How did the ancient people who didn't have air conditioners, electric fans, and refrigerators spend their summers?
The refrigerator of the ancient people is the ice cellar, as early as the pre-Qin period, people have begun to use ice cubes to store food, make cold drinks, "Zhou Li" recorded that the royal family at that time in order to use ice cubes in the hot summer, specially set up a department, named "Bing Zheng", the department boss called "Ling Ren".
This department is staffed with dozens of employees, and when the temperature is about to fall below 0°C in winter, the employees begin to collect large quantities of ice and transport it to an ice cellar called "Lingyin" for storage, and when summer comes, they can take ice from the ice cellar to cool off, and even give ice cubes as a reward to the ministers.
Ice cellar in ancient times is a symbol of status and status, ordinary people do not have so much financial resources, most of the people are refrigerated by the well at home, when the temperature of the well water is very low in summer, they will put the food into the basket, tie a rope and hang it in the well to keep it fresh.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the craftsmanship of bronze ware became more and more exquisite, and people used bronze to make a kind of refrigerator-like vessel "Bingjian", which was filled with ice cubes around it, and then put food or drink in the middle, and then covered with a lid.
In addition, Bingjian also has a special function, after the ice cubes are stuffed around, do not put anything in the middle, and do not cover the lid, so that the cold air will slowly seep out from the Bingjian, and the effect of cooling can be achieved, but the thermal insulation effect of bronze utensils is not good, the ice cubes volatilize too quickly, and the ice cubes need to be replaced frequently in the process of use, which is more troublesome.
Later, people directly abandoned metal and used wood to make ice kean, so there was a new name "ice bucket", which can be stored for a day after putting ice cubes in it, and in summer, put an ice bucket in the house, and the temperature of the whole house will become very cool.
In the hot summer, ultraviolet rays will become particularly strong, the ancients in order to protect from the sun, will build an awning in their yard, the building materials are very simple, find some bamboo and straw mats, after having an awning, the temperature in the yard will not be so high.
In ancient times, the palace maids and eunuchs would hold a fan to cool down the emperor, during the Qing Dynasty, there was already a hand-cranked fan in the palace, this semi-mechanized fan, the wind fanned out was very comfortable, when the Qianlong Emperor was in power, he invented a water-jet fan, with the help of the kinetic energy of water to operate, and it can also achieve the miraculous effect of cooling.
During the Han Dynasty, every summer, people mainly rely on drinking well water to cool down the heat, and some people will add honey to the water to drink, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, "drink" began to appear in the public's field of vision, which is a drink made of fruits and Chinese medicine, quenching thirst and also has the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying.
The most popular summer cold drink in the Song Dynasty was fruit juice, and there were many varieties, as described in the Tokyo Menghualu, when people liked to visit the night market, and there were many vendors selling drinks in the night market.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the territory was vast, and some foreign drinks also spread to the mainland, and "Sheerbe" was originally a special drink for the royal family, but after it entered the people, it was widely promoted and improved.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, "Dutch water" began to circulate in the market, which is now soda, this kind of drink is expensive, ordinary people can't afford to consume, ordinary people are buying ice cubes to escape the heat.
Bibliography:
Ancient cold drink competition. Junyi.Encyclopedic Knowledge, 2023(20)
The summer drink of the ancients. Watermelon.Reading,2023(Z8)
The fancy style of the ancients to cool off. Reading, 2023 (Z9)
