许多人都知道现代科技发展的尖端产品--机器人，并以此作为一个国家科技水平的评判标准之一。
但是，早在3000多年前的中国古代文献中就已经有了关于机器人的记载。
在《列子·汤问》中便有周穆王西游时得到一个能歌善舞并会用眼睛挑逗穆王左右侍女的机器人；汉代张衡指南车上木人的右手始终指向南方，也是利用齿轮定向的机器人。
另外，三国时的诸葛亮制作的"木牛流马"；南北朝南奇巧匠俞灵韵的"机器马"；隋唐时王琚用轻质木料制作的"机械水獭"，不仅能够在水中捕鱼，捕到鱼后还会自动浮出水面；宋代沈括的《梦溪笔谈》中的"木抓鼠"等，都和机器人有着异曲同工之妙。
元朝末，有个叫做马待封的人和他的朋友李劲一起制作了一座酒山，山下有龟，山上有龙，龙还会自动往杯子里吐酒，喝酒的人如果没有及时把杯子放回去，山上的楼阁里就会有一个机器人来到饮酒人面前，把杯子取走。
看，中国自古以来各个朝代的机器人都很有意思吧。
As a highly advanced product of modern technologies, robot is used as one of the important criteria to measure a country's scientific and technological level.
Believed it or not, however, there were already accounts of automated devices in China's ancient documents over 3,000 years ago.
For instance, it was recorded that the King Zhou Mu Wang of the Zhou Dynastry (11th century - 771 B.C.) was presented an automatic figure during his travel to the west that could sing and dance and tantalize the King's maids. The wooden figure, with right hand always pointing South on the southward pointing cart invented by Zhang Heng of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25. - 220), was also a sort of automatic device which determined the direction by means of gear.
Moreover, wooden walking horses invented by Zhuge Liang during the Three Kingdom Period (220 - 280), automatic horse made by craftsman Yu Lingyu of the Qi of the Southern Dynasties (479 - 502), wood beaver that could fish and then emerge from the water by itself created by Wang Ju of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) and wooden mouse-catching device recorded in Meng Xi Bi Tan (the Dream Rivulet Diary) written by Shen Kuo of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), all have natures similar to modern robots.
In the late Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), a man named Ma Daifeng and his friend Li Jin made a small wine hill. There was a tortoise at the foot of the hill and a dragon on the top of the hill that could spit out wine automatically. If the drinker did not put back the wine cup in time, the automatic figure at the pavilion of the hill would come to the drinker and took the cup away.
Well, these Chinese ancient "robots" are fantastic, aren't they?
