page_title: Science and technology of the Han dynasty
section_title: Nautics and vehicles
hierarchical_section_title: Science and technology of the Han dynasty / Nautics and vehicles
caption_attribution_description: English: Junk in the Halong Bay, Vietnam Deutsch: Dschunke in der Halong Bucht, Vietnam
context_page_description: The Han dynasty of ancient China, divided between the eras of Western Han, Xin dynasty of Wang Mang, and Eastern Han, witnessed some of the most significant advancements in premodern Chinese science and technology.
  There were great innovations in metallurgy. In addition to Zhou-era China's previous inventions of the blast furnace and cupola furnace to make pig iron and cast iron, respectively, the Han period saw the development of steel and wrought iron by use of the finery forge and puddling process. With the drilling of deep boreholes into the earth, the Chinese used not only derricks to lift brine up to the surface to be boiled into salt, but also set up bamboo-crafted pipeline transport systems which brought natural gas as fuel to the furnaces. Smelting techniques were enhanced with inventions such as the waterwheel-powered bellows; the resulting widespread distribution of iron tools facilitated the growth of agriculture.
context_section_description: In 1975, an ancient shipyard discovered in Guangzhou is now dated to the late 3rd century BCE, made during either the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE) or early Western Han dynasty. It had three large platforms capable of building wooden ships that were 30 m (98 ft) long, 8 m (26 ft) wide, and had a weight capacity of 60 metric tons. Another Han shipyard in what is now Anhui province had a government-operated maritime workshop where battle ships were assembled. The widespread use of iron tools during the Han dynasty was essential for crafting such vessels.
  The southward expansion of the Han dynasty led to new trade routes and diplomatic contact with foreign kingdoms. In 111 BCE, Emperor Wu conquered the Kingdom of Nanyue in what is now modern northern Vietnam and Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan; thereafter he opened up maritime trade to both Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, as foreign merchants brought lapis lazuli, pearls, jade, and glasswares to the Han Empire from this southern sea route. When a group of travelers from the Roman Empire (allegedly diplomats of Marcus Aurelius but most likely Roman merchants) came to the Han court in 166 CE, they allegedly came from this southern trade route. By at least the 1st century CE—as proven by Eastern Han ceramic miniature models of ships found in various tombs—the Chinese would have been able to brave distant waters with the new steering invention of the stern-mounted rudder. This came to replace the less efficient steering oar. While ancient China was home to various ship designs, including the layered and fortified tower ship meant for calm waters of lakes and river, the junk design (jun 船) created by the 1st century was China's first seaworthy sailing ship. The typical junk has a square-ended bow and stern, a flat-bottomed hull or carvel-shaped hull with no keel or sternpost, and solid transverse bulkheads in the place of structural ribs found in Western seacrafts. Since the Chinese junk lacked a sternpost, the rudder was attached to the back of the ship by use of either socket-and-jaw or block and tackle (which differed from the later European pintle and gudgeon design of the 12th century). As written by a 3rd-century author, junks had for-and-aft rigs and lug sails.
  Although horse and ox-drawn carts and spoke-wheeled chariots had existed in China long before the Han dynasty, it was not until the 1st century BCE that literary evidence pointed to the invention of the wheelbarrow, while painted murals on Han tomb walls of the 2nd century CE show the wheelbarrow in use for hauling goods. While the 'throat-and-girth' harness was still in use throughout much of the ancient world (placing an excessive amount of pressure on horses' necks), the Chinese were placing a wooden yoke across their horses' chests with traces to the chariot shaft by the 4th century BCE in the State of Chu (as seen on a Chu lacquerware). By Han times, the Chinese replaced this heavy yoke with a softer breast strap, as seen in Han stamped bricks and carved tomb reliefs. In the final stage of evolution, the modern horse collar was invented in China by the 5th century, during the Northern Wei period.
caption: A modern small two-masted junk
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