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 A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isl ...

boats like the

scow A scow is a smaller type of barge. Some scows are rigged as sailing scows. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scows carried cargo in coastal waters and inland waterways, having an advantage for navigating shallow water or small harbours. S ...

or punt. Sampans are generally used for transportation in coastal areas or rivers and are often used as

traditional fishing boat Traditionally, many different kinds of boats have been used as fishing boats A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recr ...

s. 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, literally "mountain-like") means ocean-going large ship, and "舨" (ban, literally "return") 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. Pierre-Yves Manguin has pointed out possible Austronesian origin of the word, attested in a

inscription from 684 CE. Sampans may be propelled by poles, oars (particularly a single, long

sculling Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, it ...

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 ...

. In the

community in Southeast Asia, they 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 The Orang Laut are several seafaring ethnic groups and tribes living around Singapore, peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian Riau Islands. The Orang Laut are commonly identified as the Orang Seletar from the Straits of Johor, but the term may ...

living in their coastal villages.

Image gallery

Image:Sampan-01.png, Traditional ''hongtou'' (red-head) sampans of

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

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 Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

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 Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

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 ...

fisherman 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 ...

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

Image gallery

See also

References

External links