Sampan

For the Chinese/English bilingual newspaper, see Sampan (newspaper).

Not to be confused with the commune in France Sampans, Jura.

A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed wooden boat found in East, Southeast, and South Asia. It is possibly of Chinese or Austronesian origin.^[1] 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.

Sampan on the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), China

Sampan
Chinese	舢舨
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shānbǎn Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sāan báan Jyutping Saan1 baan2 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sam-pán

Model of sampan in Lanyang Museum

It is sometimes claimed that the word "sampan" is derived from the Cantonese term sāam báan (三板), literally "three planks",^[2] but this is likely to be a false etymology.^[3] A possible Austronesian origin of the word has been suggested, as it is attested in an Old Malay inscription from 684 CE.^[1]

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)^[4]) or may be fitted with outboard motors.

Sampans are still in use by rural residents of Southeast Asia, particularly in Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Malay communities in Southeast Asia also use the term sampan for their boats. Large boats such as sampan panjang, kolek and perahu panjang are used and built by the Malays and Orang Laut living in their coastal villages.

Image gallery

• 
  Traditional hongtou (red-head) sampans of Shanghai, China
• 
  A contemporary sampan comes back from fishing, on the north coast of Java
• 
  Japanese sampan-like river boat. Dating from before 1886
• 
  Small sampan still being used for passenger transportation between islands in Hong Kong
• 
  A Sampan in Shanghai, China Archived 2013-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
• 
  Bangladeshi fishermen resting in the shade of a sampan in Barishal

See also

• Casco (barge), Filipino version of Sampan
• Sampan panjang, Malay boat

References

1. Manguin, Pierre-Yves (2012). "Asian ship-building traditions in the Indian Ocean at the dawn of European expansion". In Prakash, Om; Chattopadhyaya, D. P. (eds.). History of science, philosophy, and culture in Indian Civilization. Vol. III, part 7: The trading world of the Indian Ocean, 1500–1800. Delhi, Chennai, Chandigarh: Pearson. pp. 597–629. Another well-known word of possible Austronesian origin is sampan, attested in a 684 CE old Malay inscription, which also appears in Tamil and Sri Lankan (as it does in Khmer, Thai, Burmese, Mon and Chinese).
2. Merriam Webster online dictionary
3. Hoogervorst, Tom (2012). Southeast Asia in the ancient Indian Ocean world (PhD thesis). University of Oxford.
4. "How to Scull a Boat", WOODEN BOAT #100, June 1991.

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.)