Sedan chair, before the Song Dynasty, people called it Shouyu. It is a unique means of transportation in ancient China. The original meaning of "Yu" refers to the carriage, and the shoulder strap refers to the carriage that people carry on their shoulders. This name accurately shows the characteristics of sedan chair, and also shows the fundamental difference between sedan chair and other means of transportation.

Sedan chair has a history of about 4000 years in China. According to historical records, the original prototype of sedan chair was produced in the early summer of 2 1 century BC. "History? "Book of Changes" has a cloud: "Take four years and publish wood with the mountains. "This is what Dayu said when describing his water control process. Later generations explained that these four years were: "Take a boat on the water, take a car on the land, take a sled in the mud, and take a bus on the mountain." ("Historical Records? Xia Benji) This "thunder" is the most primitive sedan chair. What does it look like? Some ancient documents say: "Mountains are bridges" (Historical Records? The book of canals), this is because it is used to climb mountains and mountains, and it is carried by two people in tandem. Looking at it, it "looks like a bridge coming down from the ground" ("What is the draft?" Explain the name of sedan chair), so in ancient times, sedan chair and bridge were interlinked. And its specific shape is still unknown. During the period of 1978, in the burial pit of Hougudui ancient tomb in Gushi, Henan Province, the wooden shoulders with three forks were unearthed, with two styles: top and umbrella. After the repair, one of them can still see its original appearance: it is composed of base, frame, column, railing, roof bar and lifting bar. The base is rectangular, the top cover is like a roof with slopes on all sides, and the car body should be surrounded by curtains; There is a small door in front of the car for passengers to enter and exit; The bumper is tied to the underframe, which is different from the system in which the bumper is fixed in the middle of the car body in the future. This is the earliest sedan chair found so far. Judging from its relatively complete structure, the technology of manufacturing sedan chair was very mature at that time. Before it, there must be a process of development and perfection. It can be inferred that the statement that sedan chair originated in early summer is more credible.

It is generally believed that sedan chairs evolved from ancient cars. Chinese people built cars earlier. Huainanzi? The secretary of "Talking about the Mountain" said: "When you see a cornice, you know it as a car." Ancient people got inspiration from the rolling of natural objects: circular objects move much faster on the plane than objects with other shapes. So ancient people learned to carry things with logs under heavy objects, as evidenced by the early Neolithic sites in Henan and other places. By the end of Yangshao culture, people had made pottery with wheel system technology, and presumably craftsmen at that time would also try to make wheels. The great invention of vehicles enabled the Chinese nation to successfully overcome the traffic obstacles in plain areas. When ancient ancestors often "moved to impermanent places" in order to survive and develop in a difficult environment, how convenient the car gave them! Moreover, guided by the great invention of the automobile, our ancient ancestors have invented a variety of means of transportation suitable for different natural environments. Dayu "Jian' an four years", with "open Kyushu, Jiulu, Beijiuze, Jiusan" ("Historical Records? Xia Benji "). He uses various means of transportation, and the sedan chair is one of them.

Sedan chair was originally a means of transportation for people to walk on mountain roads. In the Western Han Dynasty, Liu An, the king of Huainan, said in a book to Liang Wudi: "When you enter the ground, climb (cross) the ridge with a sedan chair." This is also the "sedan chair", which first appeared in history books and Shan Yu's ci. It is conceivable that heavy wooden wheels can't travel on rugged mountain roads. So people simply remove the wheels and lift the carriage. In order to reduce the burden on the shoulders, this kind of mountain-crossing vehicle is mostly woven from bamboo, so there were names such as Zhuyu, Zhiyu, Zuoyu, Bamboo Shoot and Zuozuo at that time. But they all refer to the same thing, that is, sedan chair.

Sedan chair is much smoother and more comfortable than riding a horse. As a result, the sedan chair has expanded from being used for mountain climbing to being a means of transportation for the royal family and nobles in the plains or palaces. In the bronze shell casting unearthed from the Han tomb in Shizhaishan, Jinning, Yunnan, we can see the image of Yujiao in the Han Dynasty. It is a rectangular pocket with two shoulders, but no curtains and a top cover. The bearers took the posture of "sitting on the floor" and were carried by four strong men with short clothes and feet. Judging from the diagonal lattice on the car body, it should be inferred from the diagonal lattice of bamboo on the car body, and it should be woven with bamboo strips. Because this tomb is the tomb of ancient Dian people in Han Dynasty, whether this sedan chair belongs to the articles used by Dian people is the same as that used by Han people in Guanzhong and Central Plains at the same time needs further research.

Sedan chair, also called "walking chariot", is a wooden unicycle. Since Qin and Han Dynasties, "chariot" has become the proper name of riding tools for emperors and empresses. Walking means taking off the wheels of the car and lifting them by people. Historical records? Liu's Biography of Sun Tong once wrote: "So the emperor went out of the palace, and hundreds of officials took charge of the police, and led the princes to the official 600 stone, which was the second congratulations." The annotation in the book says: "Yu Fuzhi said:". During the Yin and Zhou Dynasties, military weapons were carried by chariots, and work was carried by lowly people. It was not until the Qin Dynasty that Yu was respected. "used to be"? " "The Biography of Single Crystal" also mentioned: "Get up and enter the chariot from left to right ... until Jin has shoulders. "This step went to the Jin Dynasty, and Huan Xuan was more innovative." (Xuan) even built a war car that can accommodate 30 people, with 200 people. "(Jin Shu? The Biography of Huan Xuan) This is the first time in history that there is a record about the extra-large sedan chair. What are the highlights of Xiong Zhong's Ancient and Modern Rhyme? "Seven Encounters" notes: "Later people call it stepping on the sun, saying that people walk with lotus flowers and don't ride horses." With the sedan chair gradually becoming a means of transportation for emperors and nobles, its shape has changed greatly and it has been given more and more new names. Gu Kaizhi in Jin Dynasty painted a historical picture of women. In Banji's poem, Emperor Han Chengdi and Ban Jieyu sit in shoulder harness, and the sedan chair is covered with a net to avoid mosquitoes in summer. The sedan chair is placed in front of the chair, the passengers sit in the chair, and the bearers are the first six and the second. This sedan chair carried by eight people, also called "eight-legged (steel) and" eight-legged ",is a kind of advanced shoulder-shoulder. At that time, only princes and nobles could ride it.

Calling the sedan chair "food" is a new name. Hanshu? Zhang Er said, "The superior sent a message to the public." Yan Shigu's Note: "Those who are good at grasping beauty think that weaving bamboo and wood is beautiful, and eating beauty today is also beautiful." "Eating" means enjoying. From this formulation, we can also imagine the comfortable and proud feeling of the upper class nobles sitting in the sedan chair.

Calling the sedan chair "Ban Yu" and "Bu Yu" adds a series of aliases to various sedan chairs, which is also well-founded. "Edition" is the same as "board" because some sedan chairs are made of wood. In the "Hermit Fu" written in the Jin Dynasty, it is mentioned that "Taifuren is the imperial edition and she is named the light porch". Shan Li said, "Half jade is a stepping stone. Zhou Qian's Notes on Material Miscellaneous Matters:' Four feet, plain wood for it, skin for it, can be taken from Tian Zi to Shu Ren' "

Judging from the richness of sedan chair names and the diversity of sedan chairs, the author thinks that this is the period of experiment, exploration and elimination after sedan chairs are produced. It can be called the primary stage of sedan chair history.