Author: We invited authors Chiaki far
Zan Chinese history, the Han Dynasty is definitely a sparkling era, it served buildings or prestige, Weijia All over the world, the people living in this Han empire have since then had the title "Han nationality".
In addition, it is an era of highly advanced technology, and papermaking, one of the four great inventions, was born in this era. In fact, there is also a high-tech that is one thousand years ahead of the world, which was also born in this era, that is-shipbuilding.
Speaking of shipbuilding in the Han Dynasty, we have to talk about Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. This emperor, who is also known as Emperor Qin, is both famous and slanderous all over the world. Regardless of other things, our shipbuilding skills are in his era, creating the pinnacle of an era.
1. The Western Han Fleet
In the fifth year of Yuanding (112 BC), in order to conquer South Vietnam, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Yang Pu to expedition and led a 100,000 army to conquer the South Vietnam. The main force of this army is the Lou Chuan Navy. The West Han Navy sailed down the river, not only avoiding the high mountains, but also avoiding the heavy defenses of the South Vietnamese army, and generally taking down the Nanyue King City.
And the mission of the navy in this building did not stop there. Looking at Dong Yue next to him was not pleasing to the eye. Pupil Yang led the navy, and turned around and destroyed Dong Yue.
史料录， At this time, the navy of the Western Han Dynasty is already a pile of buildings, while the Nanyue and Dongyue regimes are still kayaking. meets, it really feels like a man’s arm as a car!
The ship model found in the tomb of Western Han Dynasty 203 excavated by the couch has 16 paddles. There are regular nail holes on both sides of the ship model and on the fore and aft decks, indicating that the ships at that time have begun to use iron nails to splice. The technology of the ship board. This also confirms the legend of the ship navy division of the Western Han Dynasty.
Some friends have to ask: Why did Emperor Han Wu build such a big ship?
This answer is both simple and complex. It is simple because of the two words: longevity. It is complicated because, even today, this problem has not been solved. But it was this longevity issue that almost became the ultimate pursuit of all emperors. Especially for an emperor like Qin Huang and Hanwu, their desire to conquer this ultimate proposition is even more persistent.
But unfortunately, the whole East Asian continent was searched almost by them, and no answer was obtained. As a result, some people say that immortals are very high, and they all live overseas, such as Penglai, Yingzhou, and abbots.
But to see the gods, that style must be great. This is also easy to understand: on the one hand, the ship is big enough to be stable enough to support the fleet to cross the ocean and sail in the ocean, otherwise it may be eaten by fish halfway; on the other hand, begging for begging, generally only It's a piece of two yuan, but if Gao Fushuai borrows money, it may have to be a small target level.
Therefore, in the view of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the more the fleet is broken, the greater the chance of seeking immortality by yourself.
For this reason, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty even personally patrolled the sea. This activity would come once every two years and lasted until his 69-year-old age: Zheng He Si In the first lunar month of the spring of the year (89 BC), Emperor Wu made his last voyage to seek immortality, but this time the sea was particularly unsatisfactory, the sea was boiling, and even the ships could not leave the port. At this time, Emperor Wu of Han was really old and weak, so he could only cancel the action of seeking immortality. After that, Emperor Wu often sighed to the officials: "In the past, they were fooled and deceived by alchemists. Are there any immortals in the world? It's all demon, or diet and medicine, just get less sick."
Liu Che finally "passed through" Now, although it is already "people are getting old near dusk", it is also considered "to die in the morning after hearing the truth".
This kind of national-level celestial hunting activity is indeed a waste of money, but it is not without gain. Three routes have been opened: Liaoning Dandong-Guangxi Bailun River route; Shandong-North Korea, Japan Airline; and Xuwen, Hepu AirlinesLine, which is the Maritime Silk Road.
2. The fleet of the Eastern Han Dynasty
The fleet of the Western Han Dynasty was bullish, but in the Eastern Han Dynasty, more than a hundred years later, with persistent efforts, the shipbuilding technology became more perfect and the ship was built bigger and bigger. And large warships are the norm.
The ship is large, it is indeed a long face, but correspondingly, the requirements for the hull material, structure and power system are higher.
