Before the introduction of cotton, what did the ancients in China wear to keep out the cold?

From the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, in about 4000 years, the clothing of ancient people in China was mainly silk and linen in the first 3000 years, and gradually changed to cotton in the last 1000 years.

Then, shouldn't the ancient royal family and aristocratic class wear fur?

Of course, high-grade animal furs such as sheepskin and fox skin are taken by royalty, and ordinary people can also use inferior sheepskin or dog skin.

In addition, "Zhou Li" pays great attention to the clothes of emperors and princes. Autumn belongs to obscene clothes, and the way to wear it is: underwear-autumn-attack, and clothes must be covered outside. The materials of outerwear and assault suit are also different with different status and wealth, and there are advantages and disadvantages.

During the 3300 years from Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties to Tang and Song Dynasties, in addition to millet, wheat, rice and other food crops, mulberry, Zhejiang, hemp and ramie were mainly planted in the Central Plains. Bai Juyi's poem "Qin Zhongyin Chongfu" said: "Planting Sang Ma thickly will help the people."

With the population doubling and land reclamation, there are mulberry trees and zheshu trees everywhere. This kind of scene is hard to imagine in today's China, and even harder to recover.

Silk and hemp are not only used as raw materials for textiles, but also can be made into things like hemp rope, while silk wool is used as raw materials for bedding and winter clothes.

The poem "Heavy Fu" describes that "silks are piled up like mountains and clouds" in the "official treasury", and the official government collects a large number of silks from the people for officials and soldiers to use as winter clothes.

Li Bai's Midnight Wu Ge said: "The messenger was leaving the next day, and she was told that she had been sewing a samurai costume all night. Thin hands are cold, not to mention the cold scissors for cutting clothes. When the work is finished, she sends it far away. When will it reach the town where the warrior stays? ? "It vividly depicts a woman eager to make a winter coat for her husband.

You know, the so-called cloth in ancient China generally refers to linen. People use the word "cloth" to describe ordinary people because the poor can't afford to wear silk, so they can only cover themselves with linen.

Du Fu's poem "The Northern Expedition" said: "The two little girls in front of the bed are knee-deep in stoppage time. The picture breaks the waves, the old embroidery twists and turns, and the sky dance purple wind hangs upside down short brown. " It reflects that during the Anshi Rebellion, his family had a hard life and had to make up the ancient and noble embroidered silk with brown short linen.

Lu You's poem "Frost Wind" said: "In October, the frost wind roared at the edge of the house, and Buqiu did not make a baht of cotton." Another song, "Boating over Jinling and Giving a Sell Wang Weng", said: "Soft boiled beans and rice can support the sky, while thick floc can talk about winter." They all reflect the living standard of being able to eat and wear warm clothes in fashion, and they are all silk cotton winter clothes made of flax.

Du Fu's Autumn Wind Breaking the Cottage said: "Cloth has been as cold as iron for many years, and pride lies in it." This refers to a linen quilt made of silk wool. Because it has been used for many years, it has lost its warm-keeping function.

In Song Huizong, a sanatorium was established, similar to today's sanatorium. It is stipulated that people over 80 years old should "wear Xia Yue and cover in winter", that is, "cover with cloth". 10 1 year-old Xian Tong elderly people "send quilts and silk quilts in winter and silk shirts in summer" as a special preferential treatment.

During the 1500 years from the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Tang and Song Dynasties, silk and flax maintained the daily necessities of tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of people in China. At that time, there were of course naked people, but there were also people who wasted silks and satins and used them like sand. The two balance each other, and silk is exported by sea and land, which is well-known in the ancient underdeveloped international market.

China was self-sufficient in silk and hemp, which was not easy in ancient times with backward technology. As Sima Guang said: "Silkworm women are good at spinning and weaving, and they are extremely diligent."

When we cherish the memory of the splendid ancient civilization of China, we should not forget the achievements of thousands of unknown peasant women in history, who are also the pillars of ancient civilization.

In ancient times, the natural family economy of men plowing and women weaving, the total output of silk and hemp in China, can never be officially counted. Only taxes and fiscal revenues and expenditures are included in official statistics.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there was a loss of five million silks, which reflected the output of silk products at that time.

When I was in Song Yingzong, Cai Xiang, the third secretary in charge of finance, said that within one year, 8,745,535 pieces of silk hemp were collected through acquisition and taxation.

Song dynasty followed the system of the later Zhou dynasty, stipulating that a horse should be handed over to the government. The width of silk is 2 feet and 5 minutes, the weight is 12 and the length is 42 feet. Calculated by 1 Song Chi 3 1 cm, it is equivalent to 1 13866866 meters.

The cloth and silk of the Song government were mainly used by the army and officials. In the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial army was distributed in spring and summer on average every year. Six silk, two cotton 12, six? Silk is about 78 meters.

In the Southern Song Dynasty, a sergeant paid four taels of silk a year, which was equivalent to 52 meters and 26 meters.

