In costume film and television dramas, there is often a plot of "stabbing the window with your finger", so are the ancient windows all made of paper?
And if the papier-mâché window is really as fragile as it is in the film and television drama, how can it withstand the wind and rain?
In fact, before the advent of papier-mâché windows, some people used cloth to paste windows.
Because cloth is expensive and opaque, people have been looking for alternatives to cloth windows until the advent of paper.
Compared with cloth windows, paper paste windows are very easy to replace, and have good light transmittance, and the most important point is that the price of paper is cheap.
According to historical records, in the Tang and Song dynasties, the ancients began to use papier-mâché windows, and it was not until the Ming and Qing dynasties that papier-mâché windows were truly popular.
Paper is a very fragile thing that can be destroyed when exposed to water.
Even in modern times, glass windows can be blown apart in the event of a typhoon, let alone papier-mâché windows.
In fact, the wise ancients had already thought of these situations, and they also responded differently.
After Cai Lun improved papermaking in the Eastern Han Dynasty, paper began to appear, but at this time, the paper was not used to paste the windows, but for the officials and nobles to write.
By the Tang and Song dynasties, papermaking had been developed to a certain extent, and paper could be produced in large quantities and could be afforded by ordinary people.
In the hot summer months, the ancients could use only a thin piece of paper to glue the windows, so that the house would not be too stuffy.
In winter, in order to increase the ability of the windows to resist wind and cold, the ancients would use multiple layers of paper to paste the windows.
At this time, the paper was no longer ordinary writing paper, but oil paper. It is recorded in the "Six Posts of White Holes in the Tang and Song Dynasties": "The pasted windows are coated with peach blossom paper with water and oil. ”
The oil paper mentioned here is the paper used by the ancients to make umbrellas, and there is no way to verify the age of the appearance of oil paper.
In ancient film and television dramas, when it rains, the people hold homemade oil-paper umbrellas, no matter how heavy the wind and rain, they will not get wet.
Therefore, the ancients chose to use this oiled paper to paste the windows, so that there is no need to worry about the paper windows being washed by the rain.
In order to better enjoy life, the ancients deliberately invented a window panel, which was specially used to protect the windows.
In addition to this, the ancients would also install cotton curtains between the windows and window panels.
In this way, the paper windows will not be damaged, even in bad weather.
And when the weather is good, you can remove the cotton curtains and window panels to allow the air to circulate in the room.
From papier-mâché windows, to oil-papier-mâché windows, to the appearance of window panels, these are the wisdom of the ancients.
In addition to protecting the paper windows themselves, the ancients also put a lot of effort into the construction.
If you look closely at those ancient buildings, you will find that there are "strange" places in the eaves.
In order to keep rainwater from splashing on the windows, the ancients designed the eaves to be long enough.
As a result, even if it rains heavily, the rainwater will fall to the ground along the eaves of the long house, and the windows will not be easily wet.
At the same time, the ancients generally adopted a cloister-style architectural design, allowing rainwater to slide down the roof.
From a small paper window, you can discover the excellent inventive ability of the ancients.
And in history, in addition to papier-mâché windows, the ancients also made a variety of items that amazed the world!
In the case of limited conditions, the ancients would not sit idly by, but tried every means to solve the problem, which is the charm of the ancients.