How did the sedan chair in traditional culture come from?

Sedan chair, before the Song Dynasty, people called it Shouyu. It is a unique means of transportation in ancient China. The original meaning of "Yu" refers to the carriage, and the shoulder strap refers to the carriage that people carry on their shoulders. This name accurately shows the characteristics of sedan chair, and also shows the fundamental difference between sedan chair and other means of transportation.

Sedan chair has a history of about 4000 years in China. According to historical records, the original prototype of sedan chair was produced in the early summer of 2 1 century BC. "Shangshu Shi Jiao Ming"), so in ancient times, the words "cross" and "bridge" were interlinked. And its specific shape is still unknown.

During the period of 1978, in the burial pit of Hougudui ancient tomb in Gushi, Henan Province, the wooden shoulders with three forks were unearthed, with two styles: top and umbrella. After the repair, one of them can still see its original appearance: it is composed of base, frame, column, railing, roof bar and lifting bar. The base is rectangular, the top cover is like a roof with slopes on all sides, and the car body should be surrounded by curtains; There is a small door in front of the car for passengers to enter and exit; The bumper is tied to the underframe, which is different from the system in which the bumper is fixed in the middle of the car body in the future. This is the earliest sedan chair found so far. Judging from its relatively complete structure, the technology of manufacturing sedan chair was very mature at that time. Before it, there must be a process of development and perfection. It can be inferred that the statement that sedan chair originated in early summer is more credible.

It is generally believed that sedan chairs evolved from ancient cars. Chinese people built cars earlier. A secretary of Huai Nan Zi Shuo Shan said: "When you see a cornice, you know it is a car." Ancient people got inspiration from the rolling of natural objects: circular objects move much faster on the plane than objects with other shapes. So ancient people learned to carry things with logs under heavy objects, as evidenced by the early Neolithic sites in Henan and other places.

By the end of Yangshao culture, people had made pottery with wheel system technology, and presumably craftsmen at that time would also try to make wheels. The great invention of vehicles enabled the Chinese nation to successfully overcome the traffic obstacles in plain areas. When ancient ancestors often "moved to impermanent places" in order to survive and develop in a difficult environment, how convenient the car gave them! Moreover, guided by the great invention of the automobile, our ancient ancestors have invented a variety of means of transportation suitable for different natural environments. Dayu "spent four years" and "opened Kyushu, connected Jiulu, and spent nine years in Jiusan" (Historical Records Xia Benji). He uses various means of transportation, and the sedan chair is one of them.