STUDIES ON CONSTRUCTION AND ESTABLISHMENT OF NEWCHWANG LIGHTSHIP

摘要

Peoples in China and abroad had noticed the difficulty of navigating without coastal aids to navigation and tried to setup new style lighthouses and lightships for navigation before the construction of the coastal light system in Tongzhi reign of Qing dynasty. For example, Tungsha Lightship was established in the entrance of the Yangtze River in 1855 to mark the Tungsha Spit for ships; it was thus the first modern coastal light to be established in Chinese waters. However, navigation was limited by the duration of the light and the light candle-power because there were no unified organization and no adequate devices. Given the background, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Qing dynasty approved Robert Hart's application and set up the Marine Department of Customs in 1868, led by Robert Hart, which was responsible for the establishment and maintenance of lighthouses, lightships, buoys and beacons; the costs were covered by a shipping tax. From then on, the coastal lights of modern China were gradually established and improved for navigation, including lighthouses, lightships, buoys and beacons, etc. Up to 1930s, the total number of coastal lights in China reached 2,000, similar to that of developed countries in Europe and America.