fl. first century B.C.?

Semi-mythical Chinese inventor credited with developing the wheelbarrow. According to one ancient text, "Ko Yu built a wooden goat and rode away into the mountains on it." In fact this was a form of code intended to conceal the exact nature of the invention, which was so valuable for moving arms and materiel that the Han Dynasty armies kept its design secret. In time the wheelbarrow came to be known in China as the "wooden ox."