Wang Zengyu

Shipbuilding has ancient origins. In primitive societies, human beings have learned that "wood is a boat, and wood is a pole" (1). For thousands of years, it has always been an important yardstick for the level of economic and technological development of all eras, countries and nations. The development of the shipbuilding industry in the Song Dynasty also reflected the tremendous economic growth and major breakthroughs in science and technology at that time.

The shipbuilding industry in the Song Dynasty was divided into two categories: government and private. Owing to the lack of documentation, the nature, size and distribution of the private sector are not well understood.

The government-run handicraft industry in the Song Dynasty was non-liberal capitalist in nature, and the identity of its craftsmen was more complicated. There are prisoners who are worthy of subordination, and they are the most lowly of all, "heavy labor during the day, and a long time for the night, and there is no time to leave" (2). There is a box army, and when recruiting, "there are craftsmen to test, and they are changed to craftsmen" (3). They were to "pierce their hands and faces," i.e., tattoo letters on their faces or hands, (4) carry out military formations, and live in "barracks" (5). In addition, there are craftsmen who are recruited by the people on a rotational basis. Craftsmen of all kinds are not free

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(1) "Zhou Yi Department Resignation".

(2) "Song Hui Yao" official 43-176.

(3) "Long Edition", volume 467, Yuan You, October 6, Bingzi. There is also a similar record in the "Qingyuan Article Legal Affairs" volume 7 "Inspector's Tour".

(4) "Song Hui Yao" official 16-9.

(5) "Song Hui Yao" official 29-7.

If you are "tired of working and will run away", you must be pursued and punished. ①

In principle, the government implements "harmony" and pays "wages" to craftsmen recruited by the people. If you don't want to work in the government, you can sometimes pay "money to buy wages" to redeem it. (2) For the soldiers and the craftsmen who recruited the soldiers, money, food, and clothing were also distributed according to the provisions of the conscription system. Obviously, although these people are engaged in wage labor, it is compulsory.

This is the general situation in the government-run handicraft industry. The situation in the government-built shipping industry is no exception.

In the early years of Renzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Hunan Road transfer envoy played a concert, demanding that the "miscellaneous criminals in Zhuzhou be equipped with troops" and "sent to Tanzhou" to engage in heavy duties such as water transportation and shipbuilding. ③

There were 247 "soldier-level" people in Wenzhou Shipyard, which were reduced to 100 at the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, and those who were retrenched were "allocated to the military service envoys of Benzhou" (4). During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Southern Song Dynasty, the government-run shipyards in the three prefectures of Luhong, Ji, and Jiangxi in Jiangxi Province each had "200 workers and soldiers, and they set a standard and became a boat every day" (5). The term "labor" here may refer to craftsmen recruited by the people.

A person who does a day's work is called a "worker". This unit of calculation of the amount of labor existed in previous generations. In the Song Dynasty, due to the popularization of "and hire" labor, it was extremely common to use "work" to calculate the amount of labor, and to discuss the payment of "work". (6) In the last years of Ningzong of the Southern Song Dynasty, Ezhou built 30 ships, and the officials reported to the imperial court that it was estimated that 45,730 laborers would be used, and (7) it showed that Ezhou "hired" folk craftsmen.

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(1) "Song Hui Yao" official 16-9.

(2) For the term "to buy wages", see "Song Hui Yao" official 16-16.

(3) "Song Hui Yao" Criminal Law 4-68.

(4) "Song Hui Yao" food 50-11.

(5) "Song Hui Yao" food 44-7, 48-7. According to Zhao Shankuo's "Ying Zhai Miscellaneous Works" volume 1 "Shipyard Gangyun Benefits" during the time of Song Xiaozong, he said: "Upper reaches of Jiangxi", "set up a shipyard", "200 ships at the age of 200", and "100 craftsmen".

(6) On the volume of "Siming Mountain Water Conservancy Preparation", the sand gate was built back: "Stonemason's wages: each worker's branch official meeting (paper money) is two through eight hundred wen, and the rice is two liters and two he"; "Miscellaneous Husband: Each Labor Branch Official Association will always have 500 Wen"; "Rough stone: each worker will run through three hundred texts".

