Today, when you go swimming, you always wear an inflatable plastic swimming ring to prevent sinking. So was there such a thing in ancient times?
There are also some. Although there was no plastic in ancient times, there were many natural things. For example, the gourd (also written as "Hulu") is empty inside. When the ancients crossed the river, they tied several big gourds around their waists. There is an idiom called "a lost boat is a pot of gold", which means that if you fall into the water in the middle of the river, who can throw you a big gourd, which is more valuable than 1200 gold. This is the same as throwing a lifebuoy today. So this gourd is called "waist boat". Is a boat tied around the waist.
There is also something called a floating valve. This is to tie a few empty jars to a wooden frame, so that people can float across the water when sitting on the wooden frame.
Large floating valves used in war are like this:
The lifebuoy appeared in the Song Dynasty, when it was called a floating ring. In the Song Dynasty, there was a general named Wang Quan who took many soldiers across the river. In order not to be discovered by the enemy, he did not use a boat, but each soldier sent a floating ring. This kind of floating ring is made of light wood into a circle, put on the body, tied around the neck with a rope, and held down with two hands. This is the earliest life buoy.
However, whether it is a floating valve or a floating ring, it is too big to carry around. If you often cross the river, soldiers like to carry a kind of floating bag. This kind of floating bag is sewn with sheepskin into a big bag, and the leaking place is glued. Usually you can roll it up and carry it on your back. When you use it, you can blow it up and tie it on your body, so you can cross the river. This is the earliest inflatable life buoy!
Pucao is very light and can also be used to cross the river;
Flying wings used in war, weapons can be placed on them to easily cross the water;
In addition to gourd, pig or cow bladder, it can also be used as a lifebuoy when it is blown and tied. This method has actually been learned by charlatans.
The charlatan has a skill. When he walks to the river, he suddenly sits on the water and crosses the river lightly. People were shocked and thought he was a fairy. He cheated a lot of money. Later, someone exposed him. It turned out that he tied several inflatable pig urine bubbles under his ass and put on a robe outside, and no one could see it.