Traditional carriage

There were actually four-wheeled vehicles in ancient times, but the popularity was not very wide. Only some wealthy families use wagons. The reason why station wagons are unpopular is that station wagons need to consume a lot of material resources. Four-wheelers are recorded in The Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, but it can be seen that pulling four-wheelers requires a lot of horses. But the so-called four wheels are also composed of two wheels.

China was not particularly keen on land-building in ancient times. Only roads built by the government have better land. If you want to take the road of government, you will spend a lot of money. Therefore, for many people, they would rather take the rugged mountain road than spend money on the official road built by the government.

But taking these rugged roads, the effect of four-wheeled vehicles at that time was not ideal. The four-wheeled vehicle has poor shock absorption and poor steering ability. If there were shock absorbers or steering gears at that time, perhaps four-wheeled vehicles would be popular, but the ancients did not do so.

In ancient times, it was very expensive to make a carriage, and it was also very expensive to walk on mountain roads. Two wheels are relatively cheap to maintain. If you change to four wheels, the cost will double. Four wheels are time-consuming and laborious, so it is better to use two wheels. As early as the pre-Qin tombs, carriages were found, but they were only ritual vessels at that time.

Cars in ancient China were mostly two-wheelers, and it was not until the Qing Dynasty that four-wheelers appeared. Two-wheeled vehicles can also be used as passengers to pull people. But if it is to pull goods, it is easy to cause imbalance between light and heavy, and the vehicle will tip over. If there are too many goods in front, it will make the horse very painful, and it will also damage the goods while pulling the goods.