Comparatively speaking, the folk summer law is no court or official atmosphere, but has its own charm. There are two main types of folk heating-relieving utensils and public diet.
The most representative ones are porcelain pillow, bamboo lady and shaking wind.
Porcelain pillows, made of hollow enamel, began in the Sui Dynasty and were popular in the Tang Dynasty. In addition to the people’s home, the hostel at that time also has this pillow. “Half a thousand miles of window month, a pillow five more wind”, the poet’s porcelain pillow really let posterity yearning.
Bamboo lady, also known as bamboo slave, about one meter long, refers to the use of bamboo sticks woven with cooling utensils, holes around, through the middle. Generally put on the bed, feet, can embrace. The bamboo lady was mentioned in lu You’s poem in early Summer and Cao Xueqin’s novel Red Dream Building in the Qing Dynasty. Shake wind, also called “cool friend”, it also has a well-known name, called “fan”. The ancient people’s love for fans can be seen from their names. In ancient times, science and technology were not developed. There was no air conditioner, refrigerator or TV. How could people spend the hottest summer? In fact, our wise ancestors had their own ways to avoid the heat.
The ancient aristocracy was at the top of the pyramid and enjoyed life. The bureaucrats headed by the emperor and the king did their best to relieve the summer heat. Nothing is impossible but a surprise. In general, the ancient “high-match version” of the best ways to cool down can be divided into three categories, including cooling buildings, cooling tools, and cooling diet.
Cooling buildings are mainly summer resorts or gardens, most of which are built near the water. Representative buildings include Chengde Summer Resort in Hebei province, Daming Palace Pavilion from the Rain in Shaanxi Province, and Guiren Garden (Luoyang) in Luoyang. In addition, from the Han Dynasty on, the imperial court built palaces for cooling in secluded areas of the capital. The hall is usually built near the water and surrounded by special fans.
The fan, which is powered by water, is a complex mechanical device comparable to modern air conditioning. More advanced than air conditioning, fans deliver natural wind. “The world qingsundian, the sky guanghan palace”, the ancient children read the “rhyme enlightenment”, that is, the cooling construction into it, which shows the ancients to the hottest summer attention.
Yang Guozhong, the elder brother of Yang Guifei, one of the “Four Beauties” of ancient China, invented the special icebergs in order to keep cool and keep his skin dry. The mountain is carved by craftsmen from large blocks of ice, which are decorated with models of flowers and plants, usually placed around banquets. Blowing natural cool wind drinking cold drinks, want to be beautiful!
Naliang architecture reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty, and its science and innovation were second to none at that time. The shuimu Mingse Hall is one of the 40 views of the Old Summer Palace. It is completed by a hydraulic fan, and the sound of flowing water can be heard when the wind blows.
Cooling tools have been recorded in all dynasties, among which the more famous ones are ice mirror, seven-wheeled fan and self-sounding bell. Since the pre-Qin period, the imperial court invented a cooling tool called bingjian. Ice goggles are wooden boxes that are made in layers, with one layer filled with ice and the other with food that needs to be refrigerated.
From a practical point of view, the ice mirror is larger to hold more food and ice; The top is equipped with a lid, the lid reserved holes to emit cold air; There will be lifts on both sides for easy movement. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, yellow pear wood or rosewood were commonly used as raw materials.
In the TV series Yanxi Palace, Wei Yingluo, in order to please the queen, turns up an ancient ice mirror and shows it off.
The seven-wheeled fan was made by Ding Huan, a skilled craftsman in Chang ‘an at the end of the Western Han Dynasty. As the name suggests, the fan has seven wheels, each one more than a foot in diameter. The wheels are connected by bearings. A man pushes one wheel, and the others turn. Soon the room is full of wind.
In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qianlong ordered the internal affairs office to make a clock with a fan on it. The clock was driven by a spring to turn the gears, and the wind speed was different at different times. For example, when it is hot at noon, the wind speed is larger; When it’s cool at night, the wind naturally slows down.
Three hot days, food is undoubtedly the best way to cool down. Ice drinks were recorded in various dynasties, reaching a peak during the Tang Dynasty. Cold drinks in the Tang Dynasty were very expensive, “as expensive as gold”, which was beyond the reach of ordinary people. At that time, dignitaries used ice cubes to make a cake similar to ice cream “su Shan”. Su shan is divided into multiple layers, the bottom layer is ice, the middle layer is butter or ghee, the top layer is flowers and trees ornaments. It has both artistic and practical value. “Childe mixed ice water, beautiful woman snow lotus roots silk,” poet du Fu recorded in a poem aristocrats drink cold drinks in the dog days of summer.
During the Yuan Dynasty, Italian merchant Marco Polo visited The central Plains and saw “ice cream” in the palace of Emperor Kublai Khan. Ice cream is made by mixing juice and milk with ice cubes. It is the most original ice cream. Later, Marco Polo sent the method back to Europe, where they invented ice cream.
In addition, the ancient court and intensive in the heat approaching, will let the doctor or doctor out of the summer medicine prescriptions, the more famous such as huoxiang Zhengqi pills, Qingshuyiqi pills, Elsholtzia soup. The main ingredients of these prescriptions include Chinese medicine such as patchouli, poria cocos, tangerine peel and licorice. They can prevent colds and heat stroke, and have some effect on preventing outbreaks.
It is worth mentioning that, in order to strengthen the management of summer heat, the government set up the “ice administration” department from the Zhou Dynasty. This department is mainly responsible for ice collection and storage, the supervisor is called “Ling Man”. The people of Ling took this as their duty for generations, so they changed their surname to “Ling”, which is also one of the origins of the ling family name. The ice administration was responsible for collecting ice in the first winter and storing it in the ice cellar. In the next dog days, the king or emperor gave it to the minister or people around him. Due to the improvement of science and technology, the difficulty of making ice was reduced, and the department of ice administration was cancelled in the Song Dynasty, about one thousand years ago.
The most representative public diet is water town watermelon, ice drink, lotus seed soup, su Ye soup and so on. Watermelons began in the Han Dynasty. Ordinary families usually put a big urn in the well in their yard, or hang a basket in the well with a rope, and put the watermelon into the urn or basket for preservation. This method is still used today, renamed “ice watermelon.”
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, many cold drinks to relieve the summer heat appeared in the folk market, such as snow bubble plum wine, papaya juice, bittersweet plum water, ginger honey water, iced plum soup and so on. During the Northern Song Dynasty, cold drink shops in Tokyo (today’s Kaifeng in Henan Province) usually closed after 12 o ‘clock in the evening.
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, during the dog days of Summer, lotus seed soup became popular among the common people. Often drink lotus seed soup, not only can nourish the mind and spleen, but also light qi, especially for the elderly. During the Qing Dynasty, residents of Beijing, the capital city, used to fry suye, hopi leaves, licorice and other summer soup to drink, which were also sold in markets.
The most popular su Ye tang, also called Perilla soup, can play the role of phlegm and cough, spleen and kidney. Perilla is used for oil, spices, food and other functions. It has been cultivated and applied for nearly 2000 years in China, and can be traced back to the Eastern Han Dynasty. Can not only strengthen the body, but also cool down the summer, the dog days to drink lotus seed soup, su Ye soup, really very comfortable.
