Why did Zhuge Liang die, and the wooden ox and flowing horse he invented was no longer used? What did the archaeologists say?
In the Biography of Zu Chongzhi in the South History, Zu Chongzhi once saw a wooden ox and a flowing horse: "Zhuge Liang has a wooden ox and a flowing horse. It is to build a device, not because of feng shui, but because of the machine, it does not require labor. " Moreover, Zu Chongzhi also designed other mechanical running tools based on the principle of gear.
This is enough to show that at least in the Southern Dynasties, wooden cows and flowing horses were still used. But unfortunately, people who learned about this technology in later generations are so arrogant that they refuse to spread the word at all. Including Zu Chongzhi himself.
Many machines designed and manufactured by Zu Chongzhi were later lost. Why is it lost?
In his own dedication, Zu Chongzhi refused to describe the principle of manufacturing machinery in detail, but only gave a general description. As for the drawings, but also don't even think about it, Zu Chongzhi, the bodhi old zu chicken thief, rarely leaves drawings. For many things, Mr. Zu Lao only kept the physical objects. What he made was recorded in many documents, but all of them were sketchy descriptions, at most, with a less detailed sketch, and all the other subtleties were swallowed by Mr. Zu Lao. You think, a great scientist like Zu Chongzhi is so secretive, he won't tell anyone after learning the manufacturing method of Zhuge Liang, let alone others?
Fan Chengda in the Southern Song Dynasty wrote "Heng Zhi of Gui Hai Yu", and also briefly mentioned that in Miannan area at that time, machinery based on Zhuge Liang's wooden ox and flowing horse appeared among the people, which was the last time that the real wooden ox and flowing horse was mentioned in the orthodox literature. After that, Mu Niu Liu Ma should be completely lost. Therefore, in fact, after Zhuge Liang's death, the wooden ox and flowing horse he made was still used by people, but because of the great value of this technology, those who knew it refused to spread it out, and all of them kept their secrets until they disappeared.
so, by the time of the song dynasty, it was rare to see the true face of the wooden ox and the flowing horse. For example, Gao Cheng's Ji Yuan of Things, or A Talk on the Back of the Mountain and A Compilation of History, all think that Mu Niu Liu Ma is just a "Jiangzhou car" (unicycle).
On the one hand, it is because these literati waste are arrogant and self-righteous and despise ancient treasures; On the other hand, what knowledge do these sven scum who only know how to sit at home have? I have never been out of hutong in my life, which also led to the spread of rumors.
Without Fan Wenmu's virtue, I'm afraid we won't reach the Song Dynasty, and people won't know what a wooden ox is.
In Zhuge Liang's story, the legend of "wooden ox flowing horse" can be described as a mystery. Aside from the "Romance" component of The Romance of Three Kingdoms, the highly reliable Records of the Three Kingdoms and Zhuge Liang's Collection all describe it, which shows that it is more likely to exist, but no one can elaborate on it since Zhuge Liang, let alone a detailed book. Although some people say that it copied Zhuge's "wooden ox flowing horse" in later generations.
"Mu Niu Liu Ma" is actually two things.
According to Zhuge Liang's Collection, Mu Niu appeared during Zhuge Liang's fourth Northern Expedition, and at the same time, there were eight arrays and Zhuge Lian crossbows, which can be described as high-tech at that time.
what kind of object is a wooden cow? The literature only gives a brief description of its manufacturing method, without explanation of how to use it, and no design and manufacturing drawings remain.
The literature describes the word "Mu Niu" as abstract. Different people have different understandings of this abstract word, even the same person may have different opinions with the increase of research time.
Experts speculate that "Mu Niu" may be an improved unicycle, and the so-called "one foot and four legs" means that one wheel and four legs are used when traveling.
CCTV Discovery Channel once held a festival to show off wooden cows and horses, and one of its viewpoints was that "wooden cows" were actually a kind of unicycle popular in Sichuan and Sichuan, which coincided with experts' inference.
what is a "flowing horse"?
"Liuma" appeared in Zhuge Liang's fifth Northern Expedition. Like Mu Niu, the literature history of "Liuma" is unknown, and there is only a brief description of its manufacturing method, and there is no instruction manual, design and manufacturing drawings.
However, compared with Mu Niu, the description of "Liuma" is more detailed, which not only has the size of each part, but also clearly shows that it is porous and has a larger aperture, which indicates that "Liuma" may be assembled by tenons.
It is called "Liuma" instead of "Trojan horse", which is supposed to be related to water and should be a thing that can be used for sliding on water. Things in the water are not called boats, but called land-based things, which means that they can also be used on land.
Based on this inference, experts infer that "Liuma" is probably an amphibious transportation tool that can be disassembled and assembled.
