Verbiest's steam carriage
Carro de vapor de Verbiest
- Date
- c. 1672 · confidence low
- Place
- Beijing, China
- Credited to
- Ferdinand Verbiest (Flemish Jesuit at the Qing court)
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A model about 65 cm long that, according to its author, moved by a steam jet acting on a paddle wheel connected to the road wheels. It was made for the Kangxi Emperor and is often cited as the first steam-propelled vehicle.
We know it only from the Astronomia Europaea (1687), written by Verbiest in the third person; the model has not survived and there is no independent Chinese source, so its existence and operation are disputed.
What it led to
- a conceptual precursor of the steam self-propelled vehicle, with no proven direct influence on Cugnot
- an early example of technical exchange between the Jesuits and the Qing court