(7) "Song Hui Yao" Food 50-35.

The prevalence of "he-hire" craftsmen reflects changes in the relations of production and is a historic advance compared to forced unpaid labor. But generally speaking, the government-run handicraft industry in the late Middle Ages has increasingly become a shackle to the development of production. Forced wage labor was not what the craftsmen wanted, not to mention the reduction of wages, torture and even torture and killing of craftsmen, and the rebellion of craftsmen is endless. Bureaucratic corruption, embezzlement and malpractice are even more prominent. ①

The products of the government-run shipyard include the gang ship (cao transport ship), the seat ship (official passenger ship), the war ship, the horse ship (troop carrier) and other categories, which are for the government's own use. The Northern Song Dynasty was dominated by the Gangchuan. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the volume of canal transportation decreased sharply, and the production of gang ships declined; Due to the outstanding task of defending the river and the sea, the output and quality of warships have increased.

The Song Dynasty official shipyards were widely distributed. At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, the annual output of Gangchuan was 2,916 ships, of which 1,130 were in Qianzhou (later renamed Ganzhou) and Jizhou, Jiangxi Road, the largest proportion. (2) In the late Northern Song Dynasty, Wenzhou and Mingzhou on the Liangzhejiang Road ranked first, with a rated annual output of 600 ships each, while the four prefectures of Qian, Ji, Tan and Heng on Jiangxi Road and Hunan Road had a total of 723 ships. ③

With regard to the situation in the private shipbuilding industry, only a fraction of the south-eastern coast is described here.

The Southern Song Dynasty government set up shipyards on Fujian Road and Guangdong Road, which were abolished by the time of Song Xiaozong. (4) The government-built shipbuilding industry here is underdeveloped, but the private shipbuilding industry is growing in the fertile soil of prosperous domestic and foreign trade, and its roots are deep and leafy. An official of the Southern Song Dynasty said: "Zhang, Quan, Fu, Xinghua, all the boats and boats built by the people of the coastal areas are just their own financial resources and sold for profit." (5) It can be seen that the four prefectures and military along the coast of Fujian have private ship yards. The government does not produce ships, and does not engage in overseas trade. The recently excavated Southern Song Dynasty sea ships in Quanzhou, loaded with a lot of foreign trade inputs, should be private merchant ships, products of the private shipbuilding industry.

(1) Regarding the corruption of the official construction of the shipbuilding industry, it can be seen in the "Collected Works of Mr. Bianya" volume 11 "Shen Tang Zi Chen", "Ying Zhai Miscellaneous Works" volume 1 "Shipyard Gangyun Profit and Harm Slasher", and "Song Hui Yao" Food and Goods 50 There are also sporadic records.

(2) "Song Hui Yao" food 46-1, Qianzhou, the original work of "Song Hui Yao" is in the state, but it is a publication error. It is now corrected according to volume 25 of the "General Examination of Literature". According to the sum of the number of ships built in each state, it is 2,915, a difference of 1 ship from the total.

(3) "Song Hui Yao" food 50-4, official 42-53.

(4) "Song Hui Yao" Food 50-27.

(5) "Song Hui Yao" Criminal Law 2-137.

