Pre-Qin chariots
Means of transportation is the comprehensive embodiment of all aspects of a country, a region and even an era, and a comprehensive derivation of the overall military, economic, scientific and technological and even social status. But in ancient society, the level of social material and productivity was relatively low, and the mode of travel and transportation that people could choose at that time was relatively limited and slow, and then with the gradual development of the feudal system, all aspects of social life were covered with "feudal" class ideas, even the carriages and horses on the means of transportation were no exception.
The ancients had many means of transportation - riding horses and taking boats
1. Livestock means of transportation represented by horses
The most primitive means of transportation for human beings are animals represented by horses, in addition to horses, there are also cattle, donkeys, mules and so on. It is precisely because of the domestication of these animals with practical productive utilities that humans began to expand their living scope and activity space. At the end of the twentieth century, many experts and scholars around the world participated in the "Greatest Invention of Mankind" activity, and many people voted for hay, that is, livestock feed. The reason is that the invention of this hay feed has freed human beings from the shackles of nature for animal power, and can expand activities in different regions for a long time, expanding the living space of human beings, and enabling more means of production to be discovered and used.
2. Animal-powered vehicles born of wheels
The application of cars in China's history is very early, as early as the Yellow Emperor's great war, there is a legend that the Yellow Emperor made a guide car. In fact, the appearance of the car is inseparable from the invention of the wheel, which was found in the Neolithic Hemudu site. When the ancients needed to transport supplies, they gradually found that the efficiency of relying only on human or animal power was very low, so they looked for alternatives. The application of wheels to transportation can greatly improve the efficiency of transportation.
Ruins of Hemudu
Vehicles with animal power as power first appeared in the Shang Dynasty, when cattle were commonly used to pull cars. Until the pre-Qin period, horse-drawn carriages appeared, but they were mainly used for military purposes, called "multiplication", and the sound was the same as that. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the armies of the nations were organized according to the multiplication when fighting, and one chariot had a driver, two people with weapons on the left and right, and seventy-two infantry soldiers fighting with the vehicle. That is to say, the number of soldiers in a "multiplier" is seventy-five, the country of a thousand multipliers represents an army of seventy-five thousand, and the country of ten thousand multipliers is seven hundred and fifty thousand troops.
3, early taxi - palanquin
Palanquins are a special product of Our culture and have influenced regions such as East and Southeast Asia. The earliest palanquin found so far is the Xia Dynasty period. Although China's palanquins and Western public opinion rely on human beings to carry and walk, Chinese palanquins have obviously possessed the characteristics of some houses, unlike the West, which is just a chair with an additional handle. The earliest palanquin is used when women travel, to the Ming Dynasty when four people carry and four people carry more than the palanquin gradually became one of the standards for officials to travel, ordinary people can only use it when the red and white celebrations, but the small car carried by two people has developed into a certain scale, similar to today's taxis, which can be leased and used at any time.
4. North Malaysia South Ship
The ancients have long summarized the characteristics of China's means of transportation, that is, "south ship and north horse", which means that the north relies on animal power to take land transportation, while the south uses more ships because of the developed water system and many mountains and rivers. Not only in China, in all parts of the world ship are widely used, but also in Western countries for the application of ships is more popular and practical.
Boat mooring
But it is not that China's shipbuilding industry does not have bright spots. In the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, due to the influence of marine trade, military and other factors, China's ship design and manufacturing was once in a leading position in the world. Large ships made in Hongzhou in the Tang Dynasty are said to have been unable to enter the Persian Gulf, because the rapid currents in the Persian Gulf at that time were not conducive to the navigation of large ships. During the Song Dynasty, trade with the South And Western Oceans was very frequent, and various types of warships and merchant ships appeared in an endless stream. At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the "treasure ships" used by Zheng He to go to the West were even more famous, larger than the largest ships of the Spanish "Armada" at that time, and a fleet was equivalent to the military strength of a small country in the South China Sea.
The Son of Heaven is different from the common people's "sitting on the shelf"
At least since the Zhou Dynasty, transportation has become a status symbol. The Zhou Dynasty imposed strict restrictions on the carriages that people of all ranks, such as Tianzi, princes, and shiqing, could ride in double carriages, and the rest gradually reduced the number of horses according to their rank. The idiom "horse is difficult to chase" is taken from the meaning of the carriage speeding, and the horse is the cart pulled by four horses, and the double horse is the carriage of eight horses.
During the Unification of the Qin Dynasty, the transportation was also managed and regulated, and the "book is the same text, the car is on the same track, and the line is the same" as the criterion, so that people spontaneously accepted the concept of unification. When Qin Shi Huang went out on tour, he had to prepare several identical imperial horses every time to prevent someone from assassinating him until his specific location. At the beginning of the establishment of the Han Dynasty, due to the severe social and economic damage, horse-drawn carriages had become quite luxurious items, and Gaozu Liu Bang could not achieve the same color of eight horses when he traveled, and many officials could only ride on ox carts.
Emperor Qin Shi Huang
During the Two Jin Dynasties and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, horses gradually fell out of favor, and at that time, the mentality of the warriors was serious, whether it was riding a horse or riding a carriage was an unfashionable performance, and because there were too many coups and wars at that time, the horse even became a symbol of the disaster of blood and light. At this time, the public opinion picked by people began to be popular, because of its comfort and stability and other advantages were accepted by many high society, the Tang Dynasty in the imperial palace has been popular this means of transport, but also for the palanquin eventually become the mainstream means of transport laid the foundation.