First of all, let’s talk about the hull material:
This problem was actually solved more than one hundred years ago-nail riveting! Such a ship board is stronger and can carry and receive forces more effectively.
In addition, the bow and other key parts that are vulnerable to impact are even directly covered with cowhide and iron! Not only the hull is stronger, but it is also fireproof and anti-collision.
Let's talk about the structure:
According to the Han Dynasty model unearthed in Guangzhou, the ship at this time has adopted the separation formed by the beam and the partition board. The cabin structure greatly increases the impact resistance and sinking resistance of the hull. Only such a hull structure can guarantee ocean navigation.
Finally, look at the power system:
This is the era of sail power, and as a continental country, our sails did not appear early (European sails have a history of 5,000 years) ), but in the Eastern Han Dynasty, they succeeded in overtaking.
At this time, the ancestors keenly felt a question: Our ship is big, how can a sail be enough?
So, the multi-masted multi-sail was on the stage. To be precise, the big ships at the time were generally four-sided sails, and the materials of the four-sided sails were different. There were soft sails and hard sails. Skilled mariners could control the speed and direction of the ship by adjusting the sail surface.
In addition, the tail rudder was born, which is a small rudder plate like a fish tail. Even if it is not big, it can change the direction of the hull. "Watching the wind makes the rudder" came into being at this time.
The sail and the rudder cooperate closely to ensure the fast and stable operation of the Eastern Han ship.
In addition to the two treasures of sail and rudder, there is also a secret driving weapon-the scull. Don’t look at this “baby” which looks a lot like a paddle, but in fact, the paddling method has changed from intermittent paddling to continuous paddling, but the driving performance is not at the same level. Called.
Multi-mast, multi-sail, scull and tail rudder coordinated to form the most advanced power system at the time. On the other hand, the European ships of the same period used sails earlier, but they did not have the cooperation of the rudder and the drive of the scull. The power system and maneuverability are really different.
also in this era of brilliant development of ships, gave birth to a special shipbuilding book-"Release Ship" , this book is the shipbuilding technology at that time Some key questions were recorded and answered.
China General Needham sighed: "These inventions far surpassed Europe at the same time." The American Dupuy said: "(1st century AD) the world's leading position in the shipbuilding industry fell into the hands of the Chinese. ."
海丝路路
The shipbuilding technology of the Han Dynasty is so bullish, the corresponding shipbuilding industry has also developed into a rich variety of industries, generally including passenger ships, cargo ships, warships, etc. . Among the passenger ships, there are official ships and civilian ships; among the civil ships there are boats, sterns, boats, flat boats, light boats, pike boats, and pike boats. The warships include ge ship, bridge ship, fighting ship, stern ship, and building ship.
Some friends may want to ask, if builds so many boats, do you ask for immortals?
Of course not. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had already established the maritime hegemony of the Han Empire through his many expeditions and sea patrols, and the route he opened was an invaluable wealth to the Han people.
is exactly along the time when Han Wudi openedComing out of the Maritime Silk Road, merchant ships of the Eastern Han Dynasty set off from Xuwen and Hepu through the Strait of Malacca and the Indian Ocean to reach Sri Lanka in South Asia and trade with Daqin (Ancient Rome). Here, China can buy pearls, biliu glaze, exotic stones, etc., while Chinese silk (miscellaneous) can be transported to Rome.
is precisely this route. In the next millennium, Chinese silk and porcelain have been continuously exported to Europe, while a large amount of silver has flowed in, helping China's feudal civilization reach the peak of that era. And the basis of all this is the Han Dynasty ships that cleaved the waves on the ocean.
Conclusion
This powerful shipbuilding and navigation ability opened the Chinese sea way to the world. After the Han Dynasty, the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang and Song Dynasties, The prosperity of China's Maritime Silk Road can be said to be on the shoulders of the Han Dynasty. This history, which modern people are not familiar with, bears witness to the true meaning of an open and powerful country.
For the two empires coexisting at the same time but absolutely ahead of the surrounding empires-the Han Empire in Asia and the Roman Empire in Europe, people often guess which one is better.
If you compare shipbuilding and navigation, you may have the answer in your mind.
Reference materials: "History of Chinese Shipbuilding"
