The craft of making and using waterwheels in the Hongze Lake area is a traditional craft project in the second batch of representative projects of municipal intangible cultural heritage in Huai'an. Historical evolution The waterwheel is the oldest agricultural irrigation tool in my country. The waterwheels recorded in history in my country appeared around the Eastern Han Dynasty. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Emperor Ling (156-189 AD) ordered Bi Lan to build a "turning car", which is a scraper-type continuous water-lifting machine, also known as a keel waterwheel, with basic devices such as axle grooves. The "Three Kingdoms Wei Zhi" records that Wei people and Ma Jun improved and perfected the turning car made by their predecessors, and made a turning car that was both light and easy to operate. This kind of turning car can be turned even by children, and it can continuously lift water, so it quickly spread among the people and promoted the development of agricultural production. This stage can be regarded as the first stage of the appearance of Chinese waterwheels, which has a history of more than 1,700 years. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, waterwheels made great progress in the application of axles, and could use water power as a power source, making a "cylinder car" that could deliver low water and high water with the help of a pool and a connecting cylinder. Not only is it more effective, but it also saves precious manpower. In the poem on the wall of Nengrenyuan written by Zhang Xiaoxiang of the Southern Song Dynasty (1132-1169 AD, a poet and calligrapher, with the courtesy name Anguo and the pseudonym Yuhu Jushi, from Wujiang, Liyang (now northeast of Hexian County, Anhui Province), he praised it greatly, saying: "Turn this wheel to save you from the drought." It can be seen that the waterwheel is very helpful to farming. During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the development of the wheel axle was more advanced. A waterwheel not only has one set of gears, but as many as three sets. In addition to the human-powered waterwheel, there are also hydraulic waterwheels and animal-powered waterwheels, which are called "three vehicles" together with the human-powered waterwheel. In the "Heavenly Creations" by Song Yingxing of the Ming Dynasty (1587-1666 AD, with the courtesy name Changgeng, from Yaxi Paifang Village, Beixiang, Fengxin, Jiangxi Province, and a famous scientist in the Ming Dynasty), there is a record of the "three vehicles". At this time, water power and animal power were used as the drive, finally freeing manpower from the pedals of the overturning wheel. At the same time, due to the development of rotating shafts, vertical wheels, horizontal wheels, etc., the drum wheel, which was originally driven only by water, can make use of animal power even in places where water is not abundant, and make contributions. After the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, there were no more outstanding achievements in the development of Chinese water wheels. In the areas around Hongze Lake, water wheels are the main irrigation and drainage tools. Until the mid-1960s, they were still used in agricultural production in the Hongze Lake area. Content and characteristics Water wheels in the Hongze Lake area can be divided into human water wheels, animal water wheels, and wind water wheels according to the power used, commonly known as "three vehicles". Generally, it consists of two major parts, the lower part is an open rectangular wooden trough barrel, and the lower end of the trough barrel has a rotatable wooden wheel or stone wheel (also known as stone paddle) with a wooden leaf plate. The wooden chain head, also known as the keel, connects the scraper in the trough into a chain-like ring, and the upper end is put on the wooden wheel or stone wheel (also known as wooden paddle, stone paddle) on the tread frame. The paddle is equipped with nine paddle teeth to paddle the keel in the trough to lift water. The other end is sleeved on the driving shaft at the lower end of the trough barrel, and the driving shaft is equipped with six teeth to support the keel. When in use, the wooden wheel at the lower end of the trough barrel is sunk into the water as the water inlet, and the upper end is the water outlet. The waterwheel rotates, and the water is continuously sent to the upper outlet in the trough through the scraper installed on the keel. The upper part varies depending on the power used. Human waterwheels are divided into two-person, three-person, and four-person. They are through a longer horizontal axis with a stepping board installed on the axis. The person stepping on the waterwheel holds the frame with his hands and keeps stepping on the board with his feet to make the waterwheel rotate to achieve the effect of irrigation and drainage. There are also hand-cranked waterwheels that can be shaken by a single person with his arms, which are also called turning carts locally. Animal-powered carts are equipped with a wheel plate and an axle. There are wooden gears on the wheel plate to drive the axle, which are generally driven by cattle, horses, donkeys, etc. The windmill is equipped with two upper and lower horizontal axes and one vertical axis. The upper axis is equipped with 6 wind poles, and a cloth sail is pulled up to drive it by wind power. Among the "three vehicles", the rickshaw has a smaller tank and a smaller water output, but it is flexible and convenient and has a wide range of uses. The making and using of waterwheels in the Hongze Lake area is a traditional folk handicraft. The principles of physics are applied in the production process. The use of waterwheels has promoted the development and progress of traditional agricultural society and carries certain historical, cultural, scientific and economic values. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)