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A pulled rickshaw (from Japanese extra2='person/human-powered vehicle') is a mode of human-powered transport by which a runner draws a two-wheeled cart which seats one or two people.
In recent times the use of human-powered has been discouraged or outlawed in many countries due to concern for the welfare of rickshaw workers. Pulled rickshaws have been replaced mainly by and auto rickshaws.
Peasants who migrated to large Asian cities often worked first as a rickshaw runner. It was "the deadliest occupation in the East, and the most degrading for human beings to pursue."
The rickshaw's popularity in Japan declined by the 1930s with the advent of automated forms of transportation, like automobiles and trains. In China, the rickshaw's popularity began to decline in the 1920s. In Singapore, the rickshaw's popularity increased into the 20th century. There were approximately 50,000 rickshaws in 1920 and that number doubled by 1930.
In the city of Shanghai, public rickshaws were painted yellow to differentiate from the private vehicles of the wealthy citizens, which were described as:
... always shiny, were carefully maintained, and sported 'a spotless white upholstered double seat, a clean Tartan for one's lap, and a wide protective tarpaulin to protect the passenger (or passengers, since sometimes up to three people rode together) against the rain.
The rickshaws were a convenient means of travel, able to traverse winding, narrow city streets. During monsoon season, passengers might be carried out of the carriage, above the flooded streets, to the door of their arrival. They offered door-to-door travel, unlike scheduled public bus and tram service.
In the 19th century, wheelbarrow is the most popular transportation for commoners. In the spring of 1873, the French merchant Menard introduced rickshaw from Japan. The original name is "Jinrikisha", meaning "man-power-vehicle" in Japanese. Most of the rickshaws were owned by foreign investors at the beginning, but in around the 1900s, rickshaws were owned mostly by Chinese companies. The official name for rickshaw is "renliche", meaning "man-power-vehicle" in Chinese, but it is more commonly called "dongyangche", meaning "east-foreign-vehicle", or "huangbaoche" in Shanghai, meaning "yellow carriage for rent".
Rickshaw transportation was an important element in urban development in 20th century China, as a mode of transportation, source of employment and facilitation of migration for workers. According to author David Strand:
Sixty thousand men took as many as a half million fares a day in a city of slightly more than one million. Sociologist Li Jinghan estimated that one out of six males in the city between the ages of sixteen and fifty was a puller. Rickshaw men and their dependents made up almost 20 percent of Beijing's population.
Most manual rickshaws – seen by many Maoism as a symbol of oppression of the working class – were eliminated in China after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
In contrary to coolies in Beijing, those in Shanghai mostly come from rural areas out of the city. With the destitution of their land, they poured into the city with their family. As the number of coolies rose up sharply, however, the number of rickshaw remained at 20,000 in Shanghai. Except private coolies, those for public work had to take turns, and thus their average income diminished to $9 per month. Therefore, many coolies worked in the factory and ran the rickshaw after work. However, many coolies were optimistic about life. They were satisfied about their income and dreamed of purchasing their own rickshaws and sending their kids to schools. Due to this low income, many coolies would not give customers a clear idea of standard price and thus charge higher at any chance they had. In response to this phenomenon, hotels would provide the distance to various streets and the price charged.Darwent, Charles Ewart. Shanghai; a handbook for travellers and residents to the chief objects of interest in and around the foreign settlements and native city. Shanghai, Hongkong: Kelly and Walsh date.Hongs & Homes, 1928: A complete directory of Shanghai. Shanghai: Millington, Ltd., 1929.
Rickshaws are the most effective means of transportation through the flooded streets of the monsoon season. When Kolkata floods rickshaw business increases and prices rise.
The pullers live a life of poverty and many sleep under rickshaws. Rudrangshu Mukerjee, an academic, stated many people's ambivalent feelings about riding a rickshaw: he does not like being carried about in a rickshaw but does not like the idea of "taking away their livelihood".
Motor vehicles are banned in the Eco-sensitive zone area of Matheran, India, a tourist hill station near Mumbai so man-pulled rickshaws are still one of the major forms of transport there.
In August 2005, the Communist government of West Bengal announced plans to completely ban pulled rickshaws, resulting in protests and strikes of the pullers.WebIndia, 2005. In 2006, the chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, announced that pulled rickshaws would be banned and that rickshaw pullers would be rehabilitated.
in August 2025, Supreme Court of India officially banned pulled rickshaws.
