| Description |
The Watertight-Bulkhead Technology of Chinese Junks is an age-old craft for the construction of ocean-going vessels with watertight compartments in South China’s Fujian Province. The vessels are made mainly of camphor, pine and fir timber, and assembled through use of traditional carpenters’ tools. They are built by applying the key technologies of rabbet-jointing planks together and caulking the seams between the planks with ramie, lime and tung oil. A master craftsman designs and directs the whole process. A large number of craftsmen work in close coordination to build solidly rabbeted ocean-going vessels consisting of multiple independently watertight cabins. The core technology for building such vessels is called The Watertight-Bulkhead Technology of Chinese Junks.
Watertight bulkheads are the most important step in building Chinese junks. To start with, the craftsmen build an integral hull by joining the vessel’s bilge and sides. The hull is then divided into cabins according to the function and size of the ship. The whole process is manual. Planks are rabbet-jointed together. And then interlocked to the bilge and on to frames or held with crampons. Ramie fibber, lime and tung oil are mixed in the proper proportion to wedge into any gaps between planks and make the cabins waterproof. The tools are largely those used by traditional Chinese carpenters, such as axes, carpenter’s ink markers, hand drills, rulers, maces, pit saws, chisels and planers.
Chinese junks are subdivided into multiple watertight cabins. If in the course of navigation one or two cabins are accidentally damaged, seawater will not flood other cabins. The vessel will not sink, but remain afloat. This greatly improves navigation safety. This technology has been widely used over the centuries in fishing vessels, cargo ships, warships, and diplomatic vessels. In particular, Fujian’s ocean-going cargo ships sailing along the Maritime Silk Road during the Song and Yuan dynasties, and the fleets commanded by Ming Dynasty navigator Zheng He in his seven voyages to the West, fully adopted this technology. The technology has served as a bridge and unifier in the exchange between Eastern and Western civilizations. In the late 18th century this technology was finally adopted in the West. Since then Watertight bulkheads have become an important structural element in modern ship design, remain so today and have greatly enhanced navigation safety. |
