Author: Hans Konrad Van Publisher: ISBN: 9780813049212 Category : China Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
An account of ten Chinese junks that sailed to the United States in the early twentieth century: why they came to the West and the reception they received.
Author: Hans Van Tilburg Publisher: ISBN: 9780813030531 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 272
Book Description
Beginning in 1905, a handful of traditional Chinese sailing vessels, known as junks, sailed from China to North America across the Pacific. These were some of the last commercial sailing junks of China, most of which had little trouble crossing thousands of miles of ocean on their way to American ports. Crowds welcomed them in Victoria, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, and San Diego, yet often regarded them with a mixture of surprise and contempt as quaint, unwieldy constructions in the fashion of sea monsters and even bizarre objects of fancy. As traveling cultural objects, displaying a variety of gruesome weaponry and other artifacts, some of them served as public floating museums. The arrival of these vessels allowed Western observers to catch a rare glimpse of a little-known yet sophisticated maritime technology and seafaring culture. Van Tilburg's study of this history--the maritime heritage of Chinese junks and their transpacific voyages--examines ten junks, how they were made, why and how they traveled, and how the West received them. Combining historical narrative with ethnology, anthropology, maritime archaeology, and nautical technology, he draws on a wide range of newspaper sources, secondary texts, nautical treatise, archaeological site work, rare historical photos and sketches, and the personal testimony of the sailors themselves to examine these vessels not only as transport vehicles but as complex cultural artifacts that "speak" of a distant seafaring past and intimate cultural ties to the sea. While attention to maritime China has focused primarily on periods versus centuries, Chinese Junks in the Pacific is the story behind the traditional Chinese vessels of the 19th century and how the West misunderstood them. Accessible reading, this book will appeal to scholars of Asian seafaring and archaeology, sailing aficionados drawn to the junk's form and sailing qualities, and those interested in Chinese-American interactions and encounters.
Author: Antony Buxton Publisher: ISBN: 9781793227799 Category : Languages : en Pages : 126
Book Description
This is an accurate account of an attempt to sail around the world: in 1965, ten young men from diverse backgrounds and nationalities set off from Sydney in a Chinese junk to achieve this goal. The leader was Tony Pike, later a legendary character on the island of Ibiza. The rest of the crew consisted of two Englishmen, one of whom had emigrated to Australia in his early twenties; three New Zealanders; and four Australians.In their desire to begin their adventure, they overlooked many vital factors. The intended captain, who was to supply all the navigation equipment, pulled out at the last minute, leaving them without essential gear. They focused too intently on financial planning, and the goal of the trip and their enthusiasm overrode common sense; consequently, the vessel was ill-equipped for such a long voyage.Although the trip included many amusing moments and exciting exploits, the dream voyage soon turned into a nightmare, with the crew becoming lost at sea and almost giving up hope.The story details what went wrong, which turned out to be everything except, strangely enough, the actual financing of the trip, typically tends to be the biggest problem in this type of venture. Despite the trip's enormous potential for success and profitability, it was a failure because the vessel and equipment were entirely inadequate.This is not only a fascinating story, but it also offers guidance for anyone contemplating a similar voyage.
Author: Tony Buxton Publisher: ISBN: 9780463201145 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 128
Book Description
A young man leaves his career in pursuit of adventure, setting sail on a Chinese junk-but when the vessel fails on the open water, he learns the South Pacific is an unforgiving mistress.
Author: Dennis O. Flynn Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 113466902X Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 284
Book Description
Starting with the 16th century trade of Latin American silver and Chinese silk, leading researchers trace the economic, environmental and social history of the Pacific region. Chapters examine the trade of diverse commodities within the Pacific and analyse the ecological and social impacts of this increasing economic activity. The strong Chinese ma
Author: Elizabeth Sinn Publisher: Hong Kong University Press ISBN: 9888139711 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 474
Book Description
During the nineteenth century tens of thousands of Chinese men and women crossed the Pacific to work, trade, and settle in California. Drawn initially by the gold rush, they took with them skills and goods and a view of the world which, though still Chinese, was transformed by their long journeys back and forth. They in turn transformed Hong Kong, their main point of embarkation, from a struggling infant colony into a prosperous international port and the cultural center of a far-ranging Chinese diaspora. Making use of extensive research in archives around the world, Pacific Crossing charts the rise of Chinese Gold Mountain firms engaged in all kinds of transpacific trade, especially the lucrative export of prepared opium and other luxury goods. Challenging the traditional view that the migration was primarily a "coolie trade," Elizabeth Sinn uncovers leadership and agency among the many Chinese who made the crossing. In presenting Hong Kong as an "in-between place" of repeated journeys and continuous movement, Sinn also offers a fresh view of the British colony and a new paradigm for migration studies.
Author: Anthony Reid Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1351892991 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 411
Book Description
The essays reprinted here trace the history of Chinese emigration into the Pacific region, first as individuals, traders or exiles, moving into the 'Nanyang' (Southeast Asia), then as a mass migration across the ocean after the mid-19th century. The papers include discussions of what it meant to be Chinese, the position of the migrants vis-à-vis China itself, and their relations with indigenous peoples as well as the European powers that came to dominate the region. Together with the introduction, they constitute an important aid to understanding one of the most widespread diasporas of the modern world.
Author: Shirley Fish Publisher: AuthorHouse ISBN: 145677543X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 553
Book Description
During the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries, the transpacific treasure galleons sailed annually from Manila to Acapulco. In Manila, the vessel was loaded with the scented spices of the East, luxurious silks from China, exquisite hand crafted lacquerware from Japan and a multitude of Oriental goods that the Spaniards of New Spain longed to own. The returning galleon from Acapulco to Manila, carried as much as 2.5 million silver pesos in payment of the goods sent to the New Spain in the previous year, as well as a yearly silver subsidy of 250,000 reales for the maintenance of the colonial government in the Philippines. But while the galleons mainly sailed alone and unaccompanied from Manila to Acapulco and vice versa, they were vulnerable to a host of calamities and misfortunes. A fire on board the vessel or a terrifying storm could end the voyage and the lives of every one on the ship even before the galleon was able to reach land. Additionally, the commanders of the galleons were always threatened by lurking pirates and privateers who preyed on the vessels and coveted the treasures they carried. The book describes in detail how the galleons were attacked at sea and how they fought against enemy vessels, as well as how many of the ships sank or were shipwrecked over the years. It also covers their management, construction, manning, weaponry, navigation, daily life on the ship, provisions, cargoes and voyages. The book contains an annotated list of the galleons sailing between the Philippines and Mexico from 1565 to 1815. This informative book is the first of its kind to cover such an expansive history of the Pacific galleons which up to this point had remained largely untold.
Author: Hans Konrad Van
Author: Hans Van Tilburg
Author: Ethan Allen Petersen
Author: Antony Buxton
Author: Tony Buxton
Author: Dennis O. Flynn
Author: Elizabeth Sinn
Author: Anthony Reid
Author: Shirley Fish
Author: Benjamin Wilfried Fleisher