a large cargo capacity and shallow draft.  This allows navigation on river systems.  This is a significant advantage over European sail designs.  Ocean going junks typically have a more rounded cross section with a high freeboard to provide more stability under heavier seas.  AThe cargo area is constructed of multiple decks with water proof compartments.  This is an innovative feature that provides structural strength to the hull, offers safety improvements when the hull is "holed", and protects both cargo and passengers.  The use of "dagger boards" and stern mounted rudder were common by 800 AD, but only adopted centuries later by European shipbuilders.

                                                           17th Century woodblock print of Zheng He's Ships

The term junk is derived from the Portuguese word junco.  This is a translation of the Chinese word for boat or ship.  It has been in common English usage since the 17^th Century.

In the 15^th Century Admiral Zheng He assembled a fleet of ships for treasure expeditions to the Indian Ocean.  This fleet might be likened to the later Spanish expedition fleets to the Caribbean during the late 17^th and 18^th Centuries.  For his 1405 expedition to the Indian Ocean Admiral He too a complement of approximately 30,000 sailors and 300 ships.  The fleet consisted of large (nine-masted, 420 ft long by 180 feet wide) Treasure ships, eight-masted Horse ships carrying tribute goods and repair materials, seven-masted supply ships, six-masted Troop carriers, five-masted Fuchmuan warships for protection, eight-oared patrol boats, and water tankers.

Chinese Junk Ship Model

 

Ship Models Online carries a ship model of the three-masted ChineseJunk which was used in the Bruce Lee movie Enter the Dragon.  Additionally, we offer a Pirate Junk Model Kit from Amati Models.

                        Chinese Pirate Junk Kit Model