【Cultural Allusions】Huaxia Chinese invented the world's first carriage

Xi Zhong, in the early years of China's Xia Dynasty, invented the world's first carriage.

Who invented the world's first carriage? According to historical records, the inventor of the carriage was Xi Zhong, who lived in the early years of the Xia Dynasty more than 4,000 years ago. The invention of the horse-drawn carriage is a major innovation in the history of Chinese science and technology, which not only solves the backward traffic problem, but also promotes the development of road facilities and expands the commercial transportation and cultural exchange activities.

Xi Zhong's car is an important part of China's traditional culture, which embodies the great contribution of the Chinese nation to human civilization in the long river of history. The emergence of the car has made it possible to "lead the weight to the far", which has greatly improved people's long-distance traffic conditions. In the Shang Dynasty, the carriage was applied to war on a large scale, which greatly improved the mobility of war, thereby accelerating the pace of national reunification.

Xi Zhong and others were revered as the "Three Saints" of the Heartland

In Pingyu, Henan Province, there is a Youhou Ancestral Hall, also known as the Three Holy Temples, commonly known as the Three Holy Temples in the townships, which are to commemorate Xi Zhong's father Panyu Zhaozhou, Xi Zhong's car, and Xi Zhong's son Ji Guang's horse training. Xi Zhong and others are revered as the "Three Saints" of the Beloved Land, and worship the gods of boats, cars and horses for many years.

According to the "Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Hai Nei", "Emperor Junsheng Yu Hu", "Yu Hu" is born of obscene Liang, and "Obscene Liang is born of Panyu", which is the beginning of the boat. Panyu Sheng Xi Zhong, Xi Zhong sheng Ji Guang, Ji Guang is the beginning of the wood as a car. Di Jun is Emperor Zhi's father, Emperor Zhao, who was born and able to speak, and gave himself a name called Jun. This passage tells us that Panyu is the sixth grandson of the Yellow Emperor and the great-grandson of Emperor Zhao, and should be called Emperor Zhi's grandfather.

Panyu was an expert in shipbuilding, and the Classic of Mountains and Seas once recorded that "Panyu began to make a boat", saying that Panyu, the great-grandson of the Yellow Emperor, first invented the ship. There were no boats at that time. The young man named Panyu and his friends were swimming in the river when they found a large tree trunk floating down from the upper reaches of the river, and thus got a revelation. Thinking that if a slot is dug in the trunk, man can sit safely inside, which is the prototype of the earliest ship, and he named it "boat". However, he discovered that the boats he had made could only drift down the water, and then invented the penny and oar. Later, people regarded Panyu as the grandfather of shipbuilding.

Xi Zhong, the son of Panyu, invented the car on the basis of the boat, that is, a tool that can run on land, and is fast and labor-saving. Xi Zhong built a car in Pingyu and was respected by posterity as the "originator of car building", and was the ancestor of the Xi surname, Ren surname and Xue surname. Xi Zhong was awarded the title of "Che Zheng" by Xia Wang Yu for his merits in car building, and the name of Pingyu also came from this. The Zuo Biography records that Xi Zhong served as a "Che Zheng" official in the Xia Dynasty (c. 21st century BC to 17th century BC). "Mozi", "Xunzi" and "Lü's Spring and Autumn" all record the history of Xi Zhong's car-making.

Xi Zhong's son, Ji Guang, assisted Xi Zhong in building a car. The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the Classic of Hai Nei records: "Xi Zhongsheng Jiguang, Jiguang was originally based on wood as a car. And the "Shiben" said: "Xi Zhong began to make a car." The Eastern Jin Dynasty Guo Pu annotated the Shiben and admitted that it was the joint credit of Xi Zhongjiguang's father and son. Later, Xu Shen identified in the book "Explanation of Words and Characters", "The car was built by Xi Zhong after the summer." ”

Xi Zhong invented the car

According to the literature, the war between the tribal fang states in the early summer was mainly carried out by vehicle warfare, and there were infantry under the vehicle. A chariot has four horse-drawn carriages, with three men on the cart, one on the left holding a horse, called the left side of the car; one on the right holding a spear, called the right side of the car; and the driver is in the center. The three men on the car are commonly called armored soldiers, and the infantry following under the car are called "step pawns". This is a general offensive chariot, in addition to a combat command vehicle, which is larger than the ordinary chariot and has more personnel. Such a vehicle cannot be the shape of the car that Xi Zhong invented at the beginning, but is likely to be a more advanced vehicle made from the needs of practice and reprocessing and improving.

What is the quality of the car created by Xi Zhong? The book "Pipe" gave a high evaluation: "Xi Zhongzhi is a car, the square circle is straight, and the hook and rope are in the rules, so the machine is compatible, the use is firm, and the instrument is strong." From these historical materials, it can be seen that the car invented by Xi Zhong has reached a very high level and has been promoted and applied in war and production and life.

It is said that after assisting his father in building a car, Yoshimitsu successfully tamed the wild horse and used it to pull the car, which greatly improved the speed of the car, and was named "Horse God" by King Dayu. Another says that Yoshimitsu was reborn as a horse after death and did not die. Therefore, Jiguang is also the name of the divine horse, also known as Tenghuang. The king of the four directions is to the end, and the life expectancy is three thousand years old. This horse does not die, and the idiom "flying yellow Tengda" is derived from this.

