It's cold. How to keep warm in ancient winter?

The ancient people used to keep warm in winter is our most common brazier, as well as stoves and kang, which can be said to be the oldest way to keep warm. Some of them are still used in rural areas, and fireplaces for heating appeared in Qing Dynasty.

In ancient times, it was: heating yourself during the day, wearing a cotton-padded jacket, burning a kang at night and sleeping on it to keep warm.

The wisdom of our ancestors is infinite. Don't think that the ancients didn't know how to keep warm without advanced productivity. In a sense, the ancients knew how to survive better than we did.

In human social activities, food, clothing, housing and transportation are always inseparable from these four basic items, and there are obvious differences in four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. In the cold winter, almost all the activities of the ancients were carried out around keeping out the cold.

Judging from "eating", the ancients were very particular about "eating" and thought that food should "adapt to the four seasons and change at any time". Sun Simiao even suggested that "seventy-two days in winter, storing salt increases bitterness and nourishes the heart", so soup should be given priority to in winter. In fact, the ancient nobles did the same. For example, on the longest day in Chang 'an Opera, Chang 'an people eat mutton soup and mutton offal soup with Hu cakes, which shows the ancient people's eating habits in winter. Among the unearthed cultural relics, the tools for stewing soup appeared as early as the Shang Dynasty, which shows that the ancients attached importance to soup food. There is also a place to eat spicy food to keep out the cold, first dogwood, and then pepper. The eating habits of hot pot must have been formed in the process of keeping out the cold. In the farther north, spirits are also a necessary means of livelihood in winter.

From the perspective of "wearing", the ancients had a lot of knowledge about "wearing". Whether the ancients can survive the winter safely or not, winter clothes are necessary. In the most primitive state, the ancestors who were mainly hunting did not lack animal fur, so animal fur became the best material for sewing winter clothes. With the development of society, the number of wild animals has gradually decreased, and people have learned to raise livestock. Pigs, cows, sheep, dogs, rabbits, chickens and ducks have become the main animals. On the contrary, at this time, a large number of poor people could not afford fur and other materials to make clothes, so they put reed flocs and wood flocs in linen clothes. The famous "folk art reed clothes" proved the winter clothing materials of the poor at that time, while people with a little skill put chicken and duck feathers in linen clothes, making it the oldest. Later, in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, a kind of "paper clothes" made of bark appeared, which was low in cost and could effectively reduce the erosion of cold air, and people would feel better. The nobles continued the tradition of fur and mink to keep out the cold, and this kind of clothes has the best effect of keeping out the cold. After cotton was introduced to China in the Southern Song Dynasty, cotton-padded clothes were popularized, and people put on real cotton-padded clothes, which had the effect of keeping out the cold.

From the perspective of "living", as early as the Paleolithic, Beijingers had learned to use and control fire. They use fire for baking food, lighting, heating and so on. Among the unearthed cultural relics, the "Liao furnace" which used charcoal burning for heating as early as the Spring and Autumn Period was found, and in the Qin Dynasty, the "fire wall" was the most primitive heating method. In Shanxi, Shaanxi, Hebei, Northeast China, Mongolia and other places in the north, "fire kang" is widely used, so "it is warm in the winter and snow season, so you can spend the winter without digging holes." During the Qin and Han dynasties, the greatest invention of heating was the use of the most primitive insulation materials. Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu" said that "the hall is connected to the east and the temperature is extended to the north", that is, pepper is used as mud to make the insulation layer of the partition wall. This is how the "pepper room" of the ancient palace was built. What's more, the nobles will "keep warm with others". In Ming Dynasty 1566, Yan Song is bound to have several young women to warm their hands and feet while sleeping, and ordinary nobles will also have "warm quilts".

Judging from the "travel", before the Qin and Han Dynasties, ordinary people mainly lived in caves in winter, but they couldn't afford to go out. They have a special set of equipment, which is beyond the enjoyment of ordinary people. It was not until the Northern and Southern Dynasties that "paper clothes" and "paper fur" appeared that they dared to go out reluctantly. It was not until the end of the Song Dynasty that cotton was popularized on a large scale that the problem of outdoor heating equipment for ordinary people was solved. But these are not problems for the nobility. When they go out to meet friends in winter, they have special carriages, ox carts and so on. The car has a built-in heater, a "hand stove" in hand, and even a "soup lady" covering her feet. Plus the fur and mink coats they wear, it's hard to get cold. Of course, there is also the problem of keeping your head warm. In the Tang Dynasty, "earmuffs" appeared, that is, fur was wrapped in brocade and silk and hung around the ears, thinking that the ears would keep out the cold. There is a poem saying that "Jin Yi Sew Ears to Keep out the Cold" is this kind of warm earmuffs.

