The Origin of "Refrigerator", Straw Cup... How did the Ancients Beat the Summer Heat from the Cultural Relics

The hot summer is unbearable, and it is the hottest and most humid season of the year. The ancients did not know about electric fans or air conditioners, but they also had ways to deal with it. Let's follow the reporter's footsteps and visit the Henan Museum to see the ancients' tips for preventing and cooling down in the summer.

Ancient people's refrigerators: a combination of practicality and artistry

Ancient people began to explore ways to escape the heat of summer very early, leaving behind many summer customs and items. For example, in a tomb excavated near Shangcunling in Sanmenxia, ​​Henan Province, an ice jar from the Warring States period was unearthed. This was an ancient refrigerator, which was used to store ice in the summer. It could preserve food and emit cold air to keep the room cool.

According to bronze ware research experts at the Henan Museum, this set of silver-inlaid lacquered copper square jar with coiled dragon patterns and gold-inlaid turquoise-inlaid copper square mirror with animal ears, when the true appearance was revealed, the copper jar was placed inside the copper mirror, and a copper spoon was also found inside the copper jar.

The reporter found out through information that this set of utensils should be used for ice wine or warming wine. The wine in the copper jar can be cooled down by placing ice cubes in the jar, or hot water can be added to the jar to warm up the wine.

This set of bronze treasures, which combines practicality and artistry, not only reflects the superb bronze craftsmanship of the time, but also showcases the imagination and creativity of Chinese craftsmen.

Experts further explained that it is often said that "learn from history" and "learn from people". The "jian" here refers to the ancient water container, which has the functions of holding ice, bathing, and looking at one's face. The name "jian" comes from the function of looking at one's face after holding water.

In the "Danxijijin - Bronze Art of the Chu State in the Central Plains" exhibition hall of the Henan Museum, two artifacts excavated from the Xichuan Chu Tomb are collected - the "Meng Tengji" bath pot and the Panchi pattern animal ear mirror. These bronze water vessels were mainly used for washing ceremonies in ceremonial activities to show respect and piety.

A "summer retreat" is held in the pavilions and waterside terraces with a peaceful and natural environment

I believe many tourists are familiar with the seven-story painted pottery building in the Henan Museum, and the Han Dynasty green-glazed pottery water pavilion unearthed in Sanmenxia next to it is also very interesting.

Enjoying the cool and enjoying the cool are ancient customs, and there are many historical records of this in the Central Plains. Meng Yuanlao of the Northern Song Dynasty recorded the summer scene in Kaifeng at that time in his "Dreams of the Capital (Volume 8)": "The capital people value the three hottest months of summer the most. There is no other season in June. There are often pavilions and waterside terraces, high buildings, snow-covered fences and ice-plated plates, floating melons and plums, flowing wine cups, eating pickled fish in the pond, and music and singing from far and near all night long."

In ancient times, it was popular to hold "summer retreats" in the summer. Ancient people would enjoy the cool outdoors in beautiful places, such as lotus ponds, bamboo forests, pavilions and waterside pavilions, or boating on lakes. Pavilions and waterside pavilions are traditional Chinese buildings built by the water or on the water for people to rest and enjoy the scenery. Ancient people often liked to enjoy the cool by the waterside pavilions and engage in outdoor activities.

"This water pavilion mainly represents the leisurely pastoral life of the ancients. It is a burial object, that is, something that was not used during one's lifetime. The pavilions, ponds and banks are all sculpted with figures, birds and beasts, with the owner sitting in the middle of the pavilion. In addition, there are servants sweeping the house, knights patrolling the land and family members serving the manor owner. There are small boats floating in the pond, and ducks, geese, fish and turtles playing in the water. On the shore, there are chickens, ducks, sheep and running elk. In the Han Dynasty, nobles and powerful people competed to build pavilions, gardens and ponds for rest and entertainment. This green-glazed pottery water pavilion not only truly reproduces the enjoyable life of the powerful landlords in the Han Dynasty, but also reflects the level of development of architectural technology at that time." A relevant staff member of the Exhibition Department of the Henan Museum told reporters.

Ice is essential in summer. Ancient refrigerators store ice in winter and in summer.

