担子 (dàn zi): carrying pole and the loads on it; burden; task; responsibility

Grandpa is over eighty but still likes to use a carrying pole to take vegetables he grows himself to the market to sell.

The mountain path was narrow. He carried two baskets of fruit on a shoulder pole, and the load pressed so hard that his shoulders were red and sore, yet he was unwilling to stop and rest.

In the folk museum, the guide pointed to an old photo on the wall and said that when farmers used to work in the fields, the carrying pole was their most important means of transport.