How to relieve the summer heat, staying in a courtyard.
There are no long objects in front of you, but there is a cool breeze under the window.
It’s another scorching summer day.
I particularly love refrigerators; in summer, I stuff ice pops and watermelon in there, and watermelon is not tasty if it’s not cold! I used to feel sorry for ancient people, thinking that a life without cold watermelon was incomplete, but later I learned that the wealthy in ancient times could definitely enjoy cold watermelon.According to relevant records, our country had a so-called “refrigerator” very early in ancient times. The ancient book “Zhou Li” mentions a type of ice container used to store food, which can be traced back to the Warring States period. Although it used ice blocks to achieve refrigeration, its function is no different from today’s refrigerators.
Warring States period bronze ice container and bronze vessel, Henan Museum collection
However, it was not as advanced as today’s fully automated systems; its main principle was to store ice blocks in winter for use in summer. As for the source of the ice blocks, archaeological discoveries show that ice cellars existed as early as the Zhou Dynasty. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, ice was widely used in summer. Ice cellars were generally official, government, and civilian. According to the records in the “Great Qing Code,” there were 18 official ice cellars in the Forbidden City, Jingshan, Deshengmen, and Zhengyangmen, with the Forbidden City alone storing 25,000 ice blocks. (The emperor’s summer was still quite comfortable.)
Ice cellars were generally built in the same way, adopting a semi-underground form buried 1.5 meters underground, about 11 meters long, 6 meters wide, with a volume of over 330 cubic meters. These ice blocks were cut into specified sizes by ice harvesters after the ice formed on the river in the coldest days of winter, then pulled into the ice cellars for summer use. In short, it was a physically demanding job.
In the Qing Dynasty, the containers used to store ice blocks were called “ice buckets” or “foreign buckets,” with inner linings mostly made of redwood, rosewood, or cypress, and some made of metal. They were funnel-shaped, large at the top and small at the bottom. Of course, to maintain insulation, the lids had to be thick, usually made of very thick wooden boards for thermal insulation, with copper rings added on both sides for easy transportation; otherwise, how could the emperor move the “refrigerator”? The four legs at the bottom were to prevent moisture.
Qing Dynasty cypress refrigerator, collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
This palace “refrigerator” is still very simple compared to today’s refrigerators, but though small, it is fully functional with a reasonable and practical structure. The main uses of the “refrigerator” at that time were to chill and preserve food, which goes without saying; if you wanted to eat cold watermelon, you had to rely on the refrigerator. To be honest, this design is quite scientific; the interior of the box is made of lead or tin for insulation (the ancient understanding of physics was quite good, even though they didn’t have the term physics). The bottom of the box has small holes so that the melted ice water can drain out smoothly.
The ice bucket also had another use: to lower the indoor temperature. It’s somewhat like when we were kids and opened the refrigerator door to cool down, only to be scolded by our parents. But they had their own source of cool air; they set ventilation holes on the lid, and the cold air released was the ready-made “air conditioning.”
Warring States period bronze ice container, collection of the National Museum of China
Qianlong period cloisonné “refrigerator,” collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
In ancient times, most pillows had the function of clearing heat and calming the mind. Porcelain pillows entered people’s homes from the Sui Dynasty and have physical properties that are cool and heat-reducing. One can imagine that during the unbearably hot summer, porcelain pillows became excellent items for cooling down. (However, I wonder if such a hard pillow is really comfortable to sleep on?)
Song Dynasty painting “Summer Relaxation in Huaiyin,” collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
Moreover, with the development of Chinese ceramic craftsmanship, the making of porcelain pillows has reached new heights, with more diverse shapes and patterns, greatly enhancing their expressiveness and artistry, making them elegant items in the bedroom. It seems that porcelain pillows not only cool down but also have ornamental value, truly achieving two benefits in one.
Northern Song Dynasty Ding kiln white porcelain pillow, collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
Cizhou kiln white ground with black flower pattern pillow, collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
Late Tang period green glaze oval rabbit seat pillow, collection of the Nanyue King Museum of the Western Han Dynasty
Yuan Dynasty blue and white glazed carved lotus leaf-shaped pillow, collection of the Nanyue King Museum of the Western Han Dynasty
At that time, people had already mastered the angle of the sun’s shadow in winter and summer (which is what we now call the solar altitude angle; in Beijing, the solar altitude angle at noon on the winter solstice is 27°, and on the summer solstice is 76°) to design the angle of the eaves. The north room in the palace had this angle of eaves, which could shade the sun around the summer solstice; around the winter solstice, sunlight would fill the room, giving a sensation of warmth in winter and coolness in summer.
The windows in the Forbidden City also have great significance. The upper part of the window can be propped up, and the lower part can be removed, allowing for open ventilation, making the indoor environment cooler.
The methods of creating artificial shade in the palace were also numerous. For example, hanging curtains in front of the eaves can block sunlight while leaving gaps for ventilation. There were regulations on when to hang and when to remove the curtains.
The curtains were also classified by rank; the highest grade was woven from bamboo and fragrant bamboo, adorned with various patterns, while the lower grade was made from reed mats. The poem “Xiang Lian” by Emperor Daoguang says: “A beam hangs silver garlic, woven into a green bamboo basket. The smoke lingers in fine places, the grass color appears more often. Under the moon, it casts no shadow; in front of the wind, it sways with waves. The charm of the Xiang River remains, how peaceful the summer is.”
A larger project was to build a shade pavilion, which involved constructing a roof to block sunlight over the palace and courtyard. Carpenters used simple round logs as supports, and once built, they covered the top with reed mats and tied it securely with ropes. This shade pavilion could be rolled out and displayed to block sunlight during the hottest part of the day, and then retracted in the morning and evening for ventilation.
The construction of shade pavilions typically began in the fourth lunar month. Records of repairs in the Forbidden City show that in 1934, the pavilion in front of the Jiangxue Pavilion was reinforced, in 1936, the pavilion in the Yangxing Studio was replaced with new large wood and oil finishing, and in 1938, the Jiangxue Pavilion was repaired again, so photos taken in the 1950s still show the shade pavilions.
Now, these pavilions have all been dismantled, but the Forbidden City still has a “sample of the Changchun Palace shade pavilion.” This sample was made to scale based on the actual proportions of the Changchun Palace, so today one can still see the appearance of the shade pavilion intuitively and accurately.
Sample of the Changchun Palace shade pavilion
Qing Dynasty white silk embroidered peacock lacquer handle round fan, collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
Ming Dynasty “Imitating Ni Zan Landscape” fan, collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
Does this adorable boy not amaze you? The boy not only looks cute but is also exquisitely made, capable of holding a fan and waving it up and down, providing cooling for the owner. However, this was a luxury for the wealthy, and ordinary families could hardly afford it.
Qing mid-period copper gilded dye box boy fan, collection of the Beijing Palace Museum
Ancient people had their own refrigerators and fans, while I sit at home and in the office during the scorching summer, facing the heat from my computer with a forlorn expression.
With the intention of buying a fan, I went to JD.com, only to find that modern life is also quite fulfilling, with so many types of fans available. Here, I’ll show you a few models, which are not inferior to the variety of ancient times.
Long press to identify the QR code to view details.
This one goes without saying, a must-have for students. Essential for dormitories without air conditioning.
Click the link below to read the original article and get the purchase link!~
● ● ●