Master shipbuilder Chen Fangcai

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• published: 11 May 2016
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Quanzhou is adjacent to the sea. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the Port of Quanzhou was considered "the largest oriental port"; also, It was one of the starting points of the Maritime Silk Road in China. At the time, the wooden ships made in Quanzhou were in great demand from both merchants and even diplomats from various countries - because of how safe they were. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) 50 years ago, his family's poor financial conditions meant a 14 year old Chen Fangcai had to find a job. He started working in the shipyard as an apprentice. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) By his 20s, Chen was in charge of dozens of workers. People much older than him, were being led by a man barely out of his teens - a typical example of the 'work hard to win' spirit that people in Southern Fujian are known for. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) With a can-do attitude and the ability to learn quickly, he attracted the attention of a man who was in his eighties. Chen was taken to this man's house. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) The copy that took Chen a week to read, was the ancient manuscript on shipbuilding techniques - wooden ships to be precise. And little did he know that this ancient document would later change his life. In 2007, a Taiwanese man was planning to build an unpowered wooden sailboat similar to the ones that existed during the Ming Dynasty. The man was Nelson Liu, aiming to sail across the Pacific Ocean. After a lot of research, consulting counting experts, he finally came to Chen. But as much as he loves building ships, Chen turned down the request. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) But Chen Fangcai was eventually convinced by Nelson Liu's sincerity, and after collaborating with other master shipbuilders, he built the "Princess Taiping". In 2008, "Princess Taiping", an archaic unpowered wooden sailboat, set sail from Hong Kong and arrived in the American Continent successfully. Yet, on its return trip in the following year, the boat was split into two parts by a foreign merchant ship 30 nautical miles off the coast of Taiwan. It was just one step short of a transpacific success. Nevertheless, Chen Fangcai himself takes it as his pride. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) "I'm more serious about it than others. What I stress on is not money but quality! When I built the boat, I chose the camphorwood and quality nails. So when we knocked in the nails, the wood wouldn't crack. The nails can't be pulled out and the boat won't come apart completely." Another important thing that kept "Princess Taiping" from sinking was the fact that Chen had used a water-tight bulkhead technology – another one of the shipbuilding techniques that dates back to ancient times. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) "It has been over 1,000 years since the water-tight bulkhead was invented. It has been put into application for over 1000 years in China but abroad it's just been used for a bit more than 700 years." In Chen Fangcai's Workshop, most of the people are either elderly or middle-aged. But they all share a great love for traditional shipbuilding. Give up their free time doing it, without considering the rewards. But the art is under threat of extinction. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) "Three or four masters have eye problems and can't go on with shipbuilding because of it. I'm truly afraid that this art will be lost. All of it will be lost basically because young shipbuilders haven't learned all of it. They haven't mastered the real skills but they tend to believe that already know everything they need to. When in reality, they have actually just mastered about 30 percent to 50 percent. They haven't mastered so much." Apart from the Princess Taiping, Chen Fangcai has built a number of wooden boats based on the various ships that sailed across the Maritime Silk Road once. But despite his age, his dream is build a boat that's even better than the ones that were used during the Age of Exploration. Chen Fangcai, Shipbuilder (Mandarin) "I plan to rebuild the 'Zheng He Treasure Boat', the one Zheng He took when he sailed down the western seas. It's is over 130 meters long. Nobody knows the five methods of shipbuilding which I have seen on the manuscript. But those methods can help build this boat. I will finish rebuilding it even if it has to be 150 meters long. It is my biggest wish. To build it and see it holds its shape when being launched. And I will fulfill this task in my lifetime."