Conclusion:
1. The inventions of "Mu Niu" and "Liu Ma" belong to Zhuge Liang.
2. "Mu Niu" and "Liu Ma" are two means of transportation, one for land use and the other for amphibious use.
3. The army of "Mu Niu" and "Liu Ma" was used to transport grain and grass. Therefore, "Mu Niu" and "Liu Ma" must have existed in the world, not a legend.
4. It is very likely that people still use these two kinds of objects, but they are called by another name or two, instead of "Mu Niu" and "Liu Ma".
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what do you think about "wooden ox flowing horse"?
Chen Shidao in the Northern Song Dynasty has written that there is a small car in Shu, which pushes eight stones alone, with the front like an ox and the back like a car, and four people pushing ten stones, and the wooden ox and the flowing horse are also described in the Book of Things written by Gao Cheng in the Song Dynasty. The front shaft of the small car is a wooden ox, and the wheelbarrow pusher is a flowing horse. Judging from the descriptions of the two, the wooden ox and the flowing horse are actually the past lives of the wheelbarrow.
What place is in the middle of Sichuan? It is naturally the Sichuan Basin. Zhuge Liang assisted the Shu army in the northern expedition of Sichuan at that time. As the saying goes, the soldiers and horses did not move food and grass first, which means that the logistics supply needs to be moved first, so that the army can go to war without worries. Very often, it is because the food and grass can't keep up with the progress of the army, which eventually leads to the delay of fighters and even the defeat. How can Zhuge Liang not understand this?
In ancient times, there was another way to describe the hardships of getting out of Sichuan, which was called that it was difficult to get through the Shu Road and get into the sky. This showed that although the Sichuan Basin was a granary, it was very difficult to get out, let alone a large-scale military operation, and the transportation of grain and grass was even more difficult. The road was steep and the carriage was difficult to move forward. In the end, Zhuge Liang invented a wooden ox and a flowing horse to transport grain and grass.
The narrow and rugged mountain road, under the condition of underdeveloped productivity in ancient times, can only be built because of geographical conditions, so the road is narrow and rugged, which is not suitable for carriage transportation. Finally, a tool suitable for walking and transportation on the narrow and rugged mountain road was invented, and the unicycle balance car is very suitable for walking and transportation in this road condition. In fact, it is a kind of transportation car, at least in many historical records.
Of course, many people now myth this kind of thing, especially some in TV series, and make it into a tool that can walk and transport by itself without manpower. To tell the truth, this kind of vehicle can't exist at all, and it should be a practical and convenient vehicle. Of course, it needs external force to move. It is inconvenient to use a carriage to pull on the road, so it is convenient to use a tool that is specially suitable for walking on the rugged mountain road. In fact, the car is the most labor-saving and can pull more.
Of course, it's not just a cart with wheels, but it should also involve the design of some manual levers to support the steps that the whole car can't go up through wheels. Of course, it can't be a human cart with wheels, but Zu Chongzhi only said some general structures when he copied the wooden ox and the flowing horse later, but he didn't fully express and elaborate the complete appearance, structure and manufacturing technology of the wooden ox and the flowing horse, so people now just speculate, not absolutely.
In modern archaeological discoveries, through the analysis of some historical documents, we also come to a conclusion that the so-called wooden ox and flowing horse is actually a human cart, but it is designed to be suitable for walking and transporting in narrow sections of mountain roads. It is not as magical as we thought, but some mechanical lever principles should be used in it, at least for now, but the technology at that time is very magical and high-grade, and the wisdom and ability of the ancients are indeed extraordinary.
The image of a wooden ox and a flowing horse in the novel is imagined by the legend and the author. At that time, the real wooden ox and flowing horse were vehicles such as cars and boats. A wooden cow is a cart pulled by an ox and a horse, and a flowing horse is a boat.
people who know a little about physics will understand that it takes motivation to do work. Where does the legendary motivation come from? Wheels are the most ideal form of transport, and it is inefficient and energy-consuming to load with legs like animals. The compass was invented in the period of the Yellow Emperor. The ancients were not stupid, and Zhuge Liang would never make it a means of transportation with legs.
Now someone has imitated the wooden ox and flowing horse in the TV series. It's ok to play, but if it's used to transport grain, it's exhausting!
Zhuge Liang's invention was also made by himself, so when Zhuge Liang died, it was lost.
According to the historical data, the Muniu Liuma is not an ox-shaped or horse-shaped vehicle, but a four-wheeled vehicle and a two-wheeled vehicle. The Muniu Liuma was designed according to the rugged mountain road in Hanzhong, Sichuan, and it should be based on the gear principle.