China: A fishing junk on a river in Jiangsu, 1946.

A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing vessel design still in use today. Junks were developed during the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) and were used as sea-going vessels as early as the 2nd century AD. They evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages. They were found, and in lesser numbers are still found, throughout South-East Asia and India, but primarily in China, perhaps most famously in Hong Kong. The etymology is somewhat obscure - Phonetic, from Chinese 'boat' (pinyin: chuan), also based on and pronounced as joong in Min Nan dialect. It entered English in the 17th century via Portuguese junco, from Malay jong.

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