Collapsible umbrella
Paraguas plegable con varillas
- Date
- c. 100 BCE · confidence low
- Place
- Chang'an (Xi'an), China
- Credited to
- Chinese Zhou-Han craftsmen; attributed by legend to the wife of Lu Ban
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A cover of waxed silk or oiled paper over articulated bamboo ribs that folds onto the handle via a sliding mechanism. It turns the rigid parasol into a portable object.
Rigid parasols existed in Egypt and Assyria from the 2nd millennium; a sliding bronze mechanism from the tomb of Wang Guang (1st century BCE) is the clearest evidence.
What it led to
- An everyday object and a symbol of rank in East Asia
- The articulated-rib mechanism reused in fans and folding structures
- Its introduction to Europe in the 17th century as a fashion accessory
Built on
- Paper (Cai Lun's process)105 CE
- Rigid Mesopotamian parasol
- Cai Lun's paper
- Bamboo
- Wax and tung oil
Made possible
- Folding fan (hiōgi / sensu)c. 800
- European steel-framed umbrella
- Japanese paper parasol