Low Tech Magazine: The Chinese Wheelbarrow

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2011/12/the-chinese-wheelbarrow.html

by anthonyb • 14 years ago

96 18 14 years ago

rudin• 14 years ago

While this is an interesting piece of technology, I can't read this article without cringing. The bias towards "Chinese technology" over "European technology" and the constant comparison between the two makes this read like some sort of propaganda piece.

anthonyb4• 14 years ago

The design really is better - can you imagine pushing a western style wheelbarrow for 20km?

Try some of the other articles on the site (eg. http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2010/12/hand-powered-drilling...) and you'll see he just has a pro-cool technology bias.

excuse-me2• 14 years ago

Can you imagine dumping 100lb of earth into a chinese one and tipping it out at the top of a hole - to build a canal or railway?

They are fundementally different concepts. A european wheelbarrow is an earth moving tool - essentially a bucket on wheels. A chinese wheelbarrow is a man powered cart. It's like claiming a sack trolley is better than a pallet truck because it can go down stairs

sp332• 14 years ago

You shouldn't push them, it's much easier to pull them along behind you.

rauljara• 14 years ago

Going through school, I felt like I received a ridiculous pro-european level of propaganda, as though every innovation that was worth anything came from that continent. And the propaganda worked. Even though I now know better, I am still a little surprised when I hear of a technological marvel that non-europeans came up with.

Basically, you are right. Just about every civilization has produced startlingly clever innovations for their environment. Saying Chinese are clever or Europeans are clever, or Africans are clever, is a bad way of looking at the world. But I don't mind pro-other-continent bias so much because I feel like all it's doing is helping to provide some balance for the pro-europe bias I was raised with.

meric• 14 years ago

I cringe every time an article says "gutenberg invented the printing press", without comparison to the corresponding chinese invention at all. =\

adolph• 14 years ago

The one-wheeled vehicle appeared around the time the extensive Ancient Chinese road infrastructure began to disintegrate. Instead of holding on to carts, wagons and wide paved roads, the Chinese turned their focus to a much more easily maintainable network of narrow paths designed for wheelbarrows.

Necessity and constraints are parents of invention I suppose.

Jun8• 14 years ago

A good design (like a good scientific theory), like the Chinese wheelbarrow, not only makes the job it's designed for easier but also opens the way for new uses not possible before: I was struck by the wheelbarrow train concept that this design enables.

I also find it interesting to think about the interplay of effects on innovation, e.g:

"It is thought that the primary obstacle to large-scale development of the wheel in the Western hemisphere was the absence of domesticated large animals which could be used to pull wheeled carriages." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel#History)

Note that the wheelbarrow is primarily for human use, but it's not possible without the wheel which, (it is conjectured) is invented to carry loads with the help of domesticated beasts of burden. So, the American peoples could not go through level I (invent the wheel) due to the shortage of domesticated large animals, to arrive at level II (invent the wheelbarrow) which would have freed them from relying on such animals.

gbog• 14 years ago

China has a great record on low tech inventions. The calligraphy pen is another one.

geon• 14 years ago

I have only used european wheelbarrows, but I find them deceptively unstable at high loads. You might bee able to push 100 kg of dirt since you only have to lifthalf of the weight, but as soon as you get just slightly off ballance, the full weight will push the wheelbarrow over. There is just no way you can keep it from falling once that happens.

The problem would seem to be Much worse with the chineese design, since the load is much higher (and the center of gravity higher ?).

Low Tech Magazine: The Chinese Wheelbarrow

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