Barrow in China

Abstract

The wheelbarrow as a simple means for transporting goods has been used across much of Eurasia. The vehicle usually consists of a relatively small wheel that is mounted beneath a frame for the load. The wheel is usually placed in front or under the front part of the frame, which extends into two handles by which the barrow is lifted up and pushed. On the basis of pictorial evidence from medieval Europe, it is assumed that the wheelbarrow was developed as a labor-saving device in which one of two men needed for carrying a carrying load was replaced by a wheel (Matties, 1991). Due to the fact that the workman had to lift part of the weight of the load, the wheelbarrow was typically restricted to short distances. In China, the wheelbarrow is documented in pictorial sources from the first century BCE. The wheelbarrow of the Han period (206 BCE–221 CE) appears in short-distance urban transport. The vehicle has a small solid or spoked wheel that is mounted under the front third of the frame, which raises over the wheel. With the center of gravity set low, little above the wheel’s axle, the tilt angle of the barrow was relatively high, reducing the weight that the barrowman had to lift while pushing. Wheelbarrows of this construction remained in use throughout the plains and lowlands of Shaanxi in the northwest across Sichuan and Hunan into Southern China (Figs. 1, 2, and 3). From the eleventh century, a one-wheeled vehicle of a different construction appears in written and pictorial sources of Eastern China. This wheelbarrow had a large spoked wheel of the size of a cartwheel, probably not much less than 1m in diameter. Awooden frame was built over the top half of the wheel with platforms for the load on both sides. The outside beams of these frames extend into two handlebars for the barrowman to work the vehicle and for attaching a sling that ran over his shoulders to take the weight off his arms. The load was usually divided into two and evenly distributed on the two platforms, though bulky goods could be strapped over the top of the housing (Fig. 4). The constructional difference from the ordinary wheelbarrow is the position of the wheel under the load. The barrowman had to balance and push the vehicle, but he no longer needed to lift part of the weight of the barrow and the load. The housed wheelbarrow constituted a gain in efficiency in carrying capacity and range. The large wheel brought reduced friction and better stability compared to the ordinary wheelbarrow, and the balanced load enabled barrowmen to work full days, making the vehicle widely employed in long-distance transport (Fig. 5). The technical difficulty with wheelbarrows is the wheel. In two-wheeled vehicles the wheels are subjected to torque, mainly in turns and to a lesser degree on uneven ground. In a wheelbarrow, by contrast, the wheel has to withstand considerable torque almost permanently, the impact being reduced only when the barrow runs smoothly and with good balance. The technical challenge was met by using either small and simple wheels, usually a solid disk, or alternatively by particularly strong spoked wheels. Andre Wegener Sleeswyk argued that the early development of highly stable yet light spoked wheels in China, which was certainly in place by the Han period, was instrumental in the development of the housed wheelbarrow (Wegener Sleeswyk, 1982). For this reason, a transition from the ordinary to the housed wheelbarrow appears unlikely, as it would involve