It can be seen that the ancients paid great attention to the effect of keeping out the cold in winter, and the work of keeping out the cold at that time was simply extreme. Although the ancients tried their best to survive the winter, under harsh living conditions, the number of poor people who froze to death did not know. Du Fu's poem: "The wine in Zhumen stinks, and the bones on the road freeze to death" is an image description of the plight of the people.

Ancient times were less convenient than modern times. When it's cold, turn on the air conditioner or go to the electric stove. So how did ancient times keep warm in cold winter? From the chapter of history, we can see how high the wisdom of the ancients was. Today, let's take a look at these common heating methods in ancient times.

First of all, let's take a look at the "warm pavilion" that most people in ancient times needed in winter. The warm houses here are a bit extensive, ranging from ordinary people to dignitaries. The warm pavilion of ordinary people is relatively simple, and it is limited to digging holes near the bed. You can get angry before going to bed and rest at night.

The warm pavilion of dignitaries is different. It can be used at night and day, and the northeast floor heating covers a wide area. Most of these are "air attics" because there is an empty floor in the middle of the attic, which is specially used for burning charcoal. As long as it is winter, the servants of luxury houses will burn charcoal repeatedly in the space, and even the dignitaries in the pavilion don't need a big package, just like spring, the effect is comparable to today's air conditioning.

Especially for the royal family, the heating coverage is wide, and the national treasury is burned in winter.

The second type is also commonly used in ancient times. It's called a hand stove. Hand stove was called stove before, but it was fixed and held in the palm of your hand. I believe many people have seen this in film and television dramas, especially those precious ladies, or queens, who still hold it everywhere in winter. This treasure is not like a rare treasure, but a warm hand stove in winter.

Handmade stoves were developed after the Ming Dynasty, when they were not "exquisite" enough to be popularized. They were the most popular in the Qing dynasty, and the nobles liked them best. It used to be stoves, especially some movies and TV series with the theme of the Three Kingdoms. I can see that those big people are talking about things, and there is a big stove in the room, which makes the room glow.

Of course, in addition to these, there are many finer things for heating in winter, but the cost performance and common use are slightly inferior to these two.

Text/exploring historical anecdotes

Charcoal burning, stove, hand stove

Abandon modern advanced mechanical equipment and replace it with something related to modernity such as electricity and natural gas. Winter in the south is better than that in the northeast, and winter is almost less than that in ancient times.

There are three ways for ancient people to keep warm in winter.

1 is to keep warm with people.

2. It is based on the fur and leaves of wild animals.

3. Just keep warm by fire.

The following is my answer, thank you.

Ancient science was not developed, so we had to drill wood for fire to keep warm.

Brazier, charcoal stove, soup woman, pocket stove sleeve stove, kang, fire pit, earthworm ... There are many ways. Primitive people made a fire in a cave, and when they could build a house, they built a fire pit in the middle of the house to cook and keep warm. Later, progress was made. The house was built and the kitchen was separated. If there is no stove at home, use brazier and charcoal stove to keep warm. Charcoal is still quite expensive, but there is no way. Cheap firewood, coal and cigarettes can't be used indoors. The way for foreigners is a fireplace and a chimney to smoke. China's method is to put the stove in another room or outdoors, and then let the hot air of fireworks enter the fire wall (double wall) or earthworm (pipe under the floor tile) to indirectly heat the room. Although the efficiency is slightly lower, it is safer and there is no risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Everyone knows that Kang was invented in a particularly cold place. Mrs. Tang is a modern hot water bottle, but there was no flexible heat-resistant and waterproof material before, all of which were made of copper or ceramics. There is also a carbon-filled stove sleeve stove, which can be carried around or put into bedding.

An old man selling charcoal cuts wood and burns charcoal in the mountains in the south all year round.

His face was covered with dust, which was the color of smoke burning, his temples were gray, and his ten fingers were burnt black.

What is the money for selling charcoal for? Buy clothes, buy food in your mouth.

Pity that he is wearing thin clothes, but he is worried that charcoal can't be sold, hoping it will be colder.

At night, it snowed a foot thick outside the city. Early in the morning, the old man drove a charcoal wheel to the market.

Cows are tired and people are hungry, but the sun has risen very high. They are resting in the mud outside the south gate of the market.

Who is that proud man riding on two horses? It was the eunuchs in the palace and eunuchs who did it.

The eunuch, with documents in his hand and the emperor's orders in his mouth, shouted at the petrified palace.

A load of charcoal, more than 1000 kilograms, eunuch attendants to drive away, the old man is helpless, but there is no way.

Those people put half a piece of red yarn and a piece of silk on their heads as the price of charcoal. This poem by Bai Juyi tells us that in ancient times, charcoal was burned to keep warm in winter.