You may think it's nothing when you see Mo Dou, planer, drill, chisel, shovel and other woodworking tools used at home, but in the slave society more than 2,000 years ago, these were great inventions, and it is precisely because of these inventions that the labor efficiency of carpenters has been doubled and the civil technology has been completely renewed.
Lubanqi people
Lu Ban, surnamed Gong Bo, is a native of Lu. Because "Xiang" and "Ban" are homophonic and common in ancient times, people often call him Lu Ban. Lu Ban was born in the 13th year of Zhou Dynasty (507 BC) and died in the 25th year of Zhou Zhenping (444 BC). This is a period of high socio-economic development of slavery in China, and it is also a historical period of the transition from slavery to feudalism. At that time, urban architecture and water conservancy work had already reached a considerable scale, and iron tools had gradually extended to various social production fields, which greatly promoted the development of social production. The development of social production provided a material basis for the disintegration of slavery and the formation of feudalism. The rule of slave owners and nobles declined day by day, and slave uprisings and riots broke out one after another. The government handicraft industry controlled by slave owners was broken, and many handicraft slaves were liberated, so independent individual craftsmen appeared. It is said that Luban was a slave craftsman who was liberated during this period, so he had the freedom to travel and work everywhere.
The invention of the saw
You may remember the article in the primary school textbook about Lu Ban's invention of the saw. Legend has it that one year Luban accepted a big task-building a big palace. This requires a lot of wood, but the project deadline is very tight. Lu Ban's disciples went up the mountain to cut firewood every day, but there was no saw at that time, so they had to cut it with an axe. The efficiency is too low, and the disciples are tired every day, but the wood is still far from enough, which delays the progress of the project. At that time, failure to complete the task of slave owners would be severely punished. Luban was in a hurry and personally went up the mountain to inspect. When he went up the mountain, he occasionally pulled out a handful of weeds growing on the mountain and his hand was cut at once. Lu Ban wants to know why a blade of grass is so sharp. He broke the grass and observed it carefully. He found many small teeth on both sides of the grass, and his hand was cut by these small teeth. Since grass teeth can cut my hands, iron bars with many small teeth should be able to saw through trees. So, with his idea and the help of metal craftsmen, Lu Ban made the world's first saw-an iron bar with many small teeth. He sawed trees with this simple saw, which was really fast and labor-saving, and the saw was invented. Whether this story is true or not, we can get such a revelation from this story: practice makes true knowledge and research wisdom.
Everyone's success has internal and external influences. The continuous progress of Luban's craft is inseparable from his own efforts and the help of his family. Lu Ban was born into a family of artisans for generations. Since childhood, I have participated in many civil engineering projects with my family, gradually mastered productive labor skills and accumulated rich practical experience.
"Class Mother" and "Class Wife"
Do you know: the small hook used to draw ink lines is also called "plank wood", and the bayonet against the wood when planing wood is also called "plank axe"? Why? It turns out that Lu Ban's mother and wife are also engaged in productive labor, which helps Lu Ban a lot. It is said that the origin of "Ban Mu" is like this: When Lu Ban was doing carpentry and paying off debts with Mo Dou, it was his mother who pulled the ink line. Later, after many experiments, the mother and son tied a small hook to the ink line. When paying-off, hook one end of the wood with a small hook, which can replace the hand pull and be operated by one person. From now on, I don't have to ask my mother to help me play with chalk lines. Later, carpenters named this small hook "Half Wood" to commemorate this creation. The legend of the origin of "Ban's wife" is that Lu Ban first planed wood by his wife and then switched to bayonets.
Tell an episode, according to the description in Jade Scrap: Luban has been building houses for people outside these years, and it has been very hard. His wife, Yunshi, used her brains and made an umbrella to take with her when she went out on business, so that she could keep out the wind and rain. Today, umbrellas are still an indispensable tool in people's daily life. It can be seen that the influence of Luban family on Luban is still great.
