ABSTRACT
The Han Chinese have been boat and seafaring people from time immemorial—archaeological records reveal that Chinese began building rafts and dugouts approximately 7,000 years ago. They are credited with having established one of the first organized navies about 2,500 years ago during the Spring and Autumn period. Ancient Chinese fleets were large and well organized, with flagship called yuhuang surrounded by a wide variety of secondary craft, including dayi—a 100-foot warship that could hold almost 50 men—xiandeng—smaller maneuverable boats—and then the mengchong—an ancient armored battleship that used treated oxhide for armor. Finally, louchuan, or castle-boats, were the capital ship equivalents of the Qin and Han dynasty navies; one early recorded battle included some 2,000 louchuan and 200,000 men. Clearly, naval organization has deep roots in China.
