Umbrella Origin

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Umbrella Origin

Author: Time:2013-06-11 01:09:31 Click:127

There are many versions of the story about the umbrella origin. Some said that the Egyptians are the first to use the umbrellas, as early as 1200 BC, Egyptian slaves would hold the parasols for their owners when they went out for travelling. Roman used umbrellas to block the sunlight in the Mediterranean region. Most scholars believe that umbrella was first invented by the Chinese., but about who invented the umbrella, there are three versions.

The first version: 4000 years ago, the Chinese people invented the umbrella by chance . A boy held a lotus leaf in a rainy day. However, the concave upward lotus leaf which was full of rain can not stand the weight and became getting drooping. The boy sudendly turned over the lotus leaf on his head. A convex upward umbrella-shaped hat appeared.People found that the umbrella-shaped objectives can keep off therain,thus the umbrella was invented. Early the umbrella was made of the leaves or grasses, subsequently the oiled paper umbrellas and bamboo umbrellas emerged, and then the umbrella made of silk appeared, about. 2000 years ago, the umbrella frame appeared and at that time umbrella can be opened and closed by hand.

The second version:abou 1000 BC the umbrella was invented by Lu Ban^’s wife, Yun, the umbrella was known as "Movable house”.

The third version: Luban invented the umbrella. In ancient times people don’t t love to go out in rainy days, because there is no umbrella at that time and it is easy to get wet. One day, Luban was walking on the way, suddenly it rained, and he had to come to a pavilion to take shelter from the rain. Luban was thinking: if there is something to prevent the rain, then people will not fear the rain. He looked up and saw the shape of the pavilion and had an idea. After he arrived home, he made a frame using a few crabsticks and put on an oilcloth on the frame, Thus the first umbrella was invendted.

.There is another version which is a combination of the above three versions: General idea is as below:

Luban saw that boy who held a lotus leaf and suddenly an idea came to his mind and then the umbrella rudiment formed. Later Lu Ban^’s wife, Yun said "It is not convenient to carry an umbrella to walk in a sunny or cloudy day" then Yun modified the umbrella and made it open and close freely. Paper umbrella was found after the Han Dynasty, and it was introduced into Japan in the Tang Dynasty, and into Europe in the 16^th century, Italian maestro Leonardo da Vinc designed the first parachute i inspired by the umbrella,. 18th-century invention of bevel gears was modeled by the cross-sectional shape of umbrella design. In 1957, Professor Yan from Beijing Normal University was inspired by human extended elbow and thought if an extend umbrella can be invented,iIt would be much more convenient to carry around, so he modified the existing umbrella, designed the drawings, and made the new mold. And finally he came to an agreement with a machinery plant “Zhongfu Factory”.The factory is responsible for mass producing and sales. Soon folding umbrellas became popular throughout the country because of its easy carrying.