Because of silk weaving? Silk is not durable and must be distributed every year. At the peak of the Northern Song Dynasty, the population was about 654.38+0 billion. According to the estimation of 654.38 billion people's clothing, bedding, curtains and other supplies, and considering the situation of silk export, people's clothing is popular and the use of clothing materials is not economical. Based on the average consumption of 2 pieces per person per year, the total output of silk and linen fabrics is estimated to be 2.604 billion meters.

However, textiles are not enough to include the total output of ancient silk and hemp, and other silk floss and the like cannot be estimated.

In Song Shenzong, one of the two government taxes is silk wool, which is 5,850,356 taels. According to 16, it is 1 kg, and 1 Jin Song is about 0.6 kg, which is equivalent to 2 19 tons. If the population is 1 100 million, and the per capita annual consumption of silk floss is 42 taels, the annual output of silk floss must also be10.5 million tons.

Cotton was called kapok and Gibberella in ancient China, and was first planted in Xinjiang, Yunnan and Hainan.

During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, cotton gradually replaced silk and hemp and became an important natural fiber crop in China.

In recent years, the famous scholar Qi Xia's Study on Cotton Planting in Song Dynasty pointed out that kapok was widely planted in Fujian and Guangxi in Song Dynasty, and the production of Jibeibu was not limited to Hainan Island. By the Southern Song Dynasty, cotton planting in Zhejiang, Jiangnan and other places had become popular.

This paper breaks through the old saying that the development of cotton planting industry in Chinese mainland began in Yuan Dynasty. On this basis, this paper supplements some historical materials.

As early as in Song Taizong, according to Song Yaohui, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces were ordered to strike and pay tribute to all kinds of exquisite silk products, "only buy silk, silk, silk? , silk, silk, kapok, etc. " It can be seen that there is cotton production in Xichuan.

After the death of Liao at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Song and Jin agreed to give Jin a sum of money every year. "Documentary of the Northern Expedition" (volume 16) said: "Lu people like southern goods every time, so it's only 20 thousand yuan."

During the confrontation between Song and Jin Dynasties, according to the record of Yao Shi No.38 4 1, "Qian (Zhou) cloth and kapok" were important trade materials from south to north.

In Song Gaozong, Ye Mengde said that "the imperial court saw tens of thousands of people buying kapok and money cloth", and that "kapok was produced in Fujian Road and money cloth was produced in Jiangxi Road". Lou Jian's Collection of Shame Crimes (volume 1 12) records that the Song envoy went to Jin, "like kapok, he was re-loaded to Bianjing".

In the Ming Dynasty, Yongle Dadian (Volume 5343) and Sanyangzhi recorded that the field of Hanshan Academy in Lianzhou, Guangdong Province was "an official kapok field, with taxes and money reaching four hundred feet". This is a special cotton field, which has been included in the scope of government taxation and converted into tax money.

As Mr. Qi Xia's Textual Research on Cotton Planting in Song Dynasty cited in Volume 24 of Yuan Zhang Dian said, at least in the last years of Southern Song Dynasty, Xia tax actually began to import cotton cloth. Planting is not common and cannot be included in the government's tax system.

With the popularization of kapok, the concept of linen handed down from ancient times has also changed. Xie Weixin said at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty: "Nowadays, the so-called cloth makers are all made of wood silk or fine kudzu vine, ramie and flowers."

At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, Fang Dayan provided an interesting record in an article "Encouraging Weaving and Sending Northern Cloth", saying that "Sending Northern Cloth came from Hainan and Quanzhou for people to wear", and "Springs also planted their own flowers, but they invested more in southern flowers". Fujian people rely on cotton produced in Guangdong to weave cloth and then sell it back to Guangdong Road.

Fang Dayou said, "Knowing that southern women can spin, it is easy to weave a piece of cloth", "Dare to persuade women to knit", "Although there is no need to raise springs", he advocates self-production and self-marketing, and does not rely on Quanzhou's cotton supply.

Yong Dong Grand Ceremony (volume 7890) and Lin Tingzhi recorded the "native products" of Luding Prefecture, Fujian Province, and the "silk genus" included "Ling,? , cloth ",and cloth has six kinds of" bamboo, kudzu, banana, hemp, flower and red ".

Zhao Ruhui sent Lu to teach Duanzhou at the vernal equinox: "Zhongzhou has planted cotton in recent years, but the spring is cold and the autumn is hot." I was worried about my country and my health, so I made a mistake in the arrangement. The enemy peeked at the Huaihe River and Hanshui River, so you couldn't sleep. The ancients moved sadly to the south, and today people are like gods. " It also reflects the northward movement of cotton growing areas.

In Song Dynasty, kapok has become the third largest natural fiber crop after silk and hemp, but its output is still very small, so it is regarded as rare.

Lu You's poem "Home" in the Southern Song Dynasty said: "Li is pure cotton." He said in his poem: "People who left Lebanon are very light and warm."

