Mother's returning on a vessel; a Chinese one (6)
I believe the answer is:
sampan
'a chinese one' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how they can define each other.
'mother's returning on a vessel' is the wordplay.
'mother's' becomes 'ma's' (ma can mean mother).
'returning' is a reversal indicator.
'on' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a vessel' becomes 'pan' (vessel or container for cooking).
'mas' reversed gives 'sam'.
'sam'+'pan'='SAMPAN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sampan that I've seen before include "Small 10 boat" , "Small Chinese flat-bottomed boat" , "Flat-bottomed Chinese skiff" , "Small oriental rowing boat" , "Small Asian rowing boat" .)