Sampan Family (1949)

[Music] oh chinese harbors are the busiest harbors in the world unlike goli line the piers a chinese port like shanghai is a beehive of thousands of small boats from river sandpans to ocean-going junks and steamers what is the reason for so many boats let us imagine that we are in a plane coming from the united states and that we can see clearer china china's back door lies the highest mountain range in the world the himalayas here is the chief source of china's many rivers there are few railroads and practically no highways in this large country and rivers must provide the avenues of transportation to the interior in a province like phuket fur and its boats are sampans which keep the people in touch with the outside world the little sandpans penetrate deep into the heart of the province carrying needed supplies inland bringing out produce such as food and lumber to the cities an almost impassable waterway sometimes the river sailors must haul their boats for miles when the channel becomes too shallow or too rocky [Music] oh the trip river is an arduous one but the little sandpans are slow and sure [Music] owes its continued life to the riverboat sailors and their small vessels [Music] the harbor is crowded with boats of all kinds sam pans and junks of every size and shape each one doing a job of its own there are cotton boats pig boats and ice boats and sand pans that specialize in carrying hay or straw there are boats which collect garbage and sewage rescue boats and sea going taxi cabs and buses which take working people to their jobs rush hours are as crowded as a subway some sampans specialize in carrying coffins to ancestral bearing grounds up the river still others take a bride to meet her bridegroom some help to unload the big liners from far away here in the harbor not on land is the heartbeat of fucha sampans have still another important use they provide rent-free homes for families they are very crowded homes by our standards but the chinese like most asiatic peoples seem to have a genius for adapting themselves to uncomfortable living conditions a tiny deck can become a sewing room at least when it's not in use for catching fish even ducks and geese know how to thrive in cramped living quarters and it doesn't seem to impair their appetite crowded as a sandpan may be there's still room for a small flower garden sandpans provide a family with more than a home as fishing vessels they offer a way of getting food fish is the essential item in a sampan family's diet like all chinese these people believe in cleanliness many families are christian this one happens to be catholic this is ling fong ta the father of the family mr ling's only skill is fishing the harbor fishing grounds are not productive but he catches enough for food with a few left over to sell most of his small earnings go to buy cloth for clothes mrs ling is tailor and dressmaker for the whole family it's time now to move to the fishing grounds and begin the day's work a sampan requires a skill with the oars quite different from that used in a row boat the rower stands at the opposite side of the boat for greater leverage the whole family joins in the rowing even mother in the children children get their sea legs early and they rarely fall overboard strapped to their mother's backs they learn the rhythm of the or even before they learn to walk by the age of five they take hold of the ore themselves family lives and works together not just sometimes but all the time 24 hours a day [Music] fishing at pagoda anchorage is not exciting by a sportsman standards the fishing grounds are almost exhausted and the fish themselves are pathetically small mr ling averages three to six sailable fish a day the very smallest are kept as food for the family [Music] while mr ling fishes lunch is being [Music] prepared [Music] [Music] one by [Music] the family's diet may be monotonous but it's well balanced greens are nearly always included luck is with mr ling today here's a fish that is big enough to be sold the money will go toward buying material for clothing or food staples like rice [Music] in southern china rice is an essential part of almost every meal [Music] just before lunch is ready another fish is brought up in the net [Music] the same menu day after day seems to have no bad effect on the family's appetite they eat their fish rice and greens with as much gusto as an american family tackling a thanksgiving turkey [Music] oh [Music] in the afternoon when the day's fishing is done the nets are spread to for dry one now the family will begin the long haul home home for the sam pan is the secluded spot up river where it always anchors for the night secure from possible storms and bad weather [Music] on the way home they meet a cormorant fisherman and his birds this provides as much entertainment for the children as an afternoon at the movies does for american youngsters these birds are called cormorants and they have been taught to do the fishing for their master they begin their training when they are only little chicks the children are fascinated as the performance begins the birds in spite of their training always need coaxing they know they won't be able to eat the fish they catch because the collars they wear around their necks will make it impossible for them to swallow and so at first they are unwilling to start but soon their natural instinct to fish gets the better of them and they go to work [Music] is [Music] uh [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] foreign cormorant fishermen catch many more fish than the net fishermen do and by comparison they are quite prosperous for the ling family the day has been an uneventful one exactly the same as countless others like all sampan families they have no idea of what it's like to live on land or own it the water is their home and it will be their home till the day they die the next morning the sun will rise again over the sheltered part of the river where the sam pan rests for the night [Music] the ling family will wake up again and they're floating home glad that the sun is shining hopeful that the day's fishing will be good [Music] and once more they will set about their work [Music] down river in the harbor a new day is beginning too and the sam sandpans are already hard at work the big liners must be loaded and unloaded foodstuffs and materials passengers and livestock must be transported to fuchsia and beyond as late as 1933 there were only four footpaths linking fuchow with the interior even today the main burden of transportation rests on the humble sam pad and on the sturdy hard-working sampan people without them china could not long [Music] survive i know