"Fujian, Guangnan and South China are deep and wide", unlike the Mingzhou area of Liangzhejiang Road, it is "a shallow sea place, the wind and waves are low", and the geographical conditions prompt people to build larger sea ships. (1) Guangdong is sparsely populated, the development is quite poor, and the economy is backward, so the shipbuilding technology is not high. Ships often do not use iron nails and tung oil, "all empty boards wear rattan restraints", and dry madder grass is used to fill the rattan seams. (2) Fujian Road is densely populated, the economic level is quite high, and the shipbuilding technology is quite exquisite. Volume 176 of the "Three Dynasties and Northern Alliances" records: "The sea boat is based on Fujian. At that time, the Fujian ship was called "South Ship". (3) According to the practice of the Northern Song Dynasty, sending envoys to Goryeo did not recruit sea ships near the north, but "commissioned Fujian and Zhejiang supervisors to recruit passenger boats in advance" (4), indicating that the sea ship industry of these two routes ranked first in the country. Steeple-bottomed sea vessels have a deep draft and strong resistance to wind and waves. According to the literature, both Fujian and Zhejiang used pointed bottom sea vessels, and the newly excavated Quanzhou sea ships provide empirical evidence. At the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhang Jun's Governor's Office ordered "Ming and Wenzhou to build ten flat-bottomed sea ships", which was refuted by the Ming Zhou shipbuilders, saying: "Flat-bottomed ships are not allowed to enter the sea!" ⑤

Due to the development of the shipbuilding industry, the volume of shipping in the Song Dynasty was also considerable. At the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, the government shipped 30,000 stone grains from Chaozhou, Guangdong Road to Fuzhou, each 10,000 stone was a "program", a total of "three outlines" before and after; The other fleet carried grain directly to Wenzhou. (6) On another occasion, it was planned that Guangdong would "collect" 150,000 stone of grain, "send hired boats and ships" to "transport it to Fuzhou, Quanzhou, and Zhangzhou", with the result that Guangdong directly transported grain and rice to Lin'an, and "there was no stale and damp evil" (7). The number of seagoing vessels in Fujian is even larger, and "all the transportation is carried by seaway", and "sending seagoing vessels to hire them" is frequent. In order to prevent the river and the sea, "Fujian Road and sea ships frequently recruit passes, many of which are damaged, and they are not allowed to trade." Because of this, the people are tired of having ships, or sell them to the government at a low price, or they do not return them overseas, or even sink themselves." in

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(1) In the 18th year of the 50th year of the "Song Hui Yao" food and goods, the sewing boats used in the sea around Mingzhou could not be used in the coastal areas of Fujian, and they had to build another warship with double load.

(2) "Lingwai Dai Answer" volume 6.

(3) For the term "South Ship", see "Song Hui Yao" Food and Goods 50-30, Criminal Law 2-102.

(4) "Xuanhe Feng Envoy Goryeo Tujing", volume 34, "Passenger Boat".

(5) "Song Hui Yao" food 50-20.

(6) "Song Hui Yao" Food 43-18, 47-16.

(7) "Song Hui Yao" food 40-20.

It was the Song court that changed its method, and the sea ships above one Song zhang and two Song feet were "divided into three times for each county", one year was "passed", and "two years were brokered one by one", and ships below one Song zhang and two Song feet were responsible for the transportation. (1) The above examples reflect the high production of private seafaring yards.

Since the Tang Dynasty, Guangzhou has long been the center of foreign trade. Quanzhou set up the city of Bo Division, in the late Northern Song Dynasty, more than 120 years after the founding of the country. However, Quanzhou's domestic and foreign trade soared, surpassing Guangzhou and becoming a world-famous commercial port, which should be related to the shipbuilding industry that is more advanced than Guangzhou. Domestically, such as Hainan Island on Guangxi Road, "Quanbo" must arrive every year to exchange local products with the Li people with wine, rice, flour, yarn, silk, lacquerware, porcelain and other goods. (2) In foreign countries, Quanbo also rode the long wind, broke the huge waves, and drove at the ends of the earth at that time. The recently excavated cargo ship that returned from a voyage is a silent spokesman for the shipbuilding industry in Quanzhou.

It is unlikely that the sea-going ships were the products of a cottage industry or a small workshop, and it is estimated that the private shipyards along the coast of the Song Dynasty should have been of considerable size. The nature of the private docks is not well documented, and the use of slave labour is unlikely in the general conditions of the time, while the employment of craftsmen cannot be ruled out.

Due to the wisdom and creativity of the working people, the shipbuilding technology of the Song Dynasty made great progress.

