{{Short description|Winnowing machine used in ancient China}}
'''Fengshanche''' ({{zh|p=fēngshànchē|t=風扇車<ref>{{citation|title=International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms: Proceedings of HMM 2008|author=Hong-Sen Yan & Marco Ceccarelli|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4020-9484-2|page=247}}</ref>|l=wind fan vehicle}}) was a [[winnowing]] machine that was used in ancient China to separate the grain from the chaff or seed casings after harvest. The winnowing machine also had a rotary fan which had a blower that had a crank handle to create air to blow away the lighter seed casings to separate the husks from the pile of grain.<ref name="Needham">[[Joseph Needham|Needham, Joseph]] (1965). ''Science and Civilization in China, Vol. IV: Physics and Physical Technology'', p.118. {{ISBN|978-0-521-05802-5}}.</ref><ref name="Ulrich Vogel 3">{{Cite web |last=Ulrich Vogel  |first=Hans |date=January 1, 2019 |title=Materials on Traditional Chinese Winnowing Machines |url=https://www.academia.edu/4326050 |publisher=[[Academia.edu]] |pages=3}}</ref>

[[File:Winnowing_machine.jpg|thumb|right|A rotary fan winnowing machine with two farm workers separating the grain from the husks as illustrated in [[Song Yingxing]]'s ''[[Tiangong Kaiwu]]''.]]

==Overview==
Based on the archaeological evidence provided by pottery models of the winnowing machine, the winnowing machine was constructed within the courtyard wall that had [[Quern-stone|querns]] and [[trip hammer]]s placed near it.<ref name="Needham" /> The machine also had a crank operated rotary fan with four blades, an air inlet, and hopper as well as a box, crank, and vanes.<ref name="Ulrich Vogel 3"/> The device was able to be operated by hands or feet. The crank consists of four to six vanes that are made of thin boards. When operated, grains are placed in the gap through the funnel where they fall down. The vanes would then spin and then separate the lighter husks by blowing them away with the grains with no husks that would fall to box's bottom.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Mechanisms in Ancient Chinese Books with Illustrations |last1=Yan  |first1=Hong Sen |last2=Hsiao  |first2=Kuo-Hung  |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-3319020082 |publication-date=December 13, 2013 |pages=111}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Winnowing machine and tilt hammer.JPG|thumb|A Western Han pottery model featuring two men operating a winnowing machine with a crank handle and a tilt hammer used to pound grain.]]

The winnowing machine was referred and applied to grain cleaning based on the references in the book of ''[[Jijiupian]]'' during the Western Han dynasty.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8E0DwAAQBAJ&q=three+types+winnower&pg=PA36 |title=New Activities For Cultural Heritage: Proceedings of the International Conference Heritage |last1=Ceccarelli  |first1=Marco  |last2=Cigola |first2= Michela  |last3=Recinto  |first3=Giuseppe |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |year=2017 |isbn= 978-3319883663 |pages=33}}</ref> The pottery winnower model was used as a funeral object in the Central Plains. The ancient Chinese used their other invention of the crank handle and a rotary centrifugal fan and applied it to the design of the winnowing machine.<ref name="Needham"/><ref>{{citation|title=International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms: Proceedings of HMM 2008|author=Hong-Sen Yan & Marco Ceccarelli|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4020-9484-2|page=247}}</ref> Evidence of the rotary fan winnowing machine that makes use of the centrifugal principle can be traced back to the Western Han dynasty with archaeological evidence provided by pottery models of the winnowing machine excavated from Western Han tombs in Luoyang, Henan in the early 1970s.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A History of Chinese Science and Technology |last=Lu |first=Yongxiang |date=23 August 2016 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3662513897 |volume=2 |pages=289}}</ref><ref>{{citation|title=International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms: Proceedings of HMM 2008|author=Hong-Sen Yan & Marco Ceccarelli|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4020-9484-2|page=247}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C8E0DwAAQBAJ&q=three+types+winnower&pg=PA36 |title=New Activities For Cultural Heritage: Proceedings of the International Conference Heritage |last1=Ceccarelli  |first1=Marco  |last2=Cigola |first2= Michela  |last3=Recinto  |first3=Giuseppe |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |year=2017 |isbn= 978-3319883663 |pages=37}}</ref>  
 
==See also==
*[[Agriculture in China]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Agricultural machinery]]
[[Category:Chinese inventions]]
[[Category:Han dynasty]]
[[Category:History of agriculture in China]]