The Great Spinning Wheel

The design of the Great Spinning Wheel measures over twenty feet in length and approximately five feet in width. The original units are zhang (丈) and chi (尺); a zhang is roughly ten feet. First, construct a wooden ground-frame. At the four corners, erect pillars, each five feet high. Horizontal crossbeams are pierced through the center, and square timber beams are laid on top. The two ends of these square beams feature V-shaped notches original: "mountain mouths" (山口) to horizontally support the iron axle of the long reel which receives the wound yarn.

Next, on the front of the ground-frame, erect a long wooden base. Upon this base, arrange rows of sockets to support the iron pins at the base of the spindles (xian).
The large spindles are made by turning wood into cylinders, each one foot two inches long and one foot two inches in circumference. There are thirty-two in total, designed to hold the wound yarn.
At the top of the spindles, iron rings are used to secure the spindle axles. Furthermore, in front of the top crossbeam, arrange a row of small iron forks to separate and guide the strands of prepared fiber.

Pronounced in the rising tone

Above the spindles and the long reel, separate frames are built on the left and right to hold two large drive wheels. Leather driving cords are connected through these, passing under the row of pulleys and over to turn the rotating drum of the reel. The machine is powered by either humans or animals.

Pronounced in the rising tone

When the large wheel on the left is turned, the driving cords move with the wheel, and all the mechanical parts move in unison. The upper and lower components correspond to one another, with the speed of the motion properly regulated. This causes the fiber strands to become tightly twisted
Pronounced in the departing tone
as they are wound onto the reel. Operating day and night, this machine can produce a hundred catties of yarn. A "catty" or jin is a traditional unit of weight, roughly equivalent to 1.3 pounds or 600 grams.

Great Spinning Wheel (Dafangche): A massive, multi-spindle machine that represented a peak of pre-industrial textile technology, allowing one power source to drive dozens of spindles simultaneously.
Reel (Kuang): The large frame onto which the finished, twisted yarn is wound.
Spindle (Xian): The vertical rod that twists the raw fiber into thread.