To go swimming in the summer, people often like to bring a lifebuoy for safety. Those who are learning to swim more like to be with it. It is a seafather who is familiar with water. When he goes out to sea, he always has several lifebuoys on each ship. In the past, some people thought that the lifebuoy was introduced to China from Europe and the United States. In fact, the lifebuoy was created by our Chinese.
As early as two or three thousand years ago, China had a "lifebuoy", and that was the dried gourd. What is said in the Book of Changes: "Bao dynasty, using Feng (sound ‘by relying on the river), according to Mr. Guo Moruo’s explanation, is “using the gourd to cross the river”. The Book of Songs also said that "there is bitterness, and there is deep involvement in the study." Mr. Wen Yiduo translated this record in the Book of Songs as: "The leaves are photographed, the gourd is also dried, and you can choose to make a boat." Used." We think that the meaning of these two poems is that holding a dried gourd can make the body float on the water and not drown. This gourd is the most primitive life-saving equipment. Later, all the vessels that sailed on the sea were mostly carrying gourd melons to prevent accidents. It can be seen that the ancient Chinese people used the dried gourd to float the river, which is the most primitive lifebuoy.
In the Song Dynasty, the production method of lifebuoys took a big step forward. Some people began to use soft wood, reeds, etc. to form a ring-shaped object, which allows people to drill in and make the ring support the human body. This ring-shaped lifebuoy is used more than The gourd melon is much more convenient, and it has become a veritable life-saving "circle". The Song people called it a "floating ring." According to the book "Song Song Copy": Han Shizhong, the anti-gold medalist of the Song Dynasty, sent the king to go to Jinshan to resist the enemy. Before leaving, Han Shizhong ordered him not to use the ship to cross the river, so as not to be detected by the enemy. Then the king sent a round floating ring made of softwood to each of the soldiers, so that they could bind the floating ring to the waist and cross the river. The soldiers quietly crossed the river under the leadership of Wang Quan, and the Jin people did not know it. They were attacked and the whole army was wiped out. The floating ring used by Wang Quan at that time was the predecessor of the modern lifebuoy.
From time to time, with the application of new technologies and new materials, various life-saving equipments have emerged: lifeboats and life jackets, all ready. However, the traditional equipment of the lifebuoy is still used by people, and it is still the easiest lifesaving tool. During the voyage, the seamen still placed the lifebuoy on the most conspicuous place such as the deck of the ship, and painted red and white colors on the lifebuoy. Some of the higher lifebuoys were also equipped with self-illuminating floating lights, so that during the daytime At night, the location of the drowning people is easy to identify. The rescued vessels can trace the signs and quickly rush to the scene of the accident to rescue the drowning people who wrestle with the waves.