Hong tou chuan, the red-bowed ship
The great sailing ship that left Zhanglin in the Qing, its bow painted red; most of those who went to the south seas went aboard one.
Pronunciation hóng tóu chuán｜Dialect and emigration｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
Red bow says what it is: the bow painted red. In the Qing the seagoing junks of Guangdong were required to carry a red bow, which told them apart at a glance from ships of other provinces, and the name stuck.
Three masts, a wooden hull, deep in the water, running south with the monsoon. A ship carried goods and a shipload of people going across. Name and owner were painted on the hull. One ship was often bought in shares by several households, cargo space and passage both divided up, and who was sailing and who was sending goods was agreed beforehand.
When you see it
In the years when Zhanglin was at its busiest. A replica stands by the harbour today, bow red and three masts raised, as a marker of that route.
Words easily confused
The ship is the ship, Zhanglin the port, guo fan the crossing; it takes all three to make the thing called going down to the south seas.
Read next: Zhanglin port: where the red-bowed ships sailed from.
Same group: Zhanglin port, going across the sea, fan ke, the returned emigrant.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026