Illustrated Explanation of Chariot Construction, Volume 1

Second: The felloe thickness is two inchesOriginal: cun. A traditional Chinese unit of length, roughly equivalent to an inch.. The Record contains cross-references See details under the section on the jing Original: jing. Historically refers to the tread or the unlacquered part of the wheel rim. measurement. Now, [Master Zheng] arbitrarily declares the felloe thickness to be 1 inch, 6 fen1/10th of a cun., 6 li1/100th of a cun., and 6 hao1/1000th of a cun.. This is merely a subjective estimation. How can he not know that the Record has already clearly stated the width of the felloe? Its thickness is inherent within the measurements for the jing; it is practically explicit. Why wait for later generations to subjectively decree how thick the felloe should be?

Furthermore, a felloe thickness of only about one inch would surely be too thin. This is the third point of disagreement.

If the unlacquered portion that treads upon the ground is one inch, and we add the lacquered inner portion, we arrive at a total of 6 feetOriginal: chi. A traditional Chinese unit of length, approximately 1/3 of a meter or 10 cun. 4 inches. Bisecting this yields 3 feet 2 inches for the length of the hub. Such a hub would be excessively long; it would be unable to pass through the Ying Gate The ceremonial gate of the royal palace described in the Rites of Zhou. Details under the section on deducing chariot dimensions and axle length. This is the fourth point of disagreement.

The section on The Cartwright Original: Che ren. The official responsible for building heavy transport wagons in the Record of Trades. states that for a large wagon, the hub diameter is 1 foot 5 inches. Adding the length of two spokes (4 feet 5 inches) and the thickness of the two felloes (3 feet), the total is 9 feet, which constitutes the wheel height. This corroborates the section on The Wheelwright, making the construction system even clearer. If one were to use 1 foot 1 inch as the four-sided girth of the felloe, then what The Cartwright calls "dividing the wheel into six parts"...