Chinese junks were sailing ships that had sails made of woven matting. Some of them were very big, and had five or more masts.
Chinese junks sailed as far as Arabia, East Africa and Indonesia. Though they increased the trade to China, the Chinese did not set up any trading posts in other countries like the Europeans did.
Chinese junks were also used by pirates, and the sight of one used to strike fear into the hearts of sailors in merchant ships in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean.
If you wonder how they came to be called “junks”, the English name comes from Malay word “gong” or “jong”…which later became “junk”!
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