At that time, Li women in Hainan Island were good at weaving cotton cloth, so they were called "Libu". Cotton cloth is naturally warmer than silk, but in fact it is not as good as "pure cotton".

Another of his poems, "The weather makes snow play", says: "Qiwen Kibakiu."

In fact, according to people's feelings, cotton gowns are not as light, warm and comfortable as silk gowns. Lu You's poems still confirm an old saying that things are rare.

In the Song Dynasty, with the increasing popularity, kapok was naturally made into various articles.

Su Shi's poem "Rank Man in the Middle of Fujian" said: "I came from Nanpu with books and magazines, and dressed my hat in the north."

Su Shi's "A Journey in Jinshan Dream" said: "Jiangdong Jiakem Mianqiu."

Su Zhe's poem "A New Year's Eve Love" said: "There have been several plans to invade Chunyong, and the ground furnace still holds kapok autumn."

At the turn of the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhang Shi talked about the rain with his father: "Looking back on the night when the wind and snow surrounded the stove, where is the cotton?"

Zhu said in the letter, "I borrowed the rest of the money, but I paid it back. Most of it was nonsense and attached." "But Gibberella got it very early, and it was lucky to be able to spend the winter." This should also refer to using a cotton robe to keep out the cold.

In the mid-Jin Dynasty, scholar Liang Zhongxin wrote the poem "One Jiang Xue": "Before the snow in the south reached the ground, it rained all over the bamboo house. Shahe Lamp City, spring is in kapok autumn. "

The historical materials quoted above all refer to cotton gowns in winter. As a northerner, Liang Zhongxin used the word "kapok autumn" when he wrote poems for the snow scene in the south, which shows that cotton gowns have certain universality.

Xunzi was a popular costume in the Song Dynasty, and Song Huizong's "Good Friends and Honesty" recorded "Jibei Beibei Beizi".

Su Zhe's poem when he was exiled to Lingnan said, "I don't owe much to Jibei."

Zhang Zishi's Little Qin Xi Cheng: "Kapok's feet are warm and unintentional." As we all know, cotton is used as a quilt.

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zheng Shi's poem "A Guest Leads a Kapok Chair to Sit for a Mountain" said: "Linxi draws water and falls blue, covering Kapok with dyed linen. The long needle lead is square, soft, warm and thick. "

In addition, there is a poem "A guest sitting on kapok has become a long rhyme and four rhymes": "Warm and cold are the same, and winter is deep. Don't be surprised that Yang Wan has a summer sleeping mat. Everyone sits on a summer sleeping mat. I feel that the four gentlemen are sitting as warm and have a long needle for me. " This is a chair cushion made of kapok.

In short, the Song, Yuan and Ming Dynasties were a transitional period in which cotton replaced silk and hemp.

There is no word "cotton" in Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

The word "Mian" appeared in Guang Yun (Volume II) of Sui Dynasty and was defined as "Mian is also a tree name".

Kapok tree is a kind of tree, which is completely different from cotton. As mentioned earlier, the cotton in Song Dynasty was kapok or red cotton, but it was also called "kapok" as mentioned in Volume 5 of Tiewei Mountain Talk.

Because ancient books have been copied or tampered with by later generations, it is not easy to determine the time limit for the words "kapok" and "kapok" to become common words.

The word "kapok" was still used in the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, such as Jia Zhiyuan River Records Volume VI, Nong Sang Yao Ji Volume II and Wang Zhennong Shu Volume 36, all of which were called "kapok".

Cheng Tingxuan's Collected Poems of Ju Zhuxuan (Volume II) and Sleeping at Night in Qingpu Village have a saying: "A reed quilt is as warm as cotton".

Since then, the word "cotton" has gradually replaced the ancient word "kapok".

Qiu Jun, who lived in the first half of the Ming Dynasty, said in Volume 22 of Supplement for University Students that cotton planting had been extended to Shaanxi in the early Yuan Dynasty. "By the Chinese dynasty, it was planted all over the world, suitable for both the north and the south, regardless of the rich and the poor, and its benefits covered a hundred times."

In western history, cotton once squeezed out wool and flax. This is the reason why cotton planting needs less labor and the price is low. Some people even think that cotton is one of the cornerstones of modern civilization, because the industrial revolution that changed the world started from the cotton textile industry.

In China, cotton replaced silk and hemp earlier than in the west. In addition to the same reason, cotton cloth is more durable than silk, which is also a factor that cannot be ignored. Qiu Jun said that the benefits of growing cotton are "a hundred times more important than silk". It's a bit exaggerated, but it makes sense.

In China, the translocation of cannabis and cotton may be later. Since then, China's silk production has dropped sharply, and the origin is narrow, so it can no longer restore ancient prosperity.

In the Song Dynasty, cotton and cotton fabrics were still rare treasures. Since then, silk floss and silk fabrics have become rare treasures.

Fortunately, silk, once one of the important symbols of ancient civilization in China, has declined, but it has not been lost. It is still a precious material, which is exported at home and abroad and enjoys a world reputation.