Classical histories of that period support the view that the wooden ox was actually a wheelbarrow, as did the late Joseph Needham, the British authority on the history of Chinese science and technology, who confirmed this finding through his own research.
像是《宋史》與《歷代名臣奏議》，就持這種看法；連精研中國科技史的英國李約瑟博士，也以《天工開物》中的單輪手車與之對照，來證明「木牛流馬」就是獨輪車。