⒈ Overview of wooden cows and flowing horses
Whether wooden cows and flowing horses exist, and whether the wooden cows and flowing horses recorded in ancient books are authentic, there is a lot of debate about this. The author uses the wooden cows and flowing horses recorded in Volume 21 of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" Mainly based on law, he conducted research based on relevant materials such as "Three Kingdoms" and "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", put forward his own opinions, drew drawings and created models. It is believed that the wooden cow and the flowing horse are authentic and trustworthy. The author is confident that he has solved the mystery of the wooden cow and the stray horse. Relevant experts, scholars and other comrades are invited to review and appraise it. Your advice is welcome.
1.1 According to ancient records, real wooden cows and flowing horses can be made
The author can create wooden cows and flowing horses based on the original text "Kongming made wooden cows and flowing horses" in Volume 21 of "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms". And there are several similar models. This article selects a model and draws the outline, name, dimensions and walking diagram of the wooden cow and flowing horse based on the names and data provided in the original text, and also makes a model. This model can carry loads and move forward and backward freely.
This wooden cow and flowing horse model is made based on the appearance described in the original text of "The Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the data provided. The names and sizes of the main parts are completely from the original text. Only a few names have been added for the purpose of this article. , and calculate several dimensions. The consistency between the model and the original text strongly confirms the authenticity of Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse. Please refer to Figure 1 "Schematic diagram of the appearance of a wooden ox and a flowing horse", Figure 2 "Schematic diagram of a wooden ox and a flowing horse walking", Figure 3 "Image of the parts of a wooden ox and a flowing horse", Figure 4 "Dimensions of a wooden ox and a flowing horse", and Figure 5 "Dimensions of the foot hole and axis hole of a wooden ox and a flowing horse".
1.2 The wooden cow and flowing horse have practical application value
The wooden cow and flowing horse in this model are four-legged transportation tools that look like real cows. Because it walks on four legs, it can travel on uneven roads and muddy roads. This is a road where round-wheeled (one-wheeled or four-wheeled) vehicles are difficult or impossible to travel. Because it walks on four legs, it is not easy to slip on slopes. It can automatically "brake" after stopping. These advantages make it suitable for mountain transportation.
The use of wooden oxen and flowing horses is another big advantage. When transporting grain and grass in war, real oxen and horses will consume grain and grass, so that the transported grain and grass will be consumed before it reaches the destination. part of it. Moreover, real cows and real horses consume grain and grass as usual when there is no transportation work. This is a major shortcoming of real cows and real horses transporting grain and grass. The longer the transportation time, the more food is consumed, and this shortcoming is more prominent. The use of wooden oxen and flowing horses to transport grain and grass does not consume grain and grass, which effectively overcomes the shortcomings of real oxen and real horses. This is another basis for the wooden oxen and flowing horses to replace real oxen and real horses in transporting grain and grass.
Since wooden oxen and flowing horses are driven by human power, the person driving the oxen has to consume grain and grass. This is a shortcoming of manpower transporting grain and grass. However, manpower transporting grain has its advantages: first, the cattle driver is also a warrior, which can protect grain and grass and reduce the number of specialized grain protection teams. The second is that the cattle drivers can be transferred to the combat troops when they are not tasked with transporting grain; the third is that it is very economical and cost-effective to use the casual combat troops to transport grain.
Wooden cows and stray horses can make "people less tired", which is another advantage. The design of the wooden cow and flowing horse applies the principle of lever labor saving. The weight carried by the driver of the cow is 0-30% of the total weight. When the total weight is 250 kilograms, the weight carried by the driver on the shoulders is 0-75 kilograms. This weight-bearing was not difficult for the ancients, and it was indeed a sign that "people don't have to work hard". However, compared with the weight of the round-wheeled vehicle traveling on flat ground, it is still too heavy. This is another reason why the wooden ox and the lost horse could not be popularized and even lost.
The above shows that wooden oxen and flowing horses can "advance and retreat freely" in mountainous areas, "people don't have to work hard", and "oxen don't eat and drink". Therefore, it has practical application value in mountain transportation.
1.3 Wooden ox and flowing horse are one kind of means of transportation instead of two.
One of the reasons is that ancient books rarely mention wooden ox or flowing horse individually, and most of them are collectively referred to as wooden ox and flowing horse. The second reason is that the method of making a wooden cow and the method of making a flowing horse are separately listed in the original text, but the method of making a wooden cow only describes the appearance of the wooden cow and does not mention the manufacturing data. On the contrary, the method of making a flowing horse only has manufacturing data, but no description of the appearance. If they were combined into one, they would form a whole, with both appearance description and manufacturing data. Only by considering the methods of making the wooden ox and the flowing horse as the same means of transportation can the authenticity of the wooden ox and the flowing horse be confirmed. "Three Kingdoms" has the sentence "the number of sizes of flowing horses", which further illustrates that the latter part is just the "number of sizes".
In the original article on how to build a wooden cow, the characteristic of a cow - its horns, is mentioned. In addition, the speed of travel is as slow as a cow but not as fast as a horse. It can be considered that the original design was a wooden cow, and it was only later It's called a stray horse.
Why is it called Liuma and why is there a separate method for making Liuma? The first possibility is that "Liu Ma" is a homophonic pronunciation of "Liu Ma" or "Lu Ma". The "six codes" may refer to the six main data for making a wooden cow, such as rib length, front and rear axle holes, front and rear leg holes, front and rear bar holes, square pockets, front bar length, etc. Calling "Six Codes" "Flowing Horse" can not only vividly express the nature of the wooden ox - running like a horse, but also hide the true meaning of "Six Codes", increase the sense of mystery, and leave a puzzle to outsiders. Solve the mystery. The second possibility is that Liuma is a new improved model of Wooden Ox, so it is collectively called Wooden Ox and Liuma. The third possibility is that if the head looks like a cow, it is called a wooden cow, and if the head looks like a horse, it is called a stray horse.
1.4 Disadvantages of the wooden cow and flowing horse model
First, the problem of turning has not been solved. Ancient books only mention "advancing and retreating as if they were alive" and do not mention the problem of turning. Perhaps the original design did not solve this problem, so that the wooden cow and the flowing horse were inflexible in turning and could not be popularized and applied. The turning method envisaged in this mode is to land on the ground with two hind feet (or two front feet), twist the body and turn. It seems a bit forced here.
The second disadvantage is that the wooden cow and flowing horse vibrate greatly when walking, which makes the wooden structure have a short service life. Its vibration makes people's hands and shoulders easily tired, which is a major shortcoming of the wooden cow and flowing horse.
The third disadvantage is that it is not as good as round-wheel vehicles and other transportation tools in flat ground transportation, so it cannot be widely used and has even been lost.
Limited to the conditions, the author has not made a physical object for practical application, and there may be problems that have not been considered. It is only speculated that it can be used in practice and can stand the test of practice. Wooden cows and flowing horses are wooden products, and the real objects are easy to decay and difficult to pass on.