Chapter 328 Chapter 93: Ancestor Wisdom

Speaking of the abacus, my grandma suddenly asked me on a whim: "Liangzi, do you know who invented the abacus?" I shake my head.I know that the four great inventions of China are the compass, gunpowder, movable type printing and papermaking. I also know from history textbooks that printing was invented by Bi Sheng in the Song Dynasty, and papermaking was invented by Cai Lun in the Han Dynasty.As for the compass and gunpowder, I don't know who invented it. In fact, I have long felt that the inventions of the abacus and the lunar calendar should be as great as the four great inventions.The abacus simplifies the calculation of the Chinese for thousands of years, and the lunar calendar is even more magical. Since the ancestors of the Chinese thousands of years ago could invent a method of calculating the year, month and day that is comparable to the modern Gregorian calendar.And from the lunar calendar, Fengshui, horoscopes, weather forecasts, etc. are closely related to people's lives.

The wisdom of Chinese ancestors cannot be underestimated! It's just a pity that modern people are getting farther and farther away from the wisdom of their ancestors.In the process of looking for more sophisticated testing instruments, these self-righteous descendants abandoned the spiritual essence left by their ancestors! Seeing me shake my head, my grandma frowned and said, "What did you learn in school? The Chinese have used the abacus for so long and so widely, and the teachers in your school don't even talk about its inventor?" I shook my head embarrassingly again.When I was in elementary school, I simply learned two or three abacus lessons, and memorized a few half-baked formulas of "three times, five divisions, two".I haven't touched the abacus since then.It is estimated that students who are a few years younger than me are even more unfamiliar with abacus.

Grandma smiled and said, "Your teacher won't tell you, so let me tell you. Your grandma hasn't been in school for a few years, but she knows that the abacus was invented by one of Huangdi's subordinates. His name is Lishou." "Lishou?" I asked while washing my feet, "Then grandma, do you know who invented the compass and gunpowder?" The latter question was asked casually because I didn't know the inventors of the four great inventions.However, I didn't want to ask anything from grandma.Because the inventors of the compass and gunpowder are silent in history textbooks.Grandma hasn't studied for a few years, so she has no way of knowing.

Grandma replied casually: "The compass was invented by Feng Hou, and the gunpowder was invented by a Taoist priest who made alchemy. Feng Hou was also an old minister of the Yellow Emperor. They were all alchemists at that time." I am surprised!It turns out that the ancient alchemists had such wisdom! Grandma added: "You are used to talking about the compass now. In fact, Fenghou invented the compass car, also called the Sinan car. This thing is used in the same way as the compass you mentioned, but the compass relies on magnets, but the compass car is made of wood. Yo."

I was even more surprised: "Made of wood? Isn't it? How can wood guide?" Grandma laughed and said: "The wooden bird made by Lu Ban can still fly in the sky, why can't the guide car be made of wood?" In my heart, I always thought that the ancient guide car was just someone who accidentally discovered a magnet, and accidentally discovered the pointing characteristics of the magnet, so it was a coincidence that the guide car was made.The whole production process depends on nothing but luck.I never imagined that the guide car was made of wood!How can wood guide? Later, I searched for relevant books, and sure enough, as my grandma said, the guide car is actually made of wood!

The book explains: Compared with Sinan, compass, etc., the guide car is completely different in the principle of the guide.It is different from the geomagnetic effect that the compass uses, and it uses the principle of differential gears.It is a two-wheeled unicycle.There is a wooden man standing on the car, pointing with one hand, as long as you point the wooden man's finger to the south according to the sky before the car starts to move, no matter whether the car turns east or west, there is an automatic clutch in the car. A gear train orienting device, the arm of the wooden dummy is always pointing south.

Thousands of years ago, the ancestors of the Chinese people knew how to use the "differential gear principle"!Thousands of years later, people began to study this principle in the automobile age! Of course, grandma doesn't understand the "differential gear principle" in car research, but she has her own explanation.She said to me: "Feng Hou made a compass car based on the stars in the sky." I was confused and said blankly: "According to the stars in the sky?" Grandma nodded seriously, and then explained to me how Fenghou built a compass car based on the stars in the sky.She said: "This has to start with the legend of the Yellow Emperor fighting Chi You five thousand years ago."

As soon as I heard that grandma was going to tell the ancient legend, I immediately became interested. I didn't care whether the water in the basin was cold or not. I have heard that the ancients watched the stars at night to predict bad luck and weather, but I have never heard that the ancients could also invent wooden instruments based on the stars. Grandma said: "It is said that the Yellow Emperor fought against Chi You for three years, and they fought seventy-two times, but they failed to win. In a battle, when Chi You was about to lose, he invited Master Feng Boyu to Calling the wind and rain caused difficulties for the attack of Huangdi's army. Huangdi also hurriedly invited a goddess named Hanba from the sky to cast spells to stop the wind and rain, so that the army could continue to advance. At this time, the cunning Chiyou released a thick fog, and suddenly The wilderness was everywhere, causing the Yellow Emperor's army to lose its direction. The Yellow Emperor was very anxious, so he had to order the army to stop advancing and stay where he was. He immediately summoned the ministers to discuss countermeasures. Ministers such as Ying Long, Chang Xian, Da Hong, and Li Mu all came. It was all there, but Fenghou was nowhere to be seen. Some people wondered if Fenghou had been killed by Chi You. Huangdi immediately sent people to look for it, but after searching for a long time, there was still no trace of Fenghou, so Huangdi had to look for it himself. When I came to the battlefield, I saw Fenghou sleeping alone on the chariot. Huangdi said angrily, "What time is it now, why are you sleeping here?" Fenghou sat up slowly and said, "Where am I?" I’m sleeping, I’m trying to figure out a way.” Then, he pointed to the sky with his hand and said to the Yellow Emperor, “Look, why does the Big Dipper in the sky turn but the handle doesn’t? I’m thinking, can we use the Big Dipper The principle is to create something that can point the direction. With this kind of thing, you will not be afraid of losing your way.' Huangdi told the ministers about Fenghou's idea, and everyone discussed it and thought it was a good idea. Then , was designed by Fenghou, and everyone made it. After several days and nights of hard work, an instrument that can guide the direction was finally created. Fenghou installed it on a chariot, and a dummy was installed on the car. Point to the south. Then tell all the troops that once they are confused by the thick fog during the battle, they can immediately distinguish the north, south, east, and west just by looking at the direction the dummy on the compass is pointing to."