What's the use of "spring stools" in ancient rooms, and will they be prepared in hotel rooms?

Do strange tricks to please women. -"Shang Shi Xia"

The above sentence is actually a charge set by Zhou Wuwang when he crusaded against Shang Zhouwang. Later, the word "strange skill and cunning" came into being. Many people often have fantasies when they see this word. You know, "slutty" doesn't just mean "debauchery". There is a saying that "wealth can't be lewd", which means that "lewdness" also means "excessive and addicted", so this word actually refers to those novel things.

Now is the era of innovation. If a new technology is invented, which can bring great convenience to people's work and life, it will soon be accepted by people, and so will the ancients. When it comes to innovation and invention, the wisdom of the ancients is no less than that of today. Although the conditions were limited at that time, they managed to create many dazzling things, especially in daily life.

People who often travel and stay in hotels will find that there is a long bench at the end of the bed in some hotel rooms, which is too narrow to sleep. It's not easy to turn over. It looks a little redundant. So what's the use of this bench? You know, this stool has existed since ancient times. In ancient times, such stools were placed in the homes of large families, including when their daughters got married, and their parents specially made such stools as dowry.

First, the role of the spring stool

The ancients gave such a stool a name, called "spring stool". This stool looks like a bed and a chair, so it also puts these two things together in function. It is estimated that some people say, isn't this a small sofa? Almost. As comfortable as a bed, you can move. It is also very comfortable to go during lunch break. The only fly in the ointment is that most of the sofas are soft and comfortable, which is better than spring stools.

However, compared with the living room, the room has limited space and more furniture, so it seems a bit crowded to put a sofa. The spring stool occupies a smaller area, and clothes do not take up space when not sleeping. I remember in A Dream of Red Mansions, Baoyu was badly beaten and couldn't stand up. Seeing that the page was still holding her, Xi-feng immediately sent someone to take the spring stool out of the room and let Baoyu lie on it and put it in the room. So in terms of size, the spring stool is not as big as a bed, but it is no problem to lie down alone and it is convenient to walk around.

In addition, as mentioned above, the spring stool is part of the dowry. In ancient times, when a woman got married, the dowry was followed by a spoiled child. This long and wide stool can facilitate the transportation of dowry. If you put something on it, you can carry it together. Usually put in the room, when a woman's best friend comes to visit, she can sit on it and have an intimate chat for a while. When the baby arrives at home, the spring stool becomes a crib with a thick cushion, which is more than enough for sleeping a baby.

But at present, clothes in hotels are mostly placed on spring stools, which are more decorative than practical. However, in ancient times, the use of spring stools was much greater. So why did the ancients name this stool "spring stool" instead of "winter stool" or "summer stool"? What does this "spring" mean?

Second, the origin of the spring stool

First of all, the name "spring stool" has something to do with the materials used to make it. Originally called "Toona sinensis stool", this "Toona sinensis" refers to Toona sinensis tree. Toona sinensis smells bad and tastes good. People you like can eat a big plate. Because people like to eat it, they seldom see the stout Toona sinensis tree. After all, before it grew up, its leaves were picked, and the result became Toona sinensis. Although this kind of plant is common, Toona sinensis is rare.

So why use Toona sinensis wood for such a small stool? Compared with the rarer redwood, Toona sinensis wood is more economical. Moreover, Toona sinensis wood is tough, beautifully patterned, moisture-proof and sun-resistant, and has a unique fragrance, which makes moths hide far away. The stool made of it is not beautiful and durable. People like Toona sinensis very much. According to legend, Toona sinensis is used as a pillow in Lv Dongbin, so people think that frequent use of some Toona sinensis wood products can prolong life.

Later, people thought the word "Toon" was a bit vulgar, so they changed it to "Spring", which means spring. In the Miscellanies of Xiyuan in the Ming Dynasty, it was recorded that the scenery at four o'clock was only cola in spring ... Therefore, people called it "seeking fragrance" and "hiking" at this time ... so it was written on the table. The ancients said that "a year's plan lies in spring". Spring is the best season among the four seasons, with everything sprouting and full of vitality. Therefore, it is elegant to add the word "spring" in front of daily necessities, not to mention moving this stool to the yard to watch the flowers bask in the sun.

Third, don't let the traditional craft disappear.

There is another saying about spring stools, which are used by couples. This statement is not groundless, mainly in works such as Jin Ping Mei, and some ancient paintings do use spring stools, so maybe there is a reason. However, things are invented for people to use, and how people use them depends on their own meaning and convenience, otherwise this thing has no meaning of existence.

In fact, there are similar stools in the west, which people call "stools at the end of the bed". In the past, it was mainly used by western aristocrats to change their shoes while sitting, and it could also prevent the quilt from slipping. Nowadays, many people decorate their homes in European style, and often put a stool at the end of the bed, which is of little use, mainly for decoration, which is similar to today's Chinese-style spring stool. If you are well off, you may prepare a set, and ordinary people basically don't consider this kind of furniture.

It is not that these traditional furniture are not practical, but that better furniture is practical. Babies have special cribs and various types of sofas can be folded, so this kind of traditional furniture is becoming less and less common, and some antique markets can still see such items. Another traditional spring stool is hand-made, which looks exquisite and quaint, but it seems a bit out of place in a modern style home. Some furniture manufacturers hope to see the traditional spring stool again in people's daily life on the basis of modern technology and design creativity, so that modern people can explore more functions of it, so as not to let these traditional crafts disappear in the long river of history, but to make it glow with new brilliance.

refer to

A Dream of Red Mansions, Xiyuan Miscellaneous Notes, Shangshutai Shi Xia