From the Northern Song Dynasty onwards, palanquins became the standard for high-level figures such as the official field to travel, and until the end of the Qing Dynasty, it was the main mode of travel for officials. What "carried forward" the culture of the palanquin was during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a strict hierarchy was set up, and the official positions were divided into thirteen levels, the smallest official rank was two simas, responsible for commanding twenty-five people, and traveling in a palanquin carried by four people. Hong Xiuquan himself basically did not go out in the palace, but he also had a palanquin carried by sixty-four people.
The "palace caravan" of human mobility
In the long history of the river, there are not only military vehicles, but also cars and boats used by the general public, but also many unique means of transportation. The emergence of these means of transport is not based on transportation or convenience as the first purpose, most of them are invented and designed to highlight their own distinguished status, that is, to show off wealth or show status.
1, the typical "caravan": a mobile residential palanquin
Zhang Juzheng, the first assistant of the Ming Wanli Dynasty, because of his lofty status and great power, with the support of the empress dowager Li Shi and the grand eunuch Feng Bao, and the support of Generals such as Qi Jiguang, it can be said that he was already the actual ruler at that time when the Wanli Emperor was a minor. With Zhang Juzheng's identity and status, he naturally does not pay attention to ordinary regulations. Although the Ming Dynasty had strict standards for officials to travel, that is, in Beijing, the minister could only take a palanquin carried by four people, and when leaving Beijing, he could only take a palanquin carried by eight people, the so-called "eight-carrying palanquin". The palanquin used by Zhang Juzheng at that time clearly exceeded this standard, because this palanquin required thirty-two people to carry.
This palanquin carried by thirty-two people was specially made by the ZhendingFu at that time, and according to today's calculations, it is definitely not less than fifty square meters of buildings. There are two rooms, a study and a bedroom, for office and living needs, and a separate bathroom. There are also railing corridors around the palanquins, where you can enjoy the scenery during the trip. Along with Zhang Juzheng, there are also two small squatters, who are specially responsible for taking care of Zhang Juzheng's daily life. It's a complete apartment.
The first assistant Zhang Juzheng
2. The ultra-luxurious palanquin of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
The peak period of chinese palanquins occurred in the late Qing Dynasty, specifically the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom period. If Zhang Juzheng's thirty-two people carrying a palanquin is said to be an "apartment", then Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing's sixty-four people carrying a large car and forty-eight people carrying a large car can be said to be a "villa" level. It is no longer enough to use a "caravan" to describe it, it should be called a "fort car".
The fort car is both a small, mobile castle. Hong and Yang were the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and in the early days one was responsible for religious administration and the other was responsible for specific military and political affairs. After the creation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, especially after the occupation of Nanjing and the conversion of it into Tianjing, it formulated strict rules for riding palanquins. The lowest-ranking officials were carried by four people, and the higher the status, the greater the number of people carrying the palanquin. The highest were Hong Xiuquan's sixty-four people carrying and Yang Xiuqing's forty-eight people carrying.
Their palanquin is divided into two floors, Zhang Juzheng's palanquin has all the layout and application facilities, the upper floor is mainly used for life, and the lower floor is used for office and receiving subordinates. What's more, the interior of their palanquin also had the most advanced temperature control system at the time: a water temperature system composed of numerous glass cabinets. These glass cabinets can not only reduce the indoor temperature in the hot south, but also raise goldfish for hong and yang to watch in their leisure time.
3. The Sui Dynasty Emperor's "Xing Palace" and "Xing Palace"
If we talk about great achievements, I am afraid that it is difficult to have a figure in Chinese history who can compete with the Sui Emperor. The previously mentioned means of transport are still on the palanquin, and the Sui Emperor directly asked his subordinate Yu Wenkai to design a palace and a city that can be moved, and named it "Xingdian", "Xingcheng", "Xinggong", that is, a palace and a city that can move freely.
The hall is smaller than the Golden Ruan Treasure Hall, but it can also accommodate hundreds of people at the same time. The shape is completely imitated by the Golden Ruan Hall, and it can even be ascended to the far horizon. There are many axles in the palace, which can also be split into several parts, which is very convenient to run. When the Sui Emperor went on tour or received foreign envoys, he often chose to go to the temple, and many people and Hu people outside the territory were amazed when they saw it, thinking that the divine work could not be produced in the human world.
Xingcheng is even more massive. The appearance imitates the shape of a walled city, but it can be moved. The whole city is one hundred and twenty steps square, and it is four feet tall and two feet high. Two gates were set up, and the four corners were expected to be enemy towers. There are removable axle wheels at the bottom of the city, which can be disassembled to form a fence when stopped. There are also multiple mechanisms in the city, such as iron tribulus, crossbow beds, etc., and there are alarm devices composed of silk threads and bells around the city wall, which emit sound warnings once touched.
Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan
summary
China's ancient means of transportation is not only a tool needed for military and production, but also a symbol of social status and status more often. However, many people have hollowed out their minds to come up with strange and ingenious means of transportation, such as large palanquins, halls, and cities, which not only have no practical benefits for themselves, but also harm themselves, and even have the disaster of national destruction. Zhang Juzheng was impeached for carrying a palanquin carried by thirty-two people, and was politically liquidated after his death. The Sui Dynasty Emperor and Hong Xiuquan were even more corrupt and degenerate because of their own corruption and eventually the country was destroyed. It can be called a lesson for those who show off their wealth and are not benevolent in the past and the present.
Resources
1. Sima Law
2. "Etiquette"
3. "Kan Youlu"
4. "Fang Ji Zhuan"