As a god in the carpentry world, what little stories do you know about Lu Ban?

Luban, whose surname is Gongshu and whose given name is Ban. Because he was from the state of Lu, "Ban" and "Ban" had the same pronunciation, which were commonly used in ancient times, so people often called him Lu Ban.

Lu Ban was born approximately in the 13th year of King Zhou Jing (507 BC) and died in the 25th year of King Zhending (444 BC). He lived from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the early Warring States Period. Coming from a family of craftsmen for generations, he has participated in many civil construction projects with his family since he was a child, gradually mastering the skills of productive labor and accumulating rich practical experience.

Lu Ban has many inventions and creations. Many ancient books such as "Shi Cyan Pearl", "Wu Yuan" and "Ancient History" record that many tools and instruments used by carpenters were created by him, such as the curved ruler (also called the moment or Luban ruler), as well as the ink fountain and plane. , drills, chisels, shovels and other tools are also said to have been invented by Lu Ban. The invention of these woodworking tools freed the craftsmen at that time from primitive and heavy labor, doubled their labor efficiency, and gave civil engineering a new look. Later, in order to commemorate this famous master, people respected him as the ancestor of my country's civil craftsmen.

According to records in "Shiben", the stone mill was also invented by Lu Ban. Legend has it that Lu Ban used two relatively hard round stones, cut them into dense shallow grooves, put them together, and used human or animal power to turn them, and then grind the rice flour into powder. This is what we call a mill. Before this, people processed grain by putting the grains in a stone mortar and pounding them with a pestle. The invention of the mill changed the up and down motion of the pestle and mortar into a rotational motion, so that the intermittent work of the pestle and mortar became continuous. work, greatly reducing labor intensity and improving production efficiency. This is a major improvement in ancient grain processing tools. The actual situation of Lu Ban's invention of the grinding mill has been unknown, but judging from archaeological excavations, pestles and mortars were already in existence during the Longshan Culture period (about 4,000 years ago). Therefore, it is possible that the grinding mill was invented in Lu Ban's time.

In terms of weapons, according to "Mozi Gongshu Chapter", Luban once manufactured "cloud ladders" for sieges and "Gouqiang" (also known as "Gouji") for water warfare for the Chu State. ), played a relatively large role in the war. In terms of architecture and sculpture, Luban also made many contributions. "Shu Yi Ji" says that Lu Ban carved a three-dimensional stone map of Kyushu.

Lu Ban is indeed one of the best civil construction craftsmen in ancient my country. For more than 2,400 years, he has been regarded as the "ancestor" by civil engineering craftsmen and is respected and commemorated by people.

Lu Ban, a native of Shandong, is now revered as the originator of the construction industry. This is far from enough. Lu Ban is not only in the construction industry, but also in the aerospace industry. The flying kite he invented was the first human to conquer space. ; In military science, Lu Ban invented the ladder (heavy weapon), the hook (which people still use today) and other siege weapons. He is a great military scientist; in terms of machinery, Lu Ban has long been known as machinery. Saint; in addition, there are many achievements in civil, craft and other fields. Luban's contribution to mankind can be said to be unprecedented and unprecedented. He is China's well-deserved father of scientific and technological invention.

The stories about Lu Ban include:

There are many folk legends about Lu Ban’s invention and creation, but it is difficult for us to distinguish the authenticity from the only remaining historical materials. But Lu Ban No one can deny that he is the originator of Chinese architects.

(1) Cloud ladder: It is an instrument used for siege in ancient times. "Mozi Gongshu" records: "Gongshu Pan was a tool used by Chu to build a ladder, and it was completed." "Warring States Policy: Gongshu Pan Sets Up the Rules for Chu" writes that when Mozi went to see Gongshu Pan, he said: "I heard that Gongshu Pan was a ladder to the clouds." Both prove the deeds of Lu Ban in building the ladder.

(2) Gouqiang: Gouqiang is also called "Gouji" and "Gouju". It is a fighting tool used in ancient water warfare. According to "Mozi Lu Wen" records: In the past, Chu and Yue fought on the water, because "the people of Chu advanced with the current and retreated against it. They advanced when they saw advantages and retreated when they saw disadvantages. The people of Yue advanced against the current and retreated along the way. If it retreats when it flows, it will advance if it sees an advantage, and it will retreat quickly if it sees a disadvantage." This resulted in Chu's defeat at the hands of Yue. In order to change this war situation, when Lu Ban first arrived in Chu, he made the first concession to make this kind of weapon, which could hook retreating enemy ships and resist attacking enemy ships.

(3) Wooden magpie: a flying instrument made of bamboo. According to "Mozi Lu Wen", "Gong Shuzi whittled bamboo and wood to make a magpie, and when it was ready, it flew and stayed there for three days."

(4) Woodworking tools: During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the production technology level of construction carpentry had reached a very high level. Lu Ban and the craftsmen at that time were inseparable from woodworking tools when building houses and bridges. "Mencius Li Lou" said: "The master's trick is to make a circle without rules." This shows that there were "rules" and "rules" at that time. The curved ruler in use today may have been developed by Luban on the basis of "moment". Modern carpenters call it "Luban ruler".

