Shipwreck Databases Western Australian Museum

Report on a visit to China

Author/s J.N. Green, P. Clark and K. Millar

Year of publication 1993

Report Number: 67

PURPOSE OF VISIT / RESEARCH TOPIC.
On this short visit our intention is to establish contact with scholars in our area of interest and renew interaction with colleagues we have previously had contact with. Having conducted research work in China in the past, this research team recognises the need for a visit of this nature to facilitate the proposed research. Therefore we do not anticipate that the research topics listed below will be completed on this visit, but rather that firm arrangements will be made to conduct this research on a collaborative basis with the relevant institutions and administrative organisations. The research topics referred to are:

  • To attempt to identify all the major ship types within the region and to investigate the technological variation of these types;
  • To investigate the significance of economic, physical, cultural and social factors in the development of the different types of vessels and the reasons for the technological changes that have occurred;
  • To produce a predictive model of the development of shipbuilding and maritime technology and to test this against existing historical records;
  • To investigate the influence that both Asiatic and European shipbuilding traditions had on each other and attempt to interpret these findings.