In the hot summer, the sun is like fire, the temperature rises openly, and there is no cool breeze in the air, like a huge steamer, in which people will sweat as long as they move more. Fortunately, now basically every household has installed air conditioning and fans, eating ice watermelon in the summer, blowing air conditioning is not happy.
Imagine ancient times, not only did there not exist these summer artifacts, but people also had to wear long clothes and trousers wrapped in three layers of outer three layers. The emperor is not allowed to take a leave of absence for the sake of his people and the upper and lower levels of the dprk, and in addition to the routine early dynasty all day, he also needs to approve and fold to deal with official affairs, and this series of work is added to the high temperature of the three volts, who can bear it?
However, the ancients naturally had the wisdom of the ancients, and the method was figured out by people, and of course they also had their own "summer artifacts".
"Artifact One" ice cube
Winter weather is cold, and the water will start to freeze when it reaches the freezing point. The ancients collected some ice cubes in winter and kept them in ice cellars, which could be used to cool down in the summer.
In the "Yanjing Chronicle", there is such a record: "The winter solstice is three or nine ice firm, chiseled in the night, the sound is like a stone, and it is called ice." After 39, although the ice is strong, it cannot be used. "This is the experience of the ancients through long-term ice collection, they found that after the winter solstice, the ice cubes of three or nine days are the hardest and easier to preserve, and the ice that freezes after four or nine days cannot be used, and it is likely to melt in the middle of preservation."
Although the ice is collected, it is not easy to get an ice cube that can be stored from winter to summer and not melt, without a refrigerator. However, the ancients also came up with the corresponding method, although they did not have a refrigerator, but they could build their own ice cellar.
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, the royal family would send people to dig out a space from the ground, also known as an ice cellar, which could be used to store ice cubes, and at that time, the position of Lingren was specially established to manage the storage of ice. However, the ice storage environment in the ice cellar is still relatively simple, and the preservation efficiency of ice is not high, about 30%.
During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ice cellar form of "ice well" began to appear, and its ice cube retention rate was higher.
During the Three Kingdoms period, the ice well platform built by Cao Cao to store ice is described in detail in the Records of Yizhong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The book mentions that there are three ice chambers in the ice well platform, each of which contains an ice well. The principle of storing ice cubes in ice wells is similar to that of ordinary wells, as we all know, the water in the wells is always warm in winter and cool in summer, and the ice wells use the temperature underground to store ice cubes.
The ice well is about 15 meters deep, or 50 meters deep, and there is a special drainage device underneath it. In winter, the ice cubes are sealed and put into the ice well, and in the summer, they will not lose much.
Qing history records that a total of 18 large ice cellars were built in Beijing at that time. Empress Dowager Cixi was afraid of the heat and was extremely enjoyable in this regard, and it is said that most of the ice cubes in the ice cellar that year were used up by Empress Dowager Cixi, and these ice cubes were originally for the emperor to use.
"Artifact II" Ice Book
How did the ancients use the ice cubes? It will not be a person holding a large piece of ice to cool down, the water after the ice melts will wet the clothes, the posture does not look very elegant, in the majestic palace, if you really do this, I am afraid that the emperor will also shout "Into what system!" ”
After having ice cubes, the ancients naturally came up with various uses of ice, and also invented a container for holding ice, ice book. First appeared in the Western Zhou Dynasty, generally made of bronze or wood, it looks like a box, but its shape is more exquisite, carved with intricate decorations, it looks particularly chic.
In the folk, people often put the ice bought at the market in this wooden box, which is probably the earliest homemade air conditioner. As long as it is in the room, it is guaranteed to be several degrees cooler than other houses. In addition, in the hot summer, people inevitably have no appetite, and they can't eat meals, adding ice cubes to special dishes, while relieving the heat, they can also eat a lot, so unhappy.
Later, this box containing ice was called accustomed by the people, and over time it was called a "refrigerator". This name has been used to this day, and now the commonly used vertical ice storage container in the home is also called a refrigerator. But in fact, Chinese culture is vast and profound, each word has its own unique meaning, and there are some misunderstandings between the names.
In ancient Italy, "box" is a box with up and down clamshells, "cabinet" is a box that is opened left and right, most of the vertical refrigerators used in our home are actually left and right doors, so they should be called "freezers", and those used in supermarkets to freeze fast food products and ice cream should be called "refrigerators". It is only because of the preconceived notion that the former occupied the name of "refrigerator" when it was first introduced to China, while the latter can only be wrong.
"Artifact THREE" Summer Resort
In the summer, in fact, even if there is ice, it is inevitable that the surrounding environment is still hot and dry, so after the construction of the summer resort, the emperor is no longer stuck in the deep palace, and will choose to go to the palace he built to escape the summer.
The Second Emperor Kangqian of the Qing Dynasty built a summer resort in Chengde, Hebei Province, which is still the rehe river at that time.
Adjacent to the grasslands and full of lakes, the Rehe River can be cool and pleasant in the summer, which is undoubtedly an excellent summer resort. The summer resort is also extremely elegantly built, with mountains and water inside, green trees around the mountain, the craftsmen of the Qing Dynasty undoubtedly did their best, from the beginning to the completion of the construction of ninety years, each courtyard has created a different scenery. In order to achieve the best effect of summer escape, the emperor ordered that the palace be built on the high soil by the lakeside, and every night, almost no fan was used to get a good night's sleep.
At that time, the emperor went hunting in the Mulan paddock during the day, returned to the summer resort at night to cool off, and the summer became less difficult.
Only later, during the Jiaqing period, the Jiaqing Emperor died of illness here, and this place also became a sad place, and no emperor has ever come here since. It was not until the Second Opium War that the city of Beijing was unable to withstand the invasion of the Anglo-French forces, and the Xianfeng Emperor fled here, but the Xianfeng Emperor also died of illness in this elegant summer resort. Since then, no Qing emperor has ever asked for advice.