Chinese Junk 帆船

Chinese Junk 帆船

China
Ca. 1900s
Wood
Courtesy of the James G. Endicott Family

This replica resembles the chartered junk James and Sarah Endicott sailed on when they first arrived at Jiading in 1895 after travelling down the Min River from Chengdu. It is also like the junk Jim and Mary hired in early 1927, when the West China mission was evacuated following widely publicized anti-foreign violence in the region. Trips taken through the Yangtze Gorges on junks became a mainstay of Canadian missionary mythology, recorded in letters that told of close encounters with bandits and stunning landscapes. Skilled pilots attempted to steer clear of dangerous rapids while hundreds of trackers, roped together and working in unison, pulled the boat upstream one excruciating pace at a time.

Listen to the song of the trackers (川江号子 chuanjiang haozi), a call and response chant used to coordinate the rhythm and tempo of those who pulled junks upstream when wind conditions demanded. This song was recorded by German diplomat Max Friedrich on a wax cylinder in 1912.

这艘帆船的复制品仿照了James 和 Sarah Endicott 1895年首次抵达嘉定时所乘坐的注册帆船。他们从成都出发，沿岷江一路航行到嘉定。这艘复制帆船也与1927年初文幼章和文月华租用的帆船相似。当时，由于该地区广泛报道的反外暴力事件，西方传教士被迫撤离。

通过长江三峡的帆船旅行成为加拿大传教士传奇的一部分。这些经历通过书信记录下来，讲述了与强盗的惊险遭遇以及令人叹为观止的自然景观。技术高超的船员们尽全力避开危险的急流，而数百名纤夫通过纤绳把自己绑在一起，齐心协力，一次次艰难地拉着船逆流而行。

当逆流行舟，又没有风力助推而至航行艰难时，纤夫们会聆听川江号子，以协调节奏和步伐，共同发力。船歌于1912年由德国外交官 Max Friedrich 使用蜡筒记录了下来。