View source for Louchuan

{{Short description|Type of Chinese naval vessel}}
{{onesource|date=January 2008}}
[[File:Songrivership3.jpg|thumb|A Song dynasty louchuan with a trebuchet, depicted in the ''[[Wujing Zongyao]]'']]

'''Louchuan''' ({{zh|first=t|t=樓船|s=楼船|p=lóuchuán|l=tower ships}}) were a type of Chinese naval vessels, primarily a floating fortress, which have seen use since the [[Han dynasty]]. Meant to be a central vessel in the fleet, the louchuan was equipped for boarding and attacking enemy vessels, as well as with siege weapons including [[Trebuchet#Traction trebuchet|traction trebuchet]]s for ranged combat.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 685">Needham, Joseph (translated by), ''Taibai Yinjing'', Volume 4, Part 2, pg. 685.</ref>

==Description==
Historical records relating to the '' louchuan '' are found in sources such as the  military treatise ''[[Wujing Zongyao]]'', written during the [[Song dynasty]], and the ''Taibai Yinjing'' from the [[Tang dynasty]]. From the latter (as translated by British biochemist, sinologist, and historian [[Joseph Needham]]), the tower ships were described as:

{{Quotation|Tower ships (lou chuan); these ships have three decks equipped with bulwarks for the fighting lines, and flags and pennants flying from the [[Mast (sailing)|mast]]s. There are [[porthole|ports and openings]] for [[crossbow]]s and [[lance]]s [and at the sides there is provided [[felt]] [[leather]] to protect against fire], while (on the [[Forecastle|topmost deck]]) there are [[trebuchet]]s for hurling stones, set up (in appropriate places). And there are also (arrangements for making) [[melting|molten iron]] (for throwing in containers from these catapults). (The whole broadside) gives the appearance of a city wall. In the [[Jin Dynasty (265-420)|Jin period]] the Prancing-Dragon Admiral, [[Wang Jun (Jin dynasty)|Wang Jun]], invading [[Eastern Wu|Wu]], built a great ship 200 paces (1000 ft.) in length, and on it set flying rafters and hanging galleries on which chariots and horses could go. But if [all of a sudden] a violent wind is encountered, (such ships are likely to) get out of human control, so they were judged inconvenient in practice [for warlike action]. But the fleet cannot fail to be furnished with such ships, in order that its overawing might may be perfected.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 685">Needham, Joseph (translated by), ''Taibai Yinjing'', Volume 4, Part 2, pg. 685.</ref>|}}

The use of such ships in riverine warfare, especially along the [[Yangtze River]], stretches back to the late Han dynasty, and perhaps even earlier.

==See also==
*[[Naval history of China]]
*[[Battle of Lake Poyang]]

==References==
{{reflist}}


[[Category:Chinese inventions]]
[[Category:Military history of the Han dynasty]]
[[Category:Naval ships of China]]

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