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The focus of the YM Oceanic Culture
& Art Museum's second floor exhibition is on the
promotion of maritime culture to introduce to the
general public the beauty of ships and their history
of development. The "Journey of Exploration - Ancient
Ships Special Exhibition" follows on from the previous
phase's "Ancient Crafts Special Exhibition" to take
the history of ship design one step further. Before
the advent of the common era, humanity devised ways
of building simple floatation tools from local materials
to cross the rivers in order to survive. Trading
through barter gradually developed into the beginnings
of trade and commerce. From the rivers to the seashore,
the peoples of the world began to brave the seas
in search of distant lands. The Arabs, the Phoenicians,
the Vikings, the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese
- out there on the sea the mysterious Orient encountered
Medieval Europe. The Culture & Art Museum has
chosen 10 distinct ship designs from different regions
for display which all share a common feature - they
were all "clinker-built" ships assembled
from wooden planks, marking a great advance in shipbuilding
technology. Other tools used to propel these ships
were displayed as well - the oar, paddle, rudder
and sail. A virtual interactive boat is also provided
at the exhibition so visitors can try their hand
at rowing their way through the challenges provided.
The expansion of the land powers and launching of
ocean-going expeditions brought new links to the
world of human civilization. The history of ships
is not just about the development of shipbuilding
technology. Even more importantly, the activities
at sea brought together the previously isolated
continents of the Earth, sparking advances in human
civilization. These sparks eventually became the
foundation of our modern civilization. |
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| Period |
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Before 5000 B.C. |
| Nationality |
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The Chumash people |
| Material |
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| Purpose |
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The Tomol (sewn boat) was mainly used for fishing
and hunting. It was also the pride of the Chumash
people. |
| Explanation |
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The Tomol was built by the Chumash people and
was the earliest
known example of sewn clinker built boats. It was
made from redwood
planks because the Chumash considered it the best
kind of wood. The
insides of the Tomol were painted with pitch to
prevent leaks. They
were generally around 30 feet in length and could
carry 12 people. |
| Picture |
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| Period |
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1127 ~ 1279 A.D. |
| Nationality |
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China |
| Material |
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| Purpose |
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The Wheel Ship - or the Chariot Ship - was an
early form of the
paddleboat. It applied the principle of geared wheels
to propel the ship
forward. It first came into use during the late
Northern Sung Dynasty.
The "Wheel Ship" used by the Northern
Sung Navy was renowned for
its great speed, so it was described as "Driving
the water with the
wheel, it sped along as if on wings". |
| Explanation |
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In the "Chiou Tang Shu" (Book of Ancient Tang),
Li Kau wrote that it
was a "warship flanked by two wheels". Inspired
by boat oars and the
watermill used on farms for irrigation, he created
a wheel ship with
turning wheels on each side. Paddles were fitted
to the outside of these
wheels with the lower half submerged in water. When
human power
was used to pedal the wheels, the paddles bit into
the water to propel
the boat forward. Since this wheel-paddle arrangement
was partially
exposed above the water, it was known as "Ming Luen";
(Visible Wheel)
, so these may in fact be the earliest paddleboats.
When the Southern
Sung pirate Yang Ma was defeated by the giant warships
of the
government forces, he captured a shipbuilder of
the Sung navy and
built wheel ships of various sizes that were known
as Yang Ma Wheel
Ships. |
| Picture |
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| Period |
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Before 800 B.C. |
| Nationality |
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Northern Europe |
| Material |
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Wood |
| Purpose |
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This is a model of the Viking warship known generally
as the Viking
Longboat. They ranged in length from 10M ~ 30M and
had an average
displacement of 50 tons. They were clinker-built
with oars as their main
form of propulsion but were also equipped with a
broad, brightly
colored square sail. The sides were often mounted
with colorful shields
to protect against enemy arrows. |
| Explanation |
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Viking ships came in two types - the warship for
sea raids and long
voyages; and the other for transporting cargo. The
warships were light,
narrow and had superior speed. The sides were fitted
with many
eyelets for oars and when sailing against the wind
or when rowing for
speed, the crew could easily furl the sail. The
cargo ships were usually
high and wide with a fixed mast. Both of these types
were built in a
similar fashion. The outsides were wrapped a layer
of planks (cleats)
while the gaps between them were filled with ropes
made from animal
fur and plant fiber. |
| Picture |
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Chumash Tomol
