Archaeology of East Asian Shipbuilding

North American Society for Oceanic History John Lyman Book Award in Naval and Maritime Reference Works and Published Primary Sources - Honorable Mention

“The most comprehensive technical inventory of East Asian shipbuilding and shipwrecks available to date, this detailed analysis refines our understanding of East Asia ship construction.”—Hans Konrad Van Tilburg, author of Chinese Junks on the Pacific: Views from a Different Deck

“Based on original language sources and the remains of numerous wrecked Asian ships from sites dating back hundreds of years, this definitive volume substantially revises our understanding and appreciation of Asian seafaring.”—James P. Delgado, author of Khubilai Khan’s Lost Fleet: In Search of a Legendary Armada

In this innovative study, Jun Kimura integrates historical data with archaeological findings to examine a wide array of eleventh- through nineteenth-century ships from China, Korea, and Japan. Chinese junks and Japanese sailing ships were known throughout the world, and this work illustrates why their innovative designs have survived the centuries.

Kimura presents an extensive dataset of excavated coastal and oceangoing ships that traveled the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. Three detailed case studies include the Shinan and Quanzhou wrecks and the Takashima underwater site. Using travel documents, cargo manifests, iconographic paintings, and other descriptive resources, as well as the archaeological evidence of hull components, wooden timbers, and iron remains, Kimura sheds new light on East Asian shipbuilding traditions.