Starting in 1870, the Tokyo government issued a permission for Izumi Yosuke, Takayama Kosuke, and Suzuki Tokujiro to build and sell rickshaws. By 1872, they became the main mode of transportation in Japan, with about 40,000 rickshaws in service.
The rickshaw's popularity in Japan declined by the 1930s with the advent of automated forms of transportation, like automobiles and trains. After World War II, when gasoline and automobiles were scarce, they made a temporary come-back. The rickshaw tradition has stayed alive in Kyoto and Tokyo's geisha districts only for tourists as well as in other tourist places. The tradition completely disappeared once, but a few people revived jinrikisha (human-powered rickshaws) for tourists in the 1970s-1980s Jinrikisha in Kamakura Youfuu-tei Jinrikisha in Hidatakayama Gokurak-sha and the rickshaws became popular as a tourism resource in the 2000s. 3-Day Model Trip Day1 / Kakunodate - Lake Tazawa-ko - Morioka Japan National Tourism Organization, 31 January 2002 京都観光 ISFJ政策フォーラム2009発表論文 12 – 13 December 2009 Rickshaw TV Show "Sekai Tsukai Densetsu" 2002-2003 The modern rickshaw men are a kind of tourist guide, who take their clients to some tourist spots and explain about them. Hataraku Ikemen JoshiFuji Channel 2013/04/29 Many of them are part-time working students and athletes who like running or exchanging cultures.
Many of the poorest individuals in Singapore in the late nineteenth century were poor, unskilled people of Chinese ancestry. Sometimes called coolies, the hardworking men found pulling rickshaws was a new means of employment. Rickshaw pullers experienced "very poor" Habitability, poverty and long hours of hard work. Income remained unchanged from 1876 to 1926, about $.60 per day.Suryadinata (1992). p. 39.
Rickshaws popularity increased into the 20th century. There were approximately 50,000 rickshaws in 1920 and that number doubled by 1930. In or after the 1920s a union was formed, called the Rickshaw Association, to protect the welfare of rickshaw workers.Suryadinata (1992). p. 45.
Rickshaws are a popular mode of transportation in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, providing tours of historical Byward Market, in the summer. Ottawa's rickshaws stay true to the traditional foot-driven rickshaw model, but feature modern sound-systems.
Legislation
In Tamil Nadu, in 1974, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Government of M . Karunanidhi officially banned the operation of Hand Pulled Rickshaws in Tamil Nadu by replacing them with pedal Rickshaws .
Indonesia
Pulled rickshaws used to be in Indonesia a long time ago. Nowadays, they are replaced by Delman (the horse-drawn carriage) and Becak (cycle rickshaw/pedicab).
Japan
There are several theories about the rickshaw. Japan historian Seidensticker wrote of the theories:
Though the origins of the rickshaw are not entirely clear, they seem to be Japanese, and of Tokyo specifically. The most widely accepted theory offers the name of three inventors, and gives 1869 as the date of invention.
Malaysia
Rickshaws were a common mode of transport in urban areas of Malaysia in the 19th and early 20th centuries until gradually replaced by .
Pakistan
Pulled and cycle rickshaw ( qinqi) have been banned in Pakistan since April 1960. Prior to the introduction of in cities, horse-drawn carriages ( tongas) were a main source of public transportation.
Philippines
The pulled rickshaw never gained acceptance in the Philippines. Americans tried to introduce it to Manila City in the early 20th century, but it was strongly opposed by local Filipinos who viewed it as an undignified mode of transport that turned humans into "beasts". The main mode of public and private transportation in the Philippines from the 18th to the early 20th centuries was the kalesa, a two-wheeled horse-drawn carriage.
Singapore
Singapore had received its first rickshaws in 1880 and soon after they were prolific, making a "noticeable change in the traffic on Singapore's streets." and gharry were used prior to the introduction of rickshaws.
North America
United States
From A History of the Los Angeles City Market (1930-1950), pulled rickshaws were operated in Los Angeles by high school teenagers during that time period.
Canada
Foot-driven rickshaws have enjoyed several decades of popularity in Halifax, Nova Scotia; in addition to providing tours of the historic Waterfront, rickshaws are also occasionally used for transportation by local residents. The city is home to the oldest rickshaw company in Canada.
Books, films, television, music and modern art
See also
Rickshaws
Other human powered transport
Notes
Further reading
External links
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