Fu Chuan (福船)

UPDATED AUGUST 17, 2025

Drawing of a Fu Chuan with full bamboo palisade, from 'Jing Guo Xiong Lue (《經國雄略》)'. Note its rolled, rather than folded, sails.

The Fu Chuan (福船, lit. 'Fujian ship'), also known as Bai Cao (白艚, lit. 'White junk'), was a class of Chinese sailing junk originating in Fujian. It was the most widely used and well-known of the "Four Great Ancient Ships" of China, and served as the mainstay of the Ming and Qing navies.

Fu Chuan as one of the "Four Great Ancient Ships of China"

A replica Fu Chuan, claimed to be 1:1 in scale, recently launched in Quanzhou. Its V-shaped prow is visible in this photo.

Fu Chuan was an oceangoing sailing ship that featured a S-shaped hull with both high sheer forward and high sheer aft, with a deck that gradually widen towards the stern, a flat prow with no visible stempost that appeared as either a V-shape or ℧-shape when viewed from the front, and a flat, often richly decorated stern. It typically had one or more rectangular junk sails, as well as a slender retractable unbalanced rudder. Unique to the ship type, some large, oceangoing Fu Chuan were designed with the capability to quickly swap out their primary rudder with a smaller secondary one in order to traverse shallow water, and many were also fitted with mountings for additional Yuloh sculling oars that also served as auxiliary rudders (although auxiliary rudders seem to fell out of use by mid-to-late Qing period).

Fu Chuan during Ming period

Replica Chinese junk "Fu Ning", built to commemorate Ming treasure voyages, probably resembles early Fu Chuan the most, although it lacks the stern overhang. 

Fu Chuan first emerged in the mid-Ming period, possibly as an evolution of earlier Song and Yuan era oceangoing sailing junk. Originally utilised as a fishing and merchant ship, as well as a patrol boat, Fu Chuan quickly rose in prominence as a warship at the onset of the Jia Jing Da Wo Kou (嘉靖大倭寇) period. Early Fu Chuan differed markedly in appearance from contemporary perceptions of the ship, featuring bamboo-mat sails rather than the sailcloth junk sails of later versions, and resembling classical Lou Chuan (楼船) more than an archetypal sailing junk.

Bambooclad warship

Fu Chuan was valued in warfare for its high availability, its large size giving it an advantage in naval ramming, and its tall profile, allowing for elevated firing platforms and advantageous boarding positions. Its most striking feature, however, was definitely the reinforced bamboo palisade called Zhu Pi (竹𦨭, lit. 'Bamboo bulwarks') lining its weather deck. Also known as Zhe Yang (遮洋, lit. 'Ocean cover') during Song and Yuan period, Zhu Pi was no flimsy fencing but sturdy palisade made of rows of tough bamboo poles and planking tightly nailed and lashed together with rattan cords, erected behind the ship's original bulwarks to provide additional shielding from strong waves and gunfire.

To better organise, categorise, and manage the growing Fu Chuan fleet during his anti-Wokou campaign, renowned Ming commander Qi Ji Guang (戚繼光) developed a standardised classification system, which divided Fu Chuan into five classes based on size (later expanded by others into six), described below:

Da Fu Chuan (大福船, lit. 'Great Fu Chuan')

Drawing of a Da Fu Chuan, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. Note its prominent three-storey aftercastle, as well as reinforced superstructure built on top the hull.

Mark 1 Fu Chuan and Mark 2 Fu Chuan were the largest classes of Fu Chuan, with Mark 1 being the largest and Mark 2 slightly smaller. They served the role of capital ships in a Ming war fleet.

A Fu Chuan had two decks and a large superstructure built on its main deck. The lowest level of Fu Chuan was its hold, used to store stones, bricks and roof tiles serving as ballast. Above the hold was the berth deck where accommodation for ship's crew was located. Above the berth deck was the main deck, which was almost entirely covered by an enclose superstructure that housed the galley (kitchen) and drinking water storage, and both sails and anchors were operated from here as well. The primary fighting platform of a Fu Chuan was the roof of its superstructure, which was heavily fortified by Zhu Pi or wooden battlement.

At Fu Chuan's stern, a three-storey tall aftercastle rose above the superstructure. The bridge of Fu Chuan was most likely located here, as this arrangement conferred many advantages such as placing the captain and the helmsman within shouting distance of each other, allowing the captain to have a full view of the entire ship thus making tight turns much easier, as well as sheltering the bridge from large waves washing over entire ship deck during adverse weather.

Cao Pie Chuan (草撇船, lit. 'Grass cushion ship')

Drawing of a Cao Pie Chuan, from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)'. The aftercastle of Cao Pie Chuan appears to be reduced to just one storey.

Mark 3 Cao Pie Chuan, later renamed Shao Chuan (哨船, lit. 'Sentry ship'), was a slightly downsized version of Fu Chuan likely originating in Zhangzhou. A highly versatile warship that performed equally well in direct combat, escort mission, and pursuit, Cao Pie Chuan was able to traverse shallower water than its larger cousins and retained mobility even with minimal winds due to its smaller size and lighter weight.

