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Field mill (carriage)
Encyclopedia
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
used for grinding grains, which had the very practical use of feeding a moving army. It was first invented in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
around 340 AD, although its use eventually died out, was invented separately in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
by 1580, and then reentered China from Europe during the early 17th century.
Later Zhao
In the Yezhongji (鄴中記) ('Record of Affairs at the Capital of the Later Zhao DynastyYe, China
Ye or Yecheng was an ancient Chinese city located in what is now Linzhang County, Hebei and the neighbouring Anyang County, Henan....
') by Lu Hui, covering the history of the Later Zhao
Later Zhao
The Later Zhao was a state of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty in China. It was founded by the Shi family of the Jie ethnicity...
(319–351 AD) court in China, the text describes various mechanical devices used, including the wheeled odometer
Odometer
An odometer or odograph is an instrument that indicates distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or automobile. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two. The word derives from the Greek words hodós and métron...
for measuring distance and the south pointing chariot
South Pointing Chariot
The south-pointing chariot was an ancient Chinese two-wheeled vehicle that carried a movable pointer to indicate the south, no matter how the chariot turned. Usually, the pointer took the form of a doll or figure with an outstretched arm...
for indicating cardinal direction
Cardinal direction
The four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...
. Two engineers in particular, the Palace Officer Xie Fei and Director of Imperial Workshops Wei Mengbian, were known for their designs and worked at the court of Shi Hu
Shi Hu
Shi Hu , courtesy name Jilong , formally Emperor Wu of Zhao , was an emperor of the Chinese/Jie state Later Zhao...
(r. 334–349). The two had crafted a four-wheeled carriage about 6 m (20 ft) long with water-spouting dragons hanging over a large golden Buddhist statue that had a mechanical wooden statue of a Daoist
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
continually rubbing his front. Other mechanical figures included ten Daoists dressed in monastic robes who continually rotated around the Buddha while periodically bowing, saluting, and throwing incense
Incense
Incense is composed of aromatic biotic materials, which release fragrant smoke when burned. The term "incense" refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces. It is used in religious ceremonies, ritual purification, aromatherapy, meditation, for creating a mood, and for...
into a censer
Censer
Censers are any type of vessels made for burning incense. These vessels vary greatly in size, form, and material of construction. They may consist of simple earthenware bowls or fire pots to intricately carved silver or gold vessels, small table top objects a few centimetres tall to as many as...
. All of these mechanical figures were driven only by the movement of the carriage; once the carriage halted, the figures stopped moving and the water stopped spouting from the artificial dragons.
Xie and Wei created a similar device operated by wheel motion called the field mill, although it served a more practical purpose than the theatrical display of moving statues and water-spouting dragons. The Yezhongji states that the two devised a "pounding cart" or "pounding wagon" which had figurine statues armed with real tilt hammers
Trip hammer
A trip hammer, also known as a helve hammer, is a massive powered hammer used in:* agriculture to facilitate the labor of pounding, decorticating and polishing of grain;...
who pounded and hulled
Husk
Husk in botany is the outer shell or coating of a seed. It often refers to the leafy outer covering of an ear of maize as it grows on the plant. Literally, a husk or hull includes the protective outer covering of a seed, fruit or vegetable...
rice only when the cart moved. In addition to this they had a "mill cart" (field mill or camp mill) which had rotating millstone
Millstone
Millstones or mill stones are used in windmills and watermills, including tide mills, for grinding wheat or other grains.The type of stone most suitable for making millstones is a siliceous rock called burrstone , an open-textured, porous but tough, fine-grained sandstone, or a silicified,...
s mounted on their frames, which would rotate and grind wheat as the cart moved forward. Just like the carriage with mechanical figures mentioned above, when the carriage stopped, the devices associated with them halted.
Europe
Use of the field mill in China seems to have died out in use after the Later Zhao, since it was no longer mentioned in Chinese texts until European influence.The Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
military engineer Pompeo Targone
Pompeo Targone
Pompeo Targone was an Italian military engineer in the service of Ambrose Spinola. He was famous for his role in the Siege of Ostend , the Siege of La Rochelle and the Huguenot wars...
, who was most notably involved in the Siege of La Rochelle (1627-1628)
Siege of La Rochelle
The Siege of La Rochelle was a result of a war between the French royal forces of Louis XIII of France and the Huguenots of La Rochelle in 1627-1628...
in western France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, invented the field mill in Europe by 1580. As shown in the Italian Vittorio Zonca
Vittorio Zonca
Vittorio Zonca was an Italian engineer and writer. He wrote the Theater of machines, which was published in Padua in 1607, four years after his death....
's engineering treatise of 1607, two mills mounted to a wagon are rotated by a horse whim and gearing while in a stationary position at military camp or near billets.
This European design found its way into China by the early 17th century, during the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
(1368–1644). In the Yuanxi Qiqi Tushuo Luzui ('Collected Diagrams and Explanations of the Wonderful Machines of the Far West') compiled and translated in 1627 by German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Jesuit Johann Schreck
Johann Schreck
Johann Schreck, also Terrenz or Terrentius Constantiensis, Deng Yuhan Hanpo, Deng Zhen Lohan, was a German Jesuit, missionary to China and polymath...
(1576–1630) and Ming Dynasty Chinese author Wang Zheng (王徵 1571–1644), a field mill is shown amongst other devices. In this picture, two mills are operated by the gearing of a rotating bar and a whippletree harnessed to a single horse, unlike the two horses seen in Zonca's illustration.