Lu Ban was a famous craftsman in ancient my country. He was a native of Lu in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the early Warring States Period. Luban is not his real name. "Book of Rites", "Warring States Policy", and "Lu Shi Chunqiu" record that Luban's original name was Gongshuban, "Mozi Gongshu" records that Luban's original name was Gongshupan, and "Book of the Later Han" records that Luban's original name was Gongshupan. Like others, literati in the past dynasties called Lu Ban Gongshuzi. Because "Ban" and "Ban" had the same pronunciation and were commonly used in ancient times, and he was from the state of Lu (one said he was from Qufu today, the other said he was from Tengzhou), he was called Lu Ban or Lu Ban by later generations. Later, Luban was so widely spread that people mistakenly thought it was his real name. In fact, this is just what foreigners call him.
According to scholars' research, Lu Ban was born in about the thirteenth year of King Jing of Zhou (507 BC), lived in seclusion in Lishan (now southeast of Jinan, Shandong) forty years later, and died in the twenty-fifth year of King Zhending of Zhou (444 BC). after. He died at the age of sixty-four.
Lu Ban was born in a family of generations of craftsmen. He followed his family in civil engineering work since he was a child, and accumulated rich practical experience in practice. During the turn of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period when he lived, it was the period when society was transitioning from slavery to feudalism. Many slaves engaged in handicrafts were liberated and became independent individual craftsmen. This gave Luban, as a slave craftsman, the freedom to move around and give him greater room to display his craftsmanship.
Since ancient times, legends about Lu Ban's contributions to carpentry and construction have been widely circulated among the people. He is regarded as the ancestor by craftsmen in various industries such as "gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, stone, wood, tiles, carving and lacquer". This is also well deserved.
Luban had many inventions and creations in woodworking tools, machinery and weapon manufacturing, among which the invention of woodworking tools had the greatest impact on future generations. According to records in ancient books, tools such as saws, ink fountains, planes, rulers (also called squares), drills, chisels, and shovels were all invented by Lu Ban. It is now commonplace to see these tools in our homes, but they were of great historical value at the time. Luban's invention freed craftsmen from heavy labor and greatly improved their labor efficiency. The invention of every tool was the result of Luban's repeated trials and hard work in production practice.
The process of Luban's invention of the saw is very representative. Legend has it that once, Lu Ban took his disciples up the mountain to collect wood. As he walked, Lu Ban came to a steep slope. If he wanted to climb up the steep slope, he could only climb up by grabbing the weeds on it with his hands. Just as he was climbing up, he suddenly felt that his hand was scratched by something. When he came to the slope, he saw that his calloused hand had a cut and blood oozed from it. He looked around carefully and found that his hand was scratched by a kind of weed. Lu Ban was surprised. He picked a blade of grass and found that there were many sharp teeth on the edge of the blade. Lu Ban was inspired by it and suddenly felt enlightened.
He made a strip of bamboo from moso bamboo with many saw teeth carved on it. Use it to pull the tree, and the bark will break in just a few times. If you use more force, a deep groove will appear in the trunk. But over time, the saw teeth on the bamboo pieces became dull. What's harder than bamboo chips? Luban thought of iron. He asked the blacksmith to cut a saw-toothed iron bar based on the bamboo pieces he made. This iron bar was the ancestor of the saw.
The curved ruler invented by Lu Ban is also called Lu Ban ruler. So what are "class mother" and "class wife"? "Ban Mu" refers to the small hook on the ink fountain, and "Ban Qi" refers to the prong bayonet that catches the wood when planing wood. Luban's mother and wife helped him a lot with his inventions. The original ink fountain did not have a hook, so Lu Ban had to ask his mother to hold one end of the ink thread every time he used it. Later, his mother suggested why not use a small hook to hook the wood, so that Lu Ban could operate it independently. In order to commemorate Lu Ban's mother, the carpenters called the small hook on the ink fountain "Ban Mu". Similarly, "Ban's wife" also originated from the fact that Lu Ban always asked his wife to hold the wood when he was planing wood. Later, he invented the wooden prong bayonet.
Lu Ban was not only an outstanding inventor, but it is said that his wife was also an excellent worker. Both husband and wife were hard workers and excellent workers. There is such a story in "Jade Chips". Lu Ban works outside all year round, exposed to the sun and rain, and is very hard. His wife, Yunshi, saw that the pavilion on the roadside could provide shade from the sun and rain, so she invented a portable pavilion - an umbrella, and asked Lu Ban to take it with him every time he went out.
In addition, "Shiben" records that the stone mill was also invented by Lu Ban. He was inspired by seeing an old lady pounding wheat with a stone pestle. The old lady was too old to lift the stone pestle, so she put the wheat in the stone mortar and pounded the wheat with her hands on the stone pestle. Lu Ban found that most of the wheat grains in the stone mortar had been pounded into flour. Later, Lu Ban found two stones, chiseled them into two round stone slabs, cut grooves on each stone slab, and dug a hole in the side of one of the stone slabs to install a wooden handle. Put the two stone slabs together so that the grooves on them match. When people or animals turn the wooden handle, the wheat grains in the stone slabs leak out from the holes and are ground into flour. The flour leaks out from the gap between the two stone slabs.
According to the "Mozi Lu Wen Chapter", when Lu Ban was touring the Chu Kingdom, he was treated favorably by the King of Chu. In order to thank the King of Chu, he built a "cloud ladder" for the Chu army to attack the city and a "hookqiang" for water warfare. " (also known as "Gouji"), the Chu army was invincible with the help of these tools. So he showed off his "gouqiang" to Mozi: "We in the water war have our own gouqiang. I wonder if the 'righteousness' you advocate also has gouqiang?". Mozi replied: "If you use strong hooks to stop others, others will also use strong hooks to stop you, and in this way they will harm each other. Therefore, my strong hooks of 'righteousness' are better than your strong hooks." Mozi I was speechless after hearing this.
"Mozi Lu Wen Chapter" also records: "Gong Shuzi whittled bamboo wood to make a magpie, and then it flew, and it did not land for three days." The wooden bird made by Lu Ban could fly in the air for three days without landing with the help of wind. . This may seem a bit exaggerated today, but it is not difficult to see Lu Ban’s craftsmanship and the ancients’ dream of flying into the sky.
In addition, Luban also made many contributions in architecture and sculpture. "Shu Yi Ji" records that Lu Ban carved a three-dimensional map of Kyushu on stone. It is also said that Luban also carved a lifelike picture of a phoenix on the stone.
Luban invented many convenient tools for the production and life of working people. In order to express their respect and love for Luban, people gave all the collective creations of working people to Luban. Luban is actually the embodiment of diligence and wisdom.
