When asked the reason for the painted eyes on the bow of a junk, a Chinese would likely respond: “No got eye how can see?” Moreover, “no can see, how can walkey?”1 It was a long-established belief that the pair of large eyes would keep the junk vigilant of the evil spirit and thus secure …
47. From sail to steam: “no can see, how can walkey?” Read More »
Water covers approximately 70% of the surface of the globe, which means that the lives of a large number of people are in different ways related to the water. Yet, the vastness and depth of the sea are also the source of uncertainties and dangers. As a result, cultures worldwide have rich literature on different …
The Age of Discovery, from the 15th to 17th century, created unprecedented opportunities for people of different cultures to interact. Curiosity, wealth, and domination were the main reasons people risked their lives to explore uncharted waters and territories. European exploration would not have been successful without proper seagoing vessels. Before the 15th century, European sailing …
In 1784, the first merchant ship of the newly established United States of America – Empress of China – set sail from New York to Canton (Guangzhou) of China, the only Chinese port opened for foreign trade at the time. Following the conclusion of the First Opium War (1839-1842), China was forced to open more …
Located at the Pearl River (珠江) (Cantonese: zyu1 gong1, Mandarin: zhujiang) in south China, Canton 廣州 (currently romanized as Guangzhou) has been referred to by different names – 穗 ‘rice’ (Cantonese: seoi6, Mandarin: sui), (五)羊城) ‘City of (the Five) Rams’ (Cantonese: ng5 joeng4 sing4, Mandarin: wu yang cheng) and 花城 ‘City of Flowers’ (Cantonese: faa1 …
For most of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and the early period of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), China adopted a series of policies collectively referred to as sea ban (haijin 海禁) which essentially disconnected itself from the maritime world. Chinese people were prohibited from going to sea and privately trading goods with foreign countries. However, such …