New Chinese junk replica may be built for another voyage

When the Chinese sailing junk replica, Princess Taiping, sank off the northeastern Taiwan fishing port of Suao on April 26, it didn’t spell the end of a journey for a group of adventurers.

Had it not been for the accident, the 54-foot Princess Taiping could have completed a cross-Pacific voyage that would have set a record as the first by a Ming Dynasty sailing junk replica without mechanical power.

Princess Taiping’s crew of Taiwanese, Chinese and Americans may build another Chinese junk replica to show that Chinese seafarers in their engine-less vessels may have reached America before Europeans.

Publicists say the captain is planning to build a new boat after details of the accident are settled.

The black and red Chinese junk replica was supposed to be displayed in a museum in Taiwan but it rammed into a foreign freighter on April 26 before reaching the port and just before completing a rare roundtrip journey to the United States.

Named after a Dynasty princess, the junk replica set sail from Hong Kong in June 2008 and reached the United States in 69 days. For 10 months, it made port calls in Honolulu, Hawaii; San Francisco, California; Saipan, CNMI; and Osaka, Japan.

Princess Taiping arrived on Saipan on March 22 from Honolulu, Hawaii, and left on March 30 for Okinawa, Japan.

From Japan, they sailed to Taiwan. However, just when they were about to reach their target Taiwan port, their junk collided with an unknown freighter, on April 26. It was the last leg of Princess Taiping’s return journey across the Pacific from the United States.

All 11 crew members were rescued after the accident which occurred 46 miles east of their final port in Taiwan. Two of the crew members had serious injuries to the head and neck, while the others received treatment in two military hospitals in Taipei City for hypothermia.

The voyage project, initiated by Taiwan hobbyist and junk captain Liu Ning-sheng in 2004, was meant to show that Chinese people might have sailed to the Americas hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus reached the New World.

Some historians believe the Chinese discovered America, as artifacts, anchors and other gear from China are said to have been found scattered on the U.S. Pacific coast.

Princess Taiping’s voyage to America and back was described on the vessel’s Web site as one of “cultural renaissance combining culture, exploration, sports, and creativity,” demonstrating that ancient Chinese ships could cross the Pacific Ocean.

Princess Taiping is the first replica sailing junk in Chinese society. The difference between a replica ship and a rebuilt ship is that the rebuilt one only imitates the appearance of the ancient ship and its building method and craftsmanship are modern and do not use the ancient methods.

The vessel’s website said the rebuilt ship is mostly used for tourism, but the replica ship possesses both appearance and spirit of the ancient ship. “Its structures and craftsmanship are all followed the means and methods from the ancient times,” it said. [B][I](Saipan Tribune)[/I][/B]