Lu Ban's other inventions
Lu Ban made many inventions in his life. It is recorded in many ancient books, such as Things, Events and Ancient History. He invented many tools and instruments used by carpenters. The carpenter's ruler (also called moment) was created by Lu Ban, so it is also called Lu Banchi. Mo Dou, planer, drill, chisel, shovel and other tools are also said to have been invented by Lu Ban.
According to historical records, the stone mill was also invented by Lu Ban. Mill, formerly known as Wei, was called mill in Han Dynasty. This is a machine that processes rice, wheat and beans into flour. Since mankind entered the agricultural society, it has become a daily chore to remove the hulls of grains and break beans and wheat. The early method was to crush or crush the grain with stones. Later, people put the grain in a stone mortar and pounded it with a pestle. Although this is a great progress of ancient grain processing tools, it is still time-consuming and laborious. Then compare the mashing, and find that the grinding effect is good and labor-saving. Legend has it that Lu Ban, inspired by the wisdom of the working people, used two hard round stones to cut into dense shallow grooves, put them together, and turned them by human or animal power to grind rice noodles into powder. This is the mill that has been widely used in China for more than two thousand years. The invention of the mill changed Chu Jiu's up-and-down movement into rotary movement, and Chu Jiu's intermittent work into continuous work, which greatly reduced the labor intensity and improved the production efficiency, which was a great progress. The real situation of how Luban invented the mill cannot be verified, but according to archaeological excavations, there were stone rolling pins and stone millstones during the Yangshao culture period from 6,000 to 6,500 years ago. During the Longshan culture period (about 4000 years ago), Chu Jiu already existed. Therefore, it is possible to invent the mill in Luban era.
Lu Ban is not only the "founder" of folk craftsmen, but also an outstanding mechanical inventor. There is no trace on the outside of the lock he made, but the mechanism is inside. It can only be opened with a matching key. There is also a record in Mozi Lu Wen: "The loser cuts bamboo and wood, thinking it is a magpie, and then flies away for three days." In other words, the wooden bird made by Luban can fly high in the air by the wind and not land for three days. According to legend, Luban also improved the structure of vehicles and made motorized wooden chariots and horses. This kind of wooden chariots and horses is driven by Woodenhead, equipped with mechanism, and can walk automatically. Many later inventors of science and technology, such as Ma Jun of the Three Kingdoms, Qu Chun of the Jin Dynasty, Zhao Ling of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Ma Daifeng of the Tang Dynasty and Huang Lvzhuang of the Qing Dynasty, were all influenced by this legend and explored in this direction. It seems too exaggerated and mythical to say that wooden birds can fly for three days and wooden carts and trojans can disappear automatically. But it also shows that Luban's technology was really outstanding at that time. As our descendants, when we want to realize the beautiful dreams of our predecessors, we should also take into account the scientific and technological level at that time and our actual ability to avoid being misled by some illusory legends and delaying our bright future.
It is said that Lu Ban also has certain attainments in weapons. According to Mozi's uncle's records, Lu Ban once made a ladder for the siege of Chu and a hook for the water war (also called "hook rejection"), both of which played a relatively big role in the war. Later, influenced by Mozi, he stopped making such tools of war and devoted himself to creation and invention in production and life for the benefit of the people.
Lu Ban came from a family of craftsmen and made many contributions to architecture and sculpture. In Story Club, it is said that Lu Ban carved a three-dimensional stone map of Kyushu. The story of Lu Ban carving a phoenix in Liezi. New theory. Knowing people and being good at their duties shows his spirit of not being afraid of sarcasm and studying hard. According to the story, Lu Ban wanted to carve a phoenix, but he was laughed at when he didn't carve it well. But he didn't stop working because of this, but worked harder and finally carved a phoenix with a vivid expression. Those who once laughed at him finally had to admire Lu Ban's superb skills and indomitable spirit.
For more than 2400 years, people have passed down the story of Lu Ban's invention and creation from generation to generation. In order to express their love and admiration for him, people concentrated the collective creations and inventions of the ancient working people on Lu Ban. Therefore, the story about his inventions is actually the story of the inventions of the working people in ancient China. His name has actually become a symbol of hard work and wisdom of the working people.