A Historical Study On A Modern Paddle Steamer In Heng County Of Guangxi

The modern paddle steamer was found in the Yujiang River of Heng county in 2008.At present,it is the only remains of modern paddle steamer which discovered in Guangxi.It is also pretty rare all over the country.Paddle steamer originated from the late 18 th to early 19 th centuries,which is an important product of the first industrial revolution.With the commercial and colonial activities of Western powers around the world,it began to appear in China in the period of Daoguang in the late Qing Dynasty.It gradually developed in the shipping around China after two opium wars.It is considered as a very important technological product in modern Chinese history.Adopting the methods of documentation,this paper makes a thorough study,combining with the information conveyed by the existing parts of the ship.First of all,the study analyzes the paddle steamer,describing the existing parts of the ship,fully exploring the related information of it,making a preliminary judgment of the function of the ship from the technical point of view and doing a research work on the historical and geographical environment of the location.Secondly,through the research of historical literature,this paper presens the development of steam shipping in Yujiang River of Guangxi,and restores the historical background of the the paddle steamer.The research studies the paddle steamer under the historical background.Finally,based on the research on the ship itself and the historical background of the ship,the casting age,casting technology,hull structure,historical function orientation and cause of sinking of the paddle steamer are analyzed and studied.The paddle steamer is a new type of ship that appeared in the Yujiang in modern times,it is sailing in the inland river.The ship sailing in Yujiang River about in the late Qing Dynasty around 1900 to the early Republic of China between twenty or thirty years.It is Found in the upper of Yujiang near Nanning,this discovery is important for the study to the region’s modern history.