Ship model of a Chinese junk (Ningbo) - mud sledge, ‘nimochuan’
Description
Ship model of a ‘nimochuan’ or mud sledge, used by fishermen. The fisherman kneeled with one foot on the sledge and his hands on the horizontal, backward-slanting rack, while pushing the sledge over the mudbanks with his other foot. The invention of the mud sledge is attributed to the Emperor Yu (2205 B.C.). During the Qing dynasty it was even used by the inhabitants of the Bay of Hangzhou to fight pirates who had stranded on the mudbanks. Under normal conditions it was also used when fishing for a kind of shellfish, called ‘nilo’, which was considered a delicacy. Such mud sledges are not only found in the vicinity of Shanghai but also on all shallow lakes in China. On Lake Dongting they were used for duck hunting.
Model built of three planks and a transverse bulkhead, steep narrowing swim head, open at the rear. Amidships a backward-slanting rack. Behind it a (wooden) knee-pad (bundle of reed?). At the open rear a small tray with (wooden) pad.
