The wooden ox and flowing horse (a grain transportation tool invented by Zhuge Liang)

The wooden ox and the flowing horse were transportation tools invented by Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Shu Han state during The Three Kingdoms period. They were divided into wooden oxen and flowing horses. According to historical records, from the 9th to the 12th year of Jianxing (231-234), it was used by Zhuge Liang during his northern expeditions. Its carrying capacity was "one year's grain", approximately over 400 jin. The daily journey was "dozens of li for special travelers and thirty li for groups", providing food for the 100,000-strong army of the Shu Kingdom.

The wooden ox and the flowing horse are the same means of transportation, so it is more appropriate to call them the wooden ox. It is a four-legged wooden transport vehicle driven by human power, with a self-weight of about 50 kilograms and a load capacity of approximately 200 kilograms. The principle of leverage is utilized to save effort. The weight a person can bear varies regularly between 0 and 75 kilograms. It can travel on mountainous and muddy roads and other surfaces where real cattle can pass, which is something that wheelers cannot compare with. When the road conditions are good, wheelers are much more practical than wooden oxen and flowing horses. This is one of the main reasons why wooden oxen and flowing horses cannot be widely used and have even been lost.

The principle of the four-legged walking lever in the popular romance of The Three Kingdoms, featuring wooden oxen and flowing horses as transportation tools

1. Overview of the Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse

There has been much debate over whether the wooden ox and flowing horse exist and whether the wooden ox and flowing horse recorded in ancient books are real. Based on the construction method of the wooden ox and flowing horse recorded in Volume 21 of "Popular Romance of The Three Kingdoms", the author conducts research in combination with relevant materials such as "Records of The Three Kingdoms" and "Romance of The Three Kingdoms", puts forward his own opinions, draws the blueprint and makes the model. It is determined that the wooden ox and flowing horse are genuine and reliable.

The wooden ox and flowing horse have practical application value

The wooden ox and flowing horse in this model are four-legged transportation vehicles that resemble real oxen. Because it is quadrupedal, it can move on uneven and muddy roads, which are difficult or impossible for round-wheel (single-wheel or four-wheel) vehicles to travel on. Due to its quadrupedal nature, it is less likely to slip and can automatically "brake" after stopping on a slope. These advantages make it suitable for mountain transportation.

Because the wooden ox and the flowing horse were driven by human power, the ox drivers would consume provisions, which was a drawback of transporting provisions by human power. However, there are advantages to transporting grain by hand: First, the ox drivers are also soldiers, which can protect the grain and reduce the need for dedicated grain protection teams. Second, when there is no task of transporting grain, the ox driver can be transferred to the combat troops. Thirdly, it is very economical and cost-effective to use the leisure combat troops to transport provisions.

The above explanation indicates that wooden oxen and flowing horses can transport provisions and fodder freely in mountainous areas, with little human effort and no need for food or drink. Therefore, it has practical application value in mountain transportation.

1.3 The wooden ox and flowing horse are one rather than two means of transportation

The reason is that in ancient books, the terms "wooden ox" or "flowing horse" are rarely mentioned separately; instead, they are mostly referred to together as "wooden ox and flowing horse". The second reason is that the original text separately lists the methods of making a wooden ox and a flowing horse, but the method of making a wooden ox only describes the appearance of the ox and does not mention the manufacturing data. On the contrary, the method of creating flowing horses only has data for production purposes, but no description of their appearance. If they are combined into one, they form a whole that not only depicts the appearance but also provides manufacturing data. Only by regarding the construction methods of the wooden ox and the flowing horse as those of the same means of transportation can the authenticity of the wooden ox and the flowing horse be verified. The Records of The Three Kingdoms has the sentence "The number of the size of a flowing horse", which better indicates that the latter part is merely "the number of the size".

In the original text of the method of making a wooden ox, the feature of an ox - its horns - is mentioned. Moreover, its moving speed is as slow as that of an ox but not as fast as that of a horse. Therefore, it can be considered that the original design was a wooden ox, but it was later called a flowing horse