The structure of the flail is very simple, a long handle and a wide raft, and then the two are connected by a rotating shaft. However, flail is not simple. It is not only a common production tool, but also an important agricultural cultural heritage, which has an extremely lofty position and influence in the thousands of years of farming history in China.
origin
Cangue originated in China and has a long history. According to "Guoyu Qiyu", as early as the 7th century BC, the State of Qi at that time (in present-day Shandong Peninsula) was the first to beat wheat with a spade. At that time, it was called "cangue" or "row". Yan Shigu's Notes on Hanshu in the Tang Dynasty clearly said: "Playing Buddha's voice to attack grain is now called cangue". Then, from the Tang Dynasty, this farm tool was named "hanging cangue", which has a history of 1200 years.
During the Qing Dynasty in Song Renzong (A.D. 104 1- 1048), cangue was used as a weapon to enter and leave the battlefield. That kind of battle flail is called "flail". The cangue is made of iron. If it is really shot down, it will definitely kill the enemy. However, the history of "filling farmers to join the army" is not long. In the Southern Song Dynasty, after gunpowder was used in the war, the cangue was "demobilized" by the army and returned to the rural wheat fields.
Xu Guangqi, a famous scientist in Ming Dynasty, wrote a book "Agricultural Administration", which made a special record of "cangue". Although there are threshers now, flail is still used in some remote mountainous areas.