How did the ancients prevent fire during the Qin and Han dynasties?

The Qin and Han dynasties are collectively known as the Qin and Han dynasties, which lasted for more than 440 years. Due to the long history, the documents on fire and fire prevention measures left by our ancestors are scattered in libraries and archives around the country. The Chinese Fire Dictionary has systematically collected and sorted out these materials, which will benefit future generations.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, with the development of society and the improvement of productivity, fires also increased accordingly. The Chinese Fire Code collected 163 fire cases of that year, including 4 cases in the Qin Dynasty, 46 cases in the Western Han Dynasty, 10 cases in the Wang Mang Xin Dynasty, and 103 cases in the Eastern Han Dynasty. From these cases, we can get a glimpse of the fire situation of that year.

The direct causes of fires during the Qin and Han dynasties were mainly the following.

war

Among the 163 fires mentioned above, 59 were caused by war, accounting for 36%.

There are two main types of fires caused by war.

One is completely destructive. The objects of destruction are mainly the palaces, ancestral temples, tombs and streets that symbolize the dynasty. This type of fire causes extremely serious losses.

Xiang Yu's burning of the Xianyang Palace is a typical example of a victor burning down the palace of the previous dynasty; the leader of the Red Eyebrow Army of the Eastern Han Dynasty set fire to Chang'an when he captured it due to lack of food in the city and could not hold on, which is a typical example of a loser burning down a palace.

The other is for offensive or defensive needs. This type of fire is mainly concentrated in military camps, passes, plank roads, etc., and the scope of damage is relatively small.

For example, in the spring of the first year of the Han Dynasty (206 BC), after Xiang Yu entered the pass, he broke the agreement between King Huai of Chu and his generals that whoever entered the Hangu Pass first would be crowned king there, and instead crowned Liu Bang as the King of Han. On the way to Hanzhong, Liu Bang led his army to burn the plank road along the way, indicating that he had no intention of returning and paralyzing Xiang Yu.

Careless use of fire

Careless use of fire was called misfire or leftover fire in the Qin and Han dynasties. Among the 163 fires, 86 were caused by careless use of fire, accounting for 52.8%, ranking first among all fire causes.

Natural factors such as lightning

During the Qin and Han dynasties, there were 11 fires caused by natural factors such as lightning, accounting for 6.7%.

For example, Fu Wuji of the Han Dynasty recorded in "Notes on Ancient and Modern Times": On the fourth day of June in the third year of Yuanhe (86 AD), there was a thunder and lightning fire that burned the west part of Zhujue Palace in the north of Luoyang.

other

Other causes included arson, self-immolation and fires of unknown causes, totaling 7 cases, accounting for 4.3%.

The firefighting tools used in the Qin and Han dynasties were the same as those used in the pre-Qin period, and did not exceed the scope of tools used in daily life and production, so the firefighting effectiveness was not strong. Therefore, the government attached great importance to fire prevention.

The Qin Dynasty formulated a series of fire prevention regulations in an attempt to prevent the occurrence of fires from a systemic perspective, especially in official places such as palaces, government offices and warehouses.

According to the "Yunmeng Qin Bamboo Slips·Neishi Miscellaneous Laws", the main measures included building high walls to isolate key fire prevention areas, prohibiting unauthorized personnel from approaching and entering and exiting; prohibiting the bringing of fire into the warehouse and taking turns to guard and strictly patrolling, etc.

During the Western Han Dynasty, the government further expanded the scope of fire prevention regulations. For example, it was prohibited to set fire to wasteland and use charcoal to cast iron or burn ore after the summer solstice and the beginning of autumn to prevent fires.

In the Han Dynasty, street drums were built in cities and in front of government offices to report fires. Once a fire broke out, someone would beat the drum to notify local residents to put out the fire as soon as possible in its early stages. The Eastern Han government also built watchtowers in the city to detect fires in a timely manner.

The Han Dynasty began to pay attention to fire prevention for residents. During the reign of Emperor Xuan of the Western Han Dynasty, Minister Xu Sheng wrote a letter to the emperor and told the story of "Bending the Chimneys to Carry Firewood". For two thousand years, this story to promote family fire safety has been widely spread.

In the agricultural era, productivity developed slowly and firefighting equipment did not improve quickly. However, the ancients of each era still worked hard to do a good job in firefighting, leaving us with many valuable experiences that are worth our understanding and study.

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Text | Fan Qiangqiang

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