First of all, the widespread use of the compass and compass on sea vessels is a great contribution to world civilization. The Northern Song Dynasty's "Pingzhou Can Talk" and "Xuanhe Feng Envoy Goryeo Tujing", and the Southern Song Dynasty's "Zhufan Zhi" and "Menglianglu" all describe this, which will not be discussed in detail here.

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(1) "Gaofeng Anthology", vol. 5, "Zhangzhou to Ren Tiao, Five Things for Folk Benefits", "Song Hui Yao", Food 50-13.

(2) "Zhufan Chronicles" volume II.

In terms of power, in addition to sails and oars, the treadmill invented by the Chen Dynasty in the Northern and Southern Dynasties was popularized and improved. "Chen Shu" volume 13 "Xu Shipu Biography" said: "Shipu is not to build building ships, shooting ships, fire boats, and waterwheels to benefit the army. The "waterwheel" here should be the chariots and ships of later generations. Li Gang said that the vehicles and boats in the area of Jinghu South and North Road "have as many as 30 or 40 vehicles," each with two wheels, and "the drum is like flying with two wheels," and "it is appropriate to apply it to the big rivers and lakes to break the long wind and waves" (1). At the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a kind of "Flying Tiger Battleship, with four wheels on its side, eight wheels in each round, four people spinning and traveling thousands of miles a day" (2). The jiji is the fins, and each round has eight fins to hit the water. Each pair of wing wheels is located on both sides of the ship's side, and runs through a shaft, which is called a "car". There should be pedals on the shafts in the cabin for people to "drum". It is estimated that the invention of the treadmill is related to the waterwheel used in the farmland. The Flying Tiger Battleship is a small boat, with only two cars and four wheels, and two people in each car can "travel thousands of miles in a day". If it is a large ship with 30 or 40 cars, there are probably more than two pedalers in each car. Some ships also implemented the use of cars and oars, and during the time of Song Xiaozong, Jiankang Mansion built a kind of "one car, twelve oars, and four hundred warships" (3). Vehicles and ships cannot sail shallow waters, nor are they used for navigation, and their advantage is that they are fast. In the vast Dongting Lake, Yang Mojun once attacked the officers and soldiers with vehicles and boats. In the famous battle of quarrying, the Jin army that invaded the south could only look at the river and sigh in the face of the "fast as flying" vehicles and ships. (4) The vehicle and ship are equipped with the most primitive propellers, which are the ancestors of modern paddle steamers.

Du Fushi said: "Shu Ma and Wu salt have been passed since ancient times, and the boat of Wan Hu is like the wind." (5) Putting aside the exaggeration of the poem, it can be seen that the Tang Dynasty had used "Hu" as the load unit of ships. The Song Dynasty used the concept of "material" more. During the time of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, there were records of "Thousand Materials Ship" and "Thousand Materials Have Disembarked". (6) Regarding the meaning of materials, and quoting two records:

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(1) Preface to "The Complete Works of Liang Huo" Volume 29 "Teaching and Learning the Five Uniques of Battleships": "Changsha has the danger of the Yangtze River and heavy lakes, but there is no warship and navy. Yu Tang heir Cao Wang Gao legacy, created dozens of warships, up and down three floors, with wheels, drums forward, and sailed on the horses. Recruit 3,000 water troops, teach day and night, and read at the door of Linqing on February 18, and the banner is new, and the audience is blocked. into five quatrains to aspire. Volume 103 "Discussing with the Prime Minister on Defending the Thief and Slashing the Son", Volume 121 "The Book with Lu An Laolong".

(2) "Records" volume 56, July of the second year of Shaoxing, Ding Chou.

(3) "Song Hui Yao" Food 50-22. According to the 50-28th year of the food goods, there was a kind of horse boat, "which concealed the female head (guard), wheel, and oar, so that it could be folded and unloaded." To disassemble at any time, it is technically more difficult, and the food and goods 50-33 records a kind of "iron-walled ploughshare boat", "two cars on both sides and three oars".

(4) Volumes 238, 239, 241, and 242 of the Hui Bian record the use of chariots and ships by the Song army.

