Lu Ban (Chinese: 鲁班; Pinyin: Lǔ Bān, ?-?) was a famous architect of ancient China. His real name was Gongshu Ban (公输般). Because he lived in the Lu Dukedom during the Spring and Autumn Period (about 770 BC-476 BC) he is referred to as Lu Ban. Chinese carpenters and bricklayers consider him as the first and greatest architect of China and worship him. According to the legend, he invented the Chinese saw, paper umbrella, and arch bridge. His other remarkable inventions include the first glider, which was used in warfares sending combatants over city walls and other defensive constructions. Since most ancient Chinese buildings were wooden structures (because of the lack of marble in China), there are no buildings which were built by him standing. He only lives in the oral legends and some old documents. For example, legend attributes the building of the Zhaozhou Bridge to him. Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; Hanyu Pinyin: , lit. ... Lu ( Chinese: 魯國; pinyin: ) was an ancient state in China during the Spring and Autumn Period. ... The Spring and Autumn Period (Chinese: 春秋時代; Hanyu Pinyin: ) represented an era in Chinese history between 722 BC and 481 BC. The period takes its name from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the period whose authorship was traditionally attributed to Confucius. ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 820s BC 810s BC 800s BC 790s BC 780s BC - 770s BC - 760s BC 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC Events and Trends 778 BC - Agamestor, King of Athens dies after a reign of 17 years and... Centuries: 4th century BC - 5th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 520s BC 510s BC 500s BC 490s BC 480s BC - 470s BC - 460s BC 450s BC 440s BC 430s BC 420s BC Years: 481 BC 480 BC 479 BC 478 BC 477 BC _ 476 BC _ 475 BC... : For other uses, see Glider (disambiguation). ... The Zhaozhou Bridge (Chinese: 赵州桥; Pinyin: ) is the worlds oldest open-spandrel segmental arch bridge located in Hebei Province, China. ...