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Watertight-bulkhead



A junk is a kind of Chinese sailing vessel with fully battened sails.

Chinese junks can be divided into two types: northern junks developed from riverboats, and southern junks evolved from Austronesian ship designs used in trade with the Eastern Han Dynasty since the 2nd century AD. As they evolved in later dynasties, Chinese traders primarily used them throughout Southeast Asia. Many East Asian countries also adopted similar junk designs, including Japan, which used junks as merchant ships for trading with China. Although they have been found throughout Southeast Asia and India, they are found primarily in China.

Many of the technical advancements in sail plans and hull designs that Junks made were adopted in Western shipbuilding. The sails were rigged in such a way that the wind blew into each other, enabling the junks to sail into the wind and travel in rough seas and heavy winds. Separate hatches and ladders allowed access to the compartments within the hull, similar in design to the interior of a bamboo stem. It is possible to make these watertight to slow flooding, yet the front compartments often have "limber holes" that allow water to enter and exit the compartment, assisting the ship in rough waters.

The watertight-bulkhead technology of Chinese junks was developed in South China's Fujian Province, allowing the construction of ocean-going vessels with watertight compartments. When one or two cabins are accidentally damaged during navigation, seawater will not pour into the remaining cabins and the vessel will remain afloat. Assembled with traditional carpenters' tools, the junks are made mainly from camphor, pine, and fir. A rabbet-joined plank is joined with a lime and tung oil-caulked seam between the planks. That's the key to their construction.

The construction is supervised by a master craftsman who supervises a large number of craftsmen. The local communities participate in solemn ceremonies to bless the construction site and the vessel before its launch. Apprentices acquire the knowledge and methods of manufacturing watertight bulkheads orally from their masters. Since steel-hulled ships have replaced wooden vessels, the demand for Chinese junks has dramatically decreased.

As of today, there are only three masters capable of fully mastering this technology. Because of a shortage in raw materials, the costs of the building have also increased. In the meantime, transmissions of this heritage are decreasing and transmitters are being forced to find alternative employment. Nowadays, there is an increasing number of modern junk-rigged sailboats available for recreational use.

References

(https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/watertight-bulkhead-technology-of-chinese-junks-00321) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_(ship)#20th_century)


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