(5) "Quantang Poems", volume 229, "Ten Quatrains of Kuizhou Songs".

(6) "Song Hui Yao" food 42-2, 46-3.

(Song Hui Zongzheng and the third year) September 13, the two Zhejiang transport divisions: ...... The ship under the management of the Yuanben Road is 300 materials, which is different from the large materials of other roads. …… One for each boat, containing 240 stones, there is 60 stones. ”①

On July 30, the fourth year of Jianyan, the household said: ...... And with 500 material ships as the rate, according to the article eight points of loading and distribution, leaving two points to carry private belongings, as you wish, two points of force to feed and load grain, listen. Eight points of formal wear are counted as 400 shuo, and every 40 shuo breaks one husband and money; Two points of feeding are counted as 100 Shuo, and the old method breaks one husband every 20 Shuo. ”②

According to the Cao transportation system, hired sailors and shipwrights are allowed to carry two cents of merchants' private goods, and if the two cents of load weight are also loaded with official goods, the money and rice for every 20 stones can be increased for one person. From the above quotation, it can be seen that the material and the Hu and the stone are actually the same thing. Shen Kuo said: "Today's people take the weight of one hull of japonica rice as one stone, and those who use stones take ninety-two and a half catties as the law." (8) At that time, the load of the ship was "based on meters" (4). One stone of rice is 92.5 Song Jin, which is about 110 city catties, which is the carrying capacity of a material.

The original meaning of "material" refers to materials and materials, so it is used as a unit of measurement for load, which is probably related to the design of the ship. At that time, the design of ships was mainly based on the number of stones of load, and then according to the actual needs of river navigation, the length, width and other data were calculated, and the "ship sample" (drawing) was drawn. And estimate a number of materials, a number of labor, a total of a certain cost, so that the government can allocate money and grain. If the ship was well built, the Song court often issued "ship samples" to other shipyards and ordered them to be imitated. (5) The material with large load capacity is more and larger, and the material with small load capacity is less and small, and over time, "big material" and "small material" have become synonymous with the size of the load capacity. (6) It can be seen that the shipbuilding industry in the Song Dynasty has accumulated rich experience from design to construction, and has a set of scientific working procedures. The amount of load can be used as a design index, and it is obviously impossible to do it without a very skilled level of craftsmanship.

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(1) "Song Hui Yao" food 45-4, 49-29~30.

(2) "Song Hui Yao" food 43-16, 47-15.

(3) "Dream Creek Writings", vol. 3.

(4) Volume 11 of the first episode of the "General Essentials of the Martial Arts": "All water battles are won by the size of the ship, and the number of people is based on meters, and one person does not weigh more than two stones of rice." "In fact, this is true for all types of ships.

(5) "Song Hui Yao" Food 50-34: "Wenzhou Yan: The preparation department lowered two ship samples, Yang sent officials to buy wood, and made 25 sea boats in the money of the officials in this state. ”

(6) "Song Hui Yao" food and goods 50-13 has the names of "small material" and "big and small material", and the text cited above also has the saying "big material gangship".

