sampan

Sampan - 舢板

Sampan on the Yangtze , China 2002

Two Shanghai sampans - historical illustration, China

A sampan ( Chinese 舢板 , Pinyin shānbǎn , Jyutping saan ¹ baan ² , also: 舢舨 ) is a flat, wide rowing or sailing boat that is also used as a houseboat in East Asia .

The similar-sounding alternative name for sampan is sanban ( 三板 , sānbǎn , Jyutping saam ¹ baan ² ), literally “three planks”, and indicates that a sampan is a plank boat as opposed to one made of one Hollowed trunk made dugout canoe . Sampans are mostly used as fishing boats or for smaller transports of goods and passengers. This meaning is reflected in the term or in the original etymology of the character shān ( 舢 - "mountain-sized ship"), ie mother ship, and the character bǎn ( 舨 - "simple dinghy or transport ship"), ie small feeder boat. Some features point to the catamaran as a starting point. The earliest sampans are believed to have evolved from the dugout canoe. The flat bottom and the tapering shape are conspicuously raft-like.

The locomotion takes place by means of a yuloh ( 搖櫓 / 摇橹 , yáolǔ , Jyutping jiu ⁴ lou ⁵ ) called oar (belt) , which is attached to the stern with a movable connection asymmetrically to the longitudinal axis. This rudder is moved from left to right like a fish's tail, it is jigged . The ship is propelled along the diagonal of the forces. Sampans have a wide stern and a pointed bow. This pushes the current when going downhill .

Small sampans have one or two straps, large sampans have up to 20 straps. In addition to the traditional material wood , sampans are now also made of GRP and are equipped with small motors in addition to belts.