A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
and
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
wooden
boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically found on inl ...
. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be
used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard
chine boats like the
scow or
punt. Sampans are generally used for transportation in coastal areas or rivers and are often used as
traditional fishing boats. It is unusual for a sampan to sail far from land, as they do not have the means to survive rough weather.
Some think that "sampan" is the Cantonese pronunciation of the Chinese word 舢舨, or "shan-ban" in "Pinyin" (standard) pronunciation). Of the two characters, "舢" (shan, semantic 舟 a boat + phonetic 山 shan) means ocean-going large ship, and "舨" (bǎn, semantic 舟 a boat + phonetic 山 fǎn) means small boat for shuttling between the ship and shore. Since the small boat is necessary for the big ship where deep water port was not available, it became one word meaning "the small boat for the big ship". Later it was generalized for small flat-bed boats.
Others think that the word "sampan" is derived from the original
Cantonese
Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...
term ''sāam báan'' (), literally "three planks", but this is likely to be a folk etymology.
Sampans may be propelled by poles, oars (particularly a single, long
stern sculling oar called a ''yuloh'' (simplified Chinese 摇橹/ traditional Chinese 搖櫓)
"How to Scull a Boat"
''WOODEN BOAT'' #100, June 1991.) or may be fitted with outboard motors.
Sampans are still in use by rural residents of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, particularly in Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
.
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
communities in Southeast Asia, also use the term sampan for their boats. Large boats such as ''sampan panjang
Sampan panjang was a type of Malay fast boat from the 19th century. It was used especially by the sampan-men, or "Orang Laut" (lit. "sea people"). Historically, they can be found in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. This type of boat was used by ...
'', ''kolek'' and ''perahu panjang'' are used and built by the Malays and Orang Laut living in their coastal villages.
Image gallery
Image:Sampan-01.png, Traditional ''hongtou'' (red-head) sampans of Shanghai, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
File:Indonesian Sampan.jpg, A contemporary sampan comes back from fishing, on the north coast of Java
File:Japon-1886-32.jpg, Japanese sampan-like river boat. Dating from before 1886
File:Sampan under sunset Hong Kong.jpg, Small sampan still being used for passenger transportation between islands in Hong Kong
File:Sampan.jp
A Sampan in Shanghai, China
File:Boats in Barishal Bangladesh (3).JPG, Bangladeshi
Bangladeshis ( bn, বাংলাদেশী ) are the citizens of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centered on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.
Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the ...
fishermen resting in the shade of a sampan in Barishal
Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Dist ...
See also
*Casco (barge)
''Cascos'' are flat-bottomed square-ended barges from the Philippines. They were used mostly to carry cargo along lakes and rivers, and as lighters to transport goods to and from moored ships. Though they resemble the Chinese sampan, they are muc ...
, Filipino version of Sampan
*Sampan panjang
Sampan panjang was a type of Malay fast boat from the 19th century. It was used especially by the sampan-men, or "Orang Laut" (lit. "sea people"). Historically, they can be found in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. This type of boat was used by ...
, Malay boat
References
External links
"Cranks with Planks presents Sampans -n- Yulohs" (via Wayback Machine)
(includes excerpt from G.R.G. Worcester's ''Junks and Sampans of the Yangtse.'')
{{Authority control
Cantonese culture
Indigenous boats
Types of fishing vessels
Chinese words and phrases
Ships of China