The estimated load of the Song ship excavated in Quanzhou is 200 tons, which is equivalent to 3,636 materials in the Song Dynasty. "Menglianglu" volume 12 "Jianghai Ships" contains: "The ships of maritime merchants vary in size, the largest ones are 5,000 materials, and they can carry 5 or 600 people. "The average large ship carries about 275 tons, which is larger than this ship. 5,000 is by no means the limit of a big ship. During the time of Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was an inland river "10,000 stone boat" in the Jinghu area, which "carried 2,000 yuan (should be 'ten') 10,000 guan and 12,000 stone in rice" (1), and its load was about 660 tons. The Song God Sect sent envoys to Goryeo and ordered "Mingzhou to build two Wanhu ships". (2) Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty sent an envoy to Goryeo and built two larger sea ships, called "Shenzhou". The "Xuanhe Feng Envoy Goryeo Tujing" does not explain the load of the Shenzhou, but it may as well be compared with the six "Gu Recruit Passenger Boats" in the same company. Each of these six ships was "more than 10 zhang long, 3 zhang deep, 2 zhang and 5 feet wide, and could carry 2,000 husks." "The length, breadth, and height of the Shenzhou, the use of all kinds of objects, and the number of people are all three times that of the passenger boat" (8). If the length, depth and width are three times that of a passenger boat, its volume and load should be twenty-seven times that of a 2,000-material ship. Of course, this simplistic calculation is bound to be wrong with reality; If a conservative estimate is made, Shenzhou should also be a large ship with more than 20,000 materials, with a load of more than 1,100 tons. During the Southern Song Dynasty, there were 36 Song zhang of inland river vehicles and boats, (4) about 111 meters. The length of the Shenzhou is about forty zhang or so, which is quite impressive even from a modern point of view. At that time, it really became a behemoth of "super crown and ancient times", "towering like a mountain, floating on the waves, the head of the brocade sail, and the succumbing cockroach". Many foreigners gathered on the shore to watch the friendly ships on the voyage, "towering over the country" and "cheering and sighing" (5).

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(1) "Painting Collection", vol. 8. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty" volume 180 "Food and Goods Chronicles", the money has always weighed five catties. 200,000 pounds is worth 1 million catties, which is roughly equivalent to the weight of 12,000 stone meters.

(2) "Saying Xuan", vol. 37, "Tired Travel Record".

(3) "Xuanhe Envoy Goryeo Tujing", volume 34, "Passenger Boat".

(4) "Notes on the Old School", vol. 1.

(5) "Official and Envoy Goryeo Tujing", volume 34, "Shenzhou".

Under the technical conditions at that time, it was extremely difficult to build large ships. At the beginning of the Southern Song Dynasty, Fuzhou was ordered to build 22 Song zhang cars and ships, "the law is more than four zhang of materials, this material is not in the deep mountains and poor valleys", after cutting down, "to the waterfront", quite laborious. (1) Guangxi Road Qinzhou produces a kind of ebony wood, the most suitable to do tens of thousands of rudder of large ships, "meticulous and dense, a few feet long, although there is a vicious wind and angry waves, completely immovable", "the treasure of the real Lingbo". It is worth hundreds of yuan in this state, and due to transportation difficulties, the price will increase tenfold when it arrives in Guangzhou. ③

The structure of the large ship is also quite complicated, and the six 2,000-material passenger boats recruited by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty as an envoy to Goryeo are used as an example. "All of them are made of all-wood giant fangs, the top is flat like a balance, and the bottom side is like a blade." The whole ship is divided into three cabins, and the middle cabin is divided into four rooms. The waterproof compartment has been first invented by the Chinese for a long time, and the "Quanbo" excavated this time is divided into thirteen cabins. The bow of the "passenger boat" is anchored with stone stones, and "the upper vine rope is as big as a rafter, and it is 500 feet long." Pulleys are used for anchoring. In case of "storm emergency", it is necessary to throw "wandering". The stern rudder has "two large and small, easier with the shallow and deep water", and two "triple rudders". On both sides of the ship, "Fu Dazhu is the bridge to resist the waves". Loading people and goods, the bamboo rope is used as the draft line, "the water shall not pass the waterline". The main mast is ten Song zhang high, the foremast is eight Song Zhang, a total of 110 sails are installed, the wind is with a sail, "a little deviation is with a canopy". "The wind has eight sides, but it is not feasible to be the head", which can be seen to be an efficient sail. In addition, the wind direction is measured with bird feathers, and the water depth is measured with lead, and the pointed bottom boat is "not afraid of the depths of the sea", and the most feared is that it will run aground and capsize. (3) These six ships are the masterpieces of the advanced sea-going shipbuilding industry of Liangzhejiang Road and Fujian Road. Modern sea-going ships can be regarded as industrial technology exhibitions, and sea-going ships at that time also played the role of handicraft technology exhibitions. The shipbuilding industry of the Song Dynasty was among the most advanced in the world at that time.