Jin Gehong's "Baopuzi to Customs" Yun: "Tenghuang Horse, Beast of Jiguang." According to the above documents, it was Ji Guang who tamed the yellow-maned horse "Tenghuang" to drive. "Rider", a general term for a cart of four horses. These tamed horses could understand Yoshimitsu's language. When calling, it is done, and when it stops, it is stopped, and people at that time called it "Divine Horse". At that time, the main tribute of the Zhiguo to the Xia Dynasty was the vehicle and the sacred horse "Tenghuang". Therefore, Yoshimitsu is not only a monarch of the country, but also a great inventor. In the future, the various vehicles made by the descendants of Yoshimitsu, in addition to paying tribute to the Xia Dynasty, were mostly purchased and used by the princes of various tribes, or given to each other as the most luxurious gifts, so "sincere" was also used as a "gift", and the different book was "贽".

The trial was initially successful

According to popular folklore, Xi Zhong was credited with assisting King Xia Yu in controlling the water, and King Xia Yu gave him the title of Zhi Zhi. After Xi Zhong arrived at Zhidi, he saw that the terrain was flat, the land was fertile, the forest was luxuriant, and it was very suitable for living and working, so he chose to settle down by a small stream. This creek is the Xiaoqing River that runs through Pingyu City today.

Xi Zhong led his people to cut down trees, build houses, reclaim land, and plant crops here, and the living environment was quickly improved. The clans live and work in peace and contentment, and they are happy and harmonious. But there are also many inconvenient times, and the biggest difficulty is the transportation problem. Everything has to be carried on the shoulders, and it is very difficult to carry it over long distances. There is no other way to transport some very bulky and large objects back from a distance than to use a roller crowbar to move them step by step.

Looking at the clansmen who often worked hard to carry things in sweat, Xi Zhong wondered, can we make a new object to carry things instead of people, so as to reduce the amount of people's labor? After careful observation, he found that people put things on rollers and move them, which is much less laborious than carrying. If you make an object and put something like a roller under it, will it save effort? With this in mind, he began his own experiment.

He first chose a thick tree and cut it into several pieces with a knife to make it a round wooden wheel. The middle of the round wheel is hollowed out, and a horizontal wood is worn on the hole of the two wheels, and the person pushes the wheel to try, and sure enough, the rotation is very light. In order to be able to put something in the middle of the two wheels, he installed a long log in the middle of the two wheels, so that it was crossed with the horizontal wood in the middle. He asked his son Yoshimitsu to hold Nagaki in front of him and place some objects in the middle of the cross himself. Ji Guang tried to push, and sure enough, it didn't take much effort to push Lao Yuan.

In this way, the world's first vehicle that moved forward by the rotation of two wheels was born. Xi Zhong named it Youyi.

The experiment was initially successful, and Xi Zhong was very happy. In order to put more things on it, he added some wooden planks at the intersection, so that the place was larger, and naturally more things could be put on it. His son Yoshimitsu also proposed adding a fence to the planks so that the things installed on them would not fall off due to the shaking of the car. The birth of two rounds of "public opinion" has greatly reduced the labor intensity of people.

However, the two rounds of "public opinion" have an obvious weakness, poor balance ability. The objects on it are slightly different in weight, and they will tilt and slide, and sometimes even hit people.

The "Taiping Car" was born

In order to solve this problem, Xi Zhong decided to make another major reform of the "public opinion", that is, to adjust the position of the wheel. He asked his son Yoshimitsu to make a rectangular carriage first, and the two wheels that were originally placed in the middle of the car were now placed in the front part of the car, and two wheels of the same size were added to the rear part. In this way, the four wheels landed, not only the balance problem was completely solved, but also the load capacity was greatly increased. Such a four-wheeled vehicle was born. Because of its lightness, flexibility, and durability, the four-wheeled car was loved by the world, and was later praised as the "Taiping Car".

After Xi Zhong reported to the imperial court because of his merits in building cars, The Xia King Dayu "Dragon Heart Dayue" immediately named him a "Che Zheng" official, and put him in charge of the manufacture, application and promotion of "public opinion". As a result, zhidi pingyu has become the birthplace of Chinese vehicles, and its name has been passed down from ancient to modern times.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, after Lu Ban invented the saw, the process of making cars became more perfect. The load capacity is one or two thousand pounds, and it can travel thirty miles a day on sunny days. It is famous for its lightness, flexibility, ruggedness and durability. Nations, far and near, carry heavy sums of money to buy, and the supply outstrips demand.

There is a chezhuang in the south of pingyu east bali guandao, which is said to be the exhibition place of cheyu at that time. Merchants come, first visit the car village, which style of the photo, how many cars are needed, sign the contract, leave a deposit, and then build as usual, expire the shipment, and the package merchants are satisfied.

In order to remember the inventions and creations of Xi Zhong's three generations of ancestors, the ancient people of Pingyu built the Youhou Ancestral Hall on the site and enshrined them as the gods of boats, cars and horses, and worshiped them for many years. According to people familiar with the matter, the location of the knitting factory of the former Pingyu County Second Industrial Bureau is the site of the Youhou Ancestral Hall.