Fu Xi
Although Chinese historians assert that its origins may span as far back as the Zhou Dynasty (1050 BC–221 BC), the British sinologist Joseph Needham regards the earliest texts to describe the device are the "Jijiupian" dictionary of 40 BC, Yang Xiong's text known as the "Fangyan" of 15 BC, as well as the "best statement" the "Xin Lun" written by Huan Tan about 20 AD (during the usurpation of Wang Mang). The latter book states that the legendary mythological king known as Fu Xi was the one responsible for the pestle and mortar (which evolved into the tilt-hammer and then trip hammer device). Although the author speaks of the mythological Fu Xi, a passage of his writing gives hint that the waterwheel and trip-hammer were in widespread use by the 1st century AD in China (for water-powered Chinese metallurgy, see Du Shi):