Every school day, we use schoolbags to carry all of our things to school. They are a big part of our lives. But have you ever thought about the history of the schoolbag?
In the Han Dynasty (汉朝), students in old-style private schools used bamboo boxes to carry books to school. People consider the bamboo boxes to be the earliest schoolbags. They were usually two or three layers (层) in the box. Kids put different things like books, brushes, ink stones (砚) and paper in the boxes.
Hundreds of years later, people developed a new kind of schoolbag called the budai, or the "hip-pocket". The budai was lighter than the bamboo box. With the founding (成立) of the People's Republic of China, military rucksacks (军用帆布包) became popular. Many people carried them when they were in school. Ask your grandparents or parents about these bags. Maybe they can tell you about their experiences of carrying them when they were in school.
A new style of schoolbags has appeared in recent years. Many of them have colorful and fashionable designs (时尚的设计) on them, such as pictures of cartoons or pop stars. And they are more comfortable to use. Some students pull wheeled bags filled with heavy textbooks and others carry backpacks.
Schoolbags are still changing. Can you imagine what future schoolbags will be like?