Hai Cang Chuan (海滄船, lit. 'Haicang Ship')

Drawing of a Hai Cang Chuan, from 'Deng Tang Bi Jiu (《登壇必究》)'. Note the lack of bamboo palisade around its superstructure.

Mark 4 Hai Cang Chuan, later renamed Dong Chuan (冬船, lit. 'Winter ship') or Dong Zai Chuan (冬仔船) was another downsized Fu Chuan likely originating in Haicang. It was nearly identical to Cao Pie Chuan but lacked Zhu Pi reinforcement.

Because of their similar size and role, Cao Pie Chuan and Hai Cang Chuan were sometimes treated interchangeably. By later period various upsized and up-armoured variants of Hai Cang Chuan also seem to supplanted Cao Pie Chuan entirely.

Kai Lang Chuan (開浪船)

Drawing of a Kai Lang Chuan, from 'San Cai Tu Hui (《三才圖會》)'.

Mark 5 Niao Chuan (lit. 'Bird ship') and Mark 6 Kuai Chuan (lit. 'Fast ship'), collectively known as Kai Lang Chuan, were the smallest of the Fu Chuan warships. They were easily distinguishable from larger Fu Chuan by their pointed prows, hybrid sail-and-oar propulsion (although oars were eventually phased out), and use of a single stern-mounted yuloh sculling oar. Niao Chuan and Kuai Chuan were too small to mount a protective superstructure like their larger cousins, making them relatively poor mainline combat vessels, although they excelled in harassing and scouting role due to superior speed and maneuverability. They were also used to collect enemy heads from floating dead bodies after battle.

Transition to broadside warship

For much of China's history, the principal Chinese warship design was the so-called "tower ship"—a warship whose primary fighting compartment consisted of a large and enclosed superstructure built atop its hull. The design offered excellent protection to ship's crew, fully leveraging on the superior projectile weapon and shipboard artillery (namely crossbow, trebuchet, and gunpowder bomb) used by the Chinese naval forces. Additionally, the ship's greater height also made it less vulnerable to boarding. 

Originally designed for riverine warfare during China’s Warring States period, tower ships were so successful that they remained in continuous use even after more seaworthy hull designs emerged and sails replaced oars as the primary means of propulsion. Ming period Fu Chuan was essentially the sixteenth century iteration of the classical tower ship and wouldn't look very different from contemporary tower ship-equivalents, such as Japanese atakebune (安宅船) and Korean panokseon (板屋船), save for the facts that it was smaller and more compact, lacked the banks of oars of the other two ships, and had a proper aftercastle in place of a mid-ship command tower. In fact, Fu Chuan was the direct inspiration that led to the creation of the panokseon, and may have influenced the development of Japanese warship as well.

Left: A classical yuloh-driven tower ship. Middle: A Fu Chuan circa 1540s, still retaining the tower ship design albeit switching to sail-only propulsion. Right: A Fu Chuan circa 1640s, now without towering superstructure. Ship images are taken from 'Wu Bei Zhi (《武備志》)' and 'Jing Guo Xiong Lue (《經國雄略》)', cleaned and merged together by myself.

Nevertheless, as Chinese shipbuilders began to mount more and heavier guns onto their warships, the primary weakness of the tower ship, namely, instability caused by high centre of gravity, became increasingly intolerable. Echoing similar developments in Europe, Chinese war junks also underwent significant revamps. Gone was the tall superstructure, and the primary fighting compartment was moved to the main deck, with some developing a full-fledged gun deck inspired by European practices. While it is difficult to pinpoint the exact date when the transition began (likely in the late 16th or early 17th century), the process certainly took off with resounding speed. By the early Qing period virtually all Chinese war junks had evolved into the familiar quintessential form, and tower ships all but disappeared.

Gan Zeng Chuan (趕繒船, lit. 'Chase-trawler ship')

Drawing of a Gan Zeng Chuan, from 'Min Sheng Shui Shi Ge Biao Zhen Xie Ying Zhan Shao Chuan Zhi Tu Shuo (《閩省水師各標鎮協營戰哨船只圖說》)'.

Originally a fishing ship, Gan Zeng Chuan was a key representative of a new generation of Fu Chuan that replaced older designs, coming into prominence in the final years of the Ming Dynasty and remaining in use well into Qing period. It was a two-masted Fu Chuan that carried heavier cannons like Fa Gong (發熕) on its single gun deck (which was also its weather deck), with several gun ports cut into its bulwarks. 

Replica Chinese junk "Princess Taiping", which unfortunately sank after a collision with a chemical tanker, was based on a Gan Zeng Chuan.

Although comparable in size to Mark 1 and Mark 2 Fu Chuan, Gan Zeng Chuan only served a role similar to a Cao Pie Chuan/Hai Cang Chuan, acting as a secondary mainline combat vessel, while the role of capital ship was held by the even larger Niao Chuan (鳥船).

Other blog posts in my Four Great Ancient Ships series:

Fu Chuan (福船)

Guang Chuan (廣船)

Sha Chuan (沙船)

Niao Chuan (鳥船)