Source of lifebuoy

Lifebuoy is a tool for people to survive when they are in distress on water. Going swimming in summer, for safety reasons, people often like to take lifebuoys with them, and beginners prefer to keep company with them. Even sailors who are familiar with water always keep several lifebuoys on each boat when going out to sea. In the past, some people thought that lifebuoys were introduced to China from Europe and America. In fact, lifebuoys were invented by Chinese people.

As early as two or three thousand years ago, China had a "life buoy", that is, dried gourd melon. According to the book of changes, "Bao Huang, use Feng River", according to Mr. Guo Moruo's explanation, is "crossing the river with gourd and melon". The Book of Songs also says that "there are bitter leaves, and the economy is deeply involved." Mr. Wen Yiduo translated this record in the Book of Songs as: "The leaves have been patted, and the gourd has dried up, so it can be used as a waist boat." We think the meaning of these two poems is that holding the dried gourd melon can make the body float on the water without drowning. This gourd melon is the original life-saving equipment. Later, all ships sailing at sea mostly carried gourds to prevent accidents. Thus, it can be seen that the ancient people of our country crossed the river with dried gourd and melon floating water, which is the primitive lifebuoy.

In the Song Dynasty, the manufacturing method of lifebuoys took a great step forward. Some people began to weave a ring-shaped object with soft wood and reeds, so that people could drill into it and make the ring hold people's bodies. This ring-shaped lifebuoy was much more convenient to use than gourd melon, so it became a veritable life-saving "ring", which the Song people called "floating ring". According to the book "Copy of Song Dynasty", Han Shizhong, a famous anti-gold soldier in the Song Dynasty, once sent Wang Quan to Jinshan to fight against the enemy. Before he left, Han Shizhong ordered him not to cross the river by boat to avoid being discovered by the enemy. So Wang Quan sent each soldier a round floating ring made of cork, and asked them to tie the floating ring around their waist to cross the river. The soldiers quietly crossed the river under the leadership of the kingship. The Jin people were completely unaware of it, and they were raided and completely annihilated. At that time, the floating ring used by Wang Quan was the predecessor of modern life buoy.

In modern times, with the application of new technologies and new materials, various life-saving devices have appeared one after another: lifeboats and life jackets, all of which are available. However, life buoy, a traditional equipment, is still used by people, and it is still the simplest life-saving tool. When sailing, seafarers still put lifebuoys in the most conspicuous places, such as the deck of ships, and paint the lifebuoys in red and white. Some advanced lifebuoys are also equipped with self-illuminating floating lights, so that it is easy to identify the location of people who have fallen into the water during the day or at night, and the rescued ships can track the signs and quickly rush to the accident site to rescue the people who have fallen into the water who are struggling with the waves.