Editing Fishing reel (section)

===Origins in China===
{{see also|Science and technology of the Han dynasty|Science and technology of the Tang dynasty|Science and technology of the Song dynasty}}
[[File:胡汉交战00223.jpg|thumb|An [[Eastern Han dynasty]] (25–220 AD) stone [[stele|tablet]], currently displayed at the [[Xuzhou]] Art Museum of Han Stone Gravings, with [[engraving]]s depicting an angling rod with a wheel-like device (lower right corner)]]
[[Image:Angler on a Wintry Lake, by Ma Yuan, 1195.jpg|thumb|"Angler on a Wintry Lake," painted in 1195 by [[Ma Yuan (painter)|Ma Yuan]]]]
In literary records, the earliest evidence of the fishing reel comes from a 3rd-century AD [[Ancient China|Chinese]] work entitled ''[[Liexian Zhuan|Lives of Famous Immortals]]'',<ref>Birrell (1993), 185.</ref><ref>Hucker (1975), 206.</ref><ref>Ronan (1994), 41.</ref><ref>Temple (1986), 88.</ref> where the term "angling lathe" (釣車) was used. [[Tang dynasty]] poet [[Lu Guimeng]] (?&ndash;881) and his friend [[Pi Rixiu]] (834&ndash;883), both avid anglers, frequently mentioned "angling lathe" and "angle-fishing wheel" (釣魚輪) in their fishing poems, with Pi even describing a gift reel he received as "an angle-handled wheel [that] is smooth and light" (角柄孤輪細膩輕). [[Song dynasty]] poets, such as [[Huang Tingjian]] (1045&ndash;1105) and [[Yang Wanli]] (1127&ndash;1206), also made reference to "angling lathe" in [[Ci (poetry)|lyrics]] involving lakes and [[fishing boat]]s. [[Northern Song]] scientist [[Shen Kuo]] (1031&ndash;1095) even once wrote in a [[travel book]] that "angling uses wheeled rod, rod uses [[Phyllostachys nigra|purple bamboo]], the wheel is not to be large, the rod shouldn't be long, but [you] can angle if the line is long" (釣用輪竿，竿用紫竹，輪不欲大，竿不宜長，但絲長則可釣耳).

The earliest known graphical depiction of a fishing reel, according to [[Joseph Needham]], comes from a [[Southern Song]] (1127&ndash;1279) painting done in 1195 by [[Ma Yuan (painter)|Ma Yuan]] (c. 1160&ndash;1225) called "Angler on a Wintry Lake". The painting, currently in collection at [[Tokyo National Museum]] after the [[Second Opium War#Burning of the Summer Palaces|looting of the Old Summer Palace]], showing a man sitting on a small [[sampan]] boat while casting out his [[fishing line]].<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 100">Needham (1986), Volume 4, Part 2, 100 & PLATE CXLVII.</ref> Another fishing reel was featured in a painting by [[Wu Zhen (painter)|Wu Zhen]] (1280&ndash;1354).<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 100"/> The book ''Tianzhu lingqian'' (Holy Lections from Indian Sources), printed sometime between 1208 and 1224, features two different [[Woodcut|woodblock print illustrations]] of fishing reels being used.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 100"/> An Armenian parchment Gospel of the 13th century shows a reel (though not as clearly depicted as the Chinese ones).<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 100"/> The ''[[Sancai Tuhui]]'', a [[Chinese encyclopedias|Chinese encyclopedia]] published in 1609, features the next known picture of a fishing reel and vividly shows the [[windlass]] pulley of the device.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 100"/> These five pictures are the only ones which feature fishing reels before the year 1651.<ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 100"/>