The small hook used to stretch the ink line is also called "Ban Mu", and the bayonet that holds the wood when planing is also called "Ban Wives".

Lu Ban made the world The first saw on the street was an iron bar with many small teeth

Lu Ban also had certain attainments in weapons. According to "Mozi. "Gongshu Chapter" records that Lu Ban once manufactured "Go Ladders" for sieges and "Gouqiang" (also known as "Gouji") for water warfare for the Chu State, both of which played a relatively large role in the war.

Lu Ban made curium:

One day, Lu Ban went to a high mountain to look for wood. Suddenly his foot slipped and he hurriedly reached out to grab a clump of thatch beside the road. My hand was torn by thatch and blood oozed from it.

"Why is this humble thatch so sharp?" He forgot about the pain of the wound, picked up a handful of thatch and looked at it carefully, and found that there were many sharp teeth on the edges of the grass leaves. He used these dense teeth to lightly scratch the back of his hand, and actually made a gash.

He thought: If I also use a tool with many small saw teeth to saw trees, wouldn't I be able to saw the wood quickly? That would definitely take less effort than chopping with an axe.

There is a second description of this history, which may be due to scholars' jealousy of the craftsman's ability: Mo Zhai spent three years making a kite based on this model, but it was destroyed on the first day of its flight. When his flattering followers flattered him, he said: "This is as unwise as making a wooden ox-yoke."

Another story of Lu Ban is also related to the thinker Mo Zhai. King Hui of Chu was the most powerful man, and he was preparing to fight against the neighboring country of Song. He commissioned Lu Ban to design an artillery "city climbing ladder" to climb the defensive area of ??the Song capital. At this time Mo Zhai came and tried to dissuade King Hui from giving up his intention with clever words and sincerity. King Hui hesitated. In order to convince his argument, Mo Zhai had to conduct a simulated battle, counterattacking Luban and his equipment, and finally resisted Luban with his ninth counterattack. So King Hui finally agreed to give up his pursuit. An incompetent builder once designed the roof of a lamasery to have a disproportionate structure. This error was exposed as the project progressed. Facing the increasingly serious engineering errors, he was so anxious that he just wanted to commit suicide. After he made up his mind to do this, he went to the construction site canteen for his last meal. When he went there, he found that the chef had changed and the food was not delicious. When he complained about the chef, the only answer he got was: "Fortified salt." After this sentence repeated in his mind many times, the builder uttered a sound with the same sound but different words: "heavy eaves". So his construction problems were finally solved. At the same time, he also saved his own life. There is another similar story. There was an emperor of the Yuan Dynasty who wanted to build a novel shelter house. He found a builder and ordered him to design a style he was satisfied with, or else he would be executed. The builder came up with many ideas out of thin air, but none of them met the requirements. In desperation, he came to a teahouse. I found an old man sitting next to him. The old man took an extremely rare empty birdcage. The builder immediately felt that the birdcage provided exactly the basis for the design he was looking for. He offered to buy the birdcage, but the old man refused to sell it at any high price. Later, the old man left the teahouse. When he returned home disappointed, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the old man had left the birdcage at his home and provided him with the assembly diagram of the birdcage. This old man was the one he saw in the teahouse. Work began on the novel summer house the next day. This old man is Lu Ban.

In many such stories, Lu Ban is described as a charitable and strong man who can help those in distress. When installing beams, people traditionally decorate the main beams across the house with red cloth with the word "Fu" on them. This was due to a bricklayer and craftsman who, while building a new house, mismeasured the main beams and discovered that the beams they built were a foot shorter than the required dimensions. Just when they were worried about this problem, an old craftsman came over and provided a solution. He said: "Cut the beam in half and I will install it for you". They did as he said, so the old man climbed up the ladder and installed each half of the beam, leaving a gap in the middle and filling it with a piece of red silk with the word "Fu" printed on it. No one could tell that the beam was separate. The craftsmen and bricklayers were very happy to see this new decoration method. When they turned to thank the old man, Luban had disappeared. The moral of the story is to be extremely careful when making items made by joinery, otherwise time and wood will be wasted.

When the East Palace was being built, an old craftsman wanted to get a job, but the foreman said that he was too old and could not climb to the height where he had to work. The old man said he could do some simple tasks. At this time, another worker persuaded the foreman to leave the old man to work with them. The old man stayed there, and for two weeks all he did was make a lot of irregular and untidy wedges. These wedges were obviously useless, and some people even used them as firewood. When it came time to assemble all the beams and columns, the workers had no difficulty connecting them at all. Later, a worker picked up Luban's wedges and found that the space of each connecting object was well connected, one after another. All Luban's wedges were used in the construction of the palace. The old man was very respected from then on.

Luban’s spirit has always existed in work and in the hearts of people engaged in the construction industry. The construction industry will continue to celebrate his birthday, and the entire society is grateful to Luban. He created many architectural techniques for mankind.