According to experts, not only modern people like cold drinks, but ancient people also liked to use ice and snow with sugar to make delicious cold desserts to relieve the heat in summer. During the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, a kind of "ice cream" similar to today was popular. The "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" also depicts a beverage store in the Song Dynasty market, and there was also a watermelon store selling watermelons.

How to cool down in the hot summer? Don't miss this stunning and beautiful Qing Dynasty straw cup.

A sip of ice-cold water, a glance of coolness, the pink gradient cup body is full of girlishness, the petals are three-dimensional and lifelike, and the sizes are staggered and layered. The veins and stamens are clearly outlined, and matched with the tender green flower stems, it is as if holding a lotus flower that is about to bloom in your hands. The flower stem serves as both the handle of the cup and the straw that goes straight to the bottom of the cup.

Pour a pot of chilled wine into this cup, take a sip through the lotus stem straw, and the coolness will instantly penetrate your heart and spleen, and you will be transported to the lotus pond in a second, feeling the breeze. Who can not love such a beautiful and functional powerful product?

In fact, suction cups have already appeared in the Tang Dynasty. However, since they were not cool enough, people used imagination to make up for it. Lotus leaves were not always available, so various similar utensils evolved.

Ancient people couldn't make cold drinks without ice cubes. In summer, there were no refrigerators for making ice, so the cold storage room called "Lingyin" became an indispensable place. Ice was stored in winter and summer. The Book of Songs records that "on the second day, ice was chiseled and washed, and on the third day, ice was stored in Lingyin". The core part of the large-scale Lingyin ruins of the Korean Kingdom during the Warring States Period in the ancient city of Zhenghan in Xinzheng is 5 cylindrical underground cold storage wells about 2.5 meters deep, which are important refrigeration equipment in "Lingyin".

The thousand-year-old porcelain pillow was first fired in the Sui and Song dynasties and became a magical tool for preventing heatstroke and cooling down.

"The yellow curtains and green screens cut off the flies, the shadows of the afternoon are in the porch, but I am still asleep. The pillow is made of purple stone carved with sea fish, and the fan is made of green silk painted with snow from the mountains." To cool off at home, you can set up a gauze tent, spread a cool mat, use a stone pillow, burn incense and hold a fan, and you can also clear your boredom. These summer goodies not only often appear in poems and songs, but are also frequent visitors to the exhibition stands of major museums.

Li Qingzhao's "Drunk in the Flower Shade" states: "The jade pillow and the gauze kitchen, the coolness begins to penetrate in the middle of the night." The jade pillow here refers to the porcelain pillow. Porcelain pillows were first created in the Sui Dynasty, and began to be produced in large quantities after the Tang Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, porcelain pillows were already in the homes of ordinary people and became a magical tool for ordinary people to prevent heatstroke and cool down. The Henan Museum displays a variety of porcelain pillows, among which the three-color lotus leaf boy pillow and the white-ground black-flowered Cuju porcelain pillow are the most eye-catching.

The tri-color lotus leaf boy pillow has a lotus leaf-shaped pillow surface, with a boy lying on a rectangular tray underneath. He looks naive and full of childlike innocence, and the whole pillow is painted in yellow, green and white.

The white porcelain pillow with black patterns on it features a boy with braids, a left-fronted collar, narrow-sleeved floral clothes, wide-legged trousers, and a ribbon tied around his waist. He has a frown on his face, his arms spread out, his hands hidden in his sleeves, his upper body bent forward, his left foot on the ground as a fulcrum, his right foot raised, as if he is concentrating on his luck, and kicking the ball away. This reflects the prevalence of Cuju in social life at that time, and reproduces the situation when "Cuju" flourished in the Song Dynasty with vivid images.

"During the Song Dynasty, due to the improvement and popularization of production technology, porcelain pillows became the artifact of choice for ordinary people to prevent heatstroke and cool down." The staff of the exhibition department introduced that, generally speaking, porcelain pillows are hollow in the middle, the surface is glazed, and there are small holes on both sides so that air can circulate, thus achieving a breathable effect.

Walking around the main exhibition hall of the Henan Museum, we can't help but marvel at the wisdom of the ancients. Through the cultural relics, we can feel the exquisite artistic level of the ancients, and we can also imagine their elegant demeanor and joyful mood when they used these cooling devices.