Chinese Sailing Ship (Fuchuan)

Timeline

1. 1500–1640Quanzhou · FujianMinnan shipyards built large fuchuan ships, with nanmu keels, watertight bulkheads, and fore-and-aft rigging adapted to monsoon routes, carrying porcelain, silk, and other goods to Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Nanyang.
2. c. 1641–1650Xiamen port · FujianDuring the fall of the Ming and rise of the Qing in the 1640s, Minnan maritime merchants and the Zheng clan used fuchuan ships to maintain routes to Taiwan, Luzon, and Southeast Asia, transporting migrants, grain, and arms; Chinese sailing ships still held an important place in East Asian trade and military transport.
3. c. 1650–1700Manila-Batavia route · South China SeaFuchuan and guangchuan ships took part in the Manila ginger and sugar trade and Batavia transshipment, competing with Dutch and Spanish merchant vessels for cargo in Southeast Asian ports; the cargo capacity and route experience of Chinese sailing ships kept them holding a key share into the late 17th century.