The ancient spinning wheel usually had two to three, or even five, spin-dIes.At the juncture of the Song and Yuan Dynasties when the society experienced substantial economic development, on the basis of various kinds of spinning wheels at the time, a new kind of large-size spinning wheel with dozens of spindles gradually appeared, with the prominent features different from the previous spinning wheels in that it had dozens of spindles and was powered by water. These features, which resembled those of modern spinning machines, made the waterwheels suitable for large-scale professional production.The large water-driven spinning wheel also greatly improved the efficiency of the textile industry. For in-stance,one hand-driven spinning wheel could weave l. 5 kilos of hemp ( fiber from the hemp plant which is used to make textiles) at most each day, while a large water-driven one could weave more than 50 kilos daily. In this way, once the wheel began to work, there had to be enough hemp for constant production. The large water-driven spinning wheel was an important invention that applied natural power in textile manufacturing in ancient China. The water-driven spinning wheel in China precedes its Western counterpart by more than four centuries.