How mankind invented the parachute by taking inspiration from the dandelion

As early as 100 B.C. in the Western Han Dynasty, there was a record of the application of the parachute principle in the Historical Records of the Five Emperors (史记-五帝本纪). The historian Sima Qian wrote in his work: "When Shun was made to paint the granary, goze set fire to the granary from below. Shun was able to descend from the pole with two hats and was able to stay alive." The story he recounts is that in ancient times, a man named Shun once went up to the top of a granary, and when goze started a fire from below, Shun jumped down from the top with two hats and was not burned to death. This is the earliest record of mankind applying the principle of the parachute. It is said that around 1306 A.D., during the enthronement ceremony of an emperor in the Yuan Dynasty, the court performed a program in which acrobatic artists used giant umbrellas made of paper to leap down from a very high wall. Due to the use of the principle of air resistance, the artist floated to the ground, safe and sound, which can be said to be the earliest practice of skydiving. The Japanese book Falling Umbrellas, published in 1944, wrote about this event, describing it as, "A French missionary returning from Beijing found the following document, which shows that in 1306, during the Emperor's coronation ceremony, acrobats jumped down from a high wall with a large umbrella made of paper and performed for the ministers to see." The Encyclopedia Americana, published in 1977, also states, "Some evidence suggests that Chinese acrobats used parachute-like devices as early as 1306." This parachuting acrobatic program later spread to a number of countries in Southeast Asia and soon to Europe. By the 17th century, a variety of parachute acrobatic shows were prevalent in European countries, and the umbrellas were changed from paper to cloth and silk, and their shapes were changed from round to diverse.

Parachute invention and application

Additionally, there is information that the parachute was first invented by the Arabs. More than 1,000 years before the Wright Brothers invented the airplane, an Arab made flying machines out of wood and a cloak, and his flying machines are believed to be the first prototype of the parachute.

In the 18th century 30s, with the introduction of balloons, in order to protect the safety of floating people, acrobatic parachutes began to enter the field of aviation． According to foreign information, when someone made a silk hard skeleton of the parachute, to half open state placed outside the balloon basket, umbrella suit with parachute rope underneath, tied to the person's body, if the balloon crash, that is, take the parachute to the ground. This may be the first parachute used in aviation activities. After the introduction of the airplane, in order to save the flight crew in the event of a plane crash, the parachute has been further improved, in 1911, there will be able to fold and pack the umbrella clothing, umbrella rope, etc., placed in the cabin, suitable for the flight crew to use the parachute, this parachute in 1914 began to be equipped to the bomber's aircrew.