The Ancient Way to Keep Cool
By admin on 2015-01-08

It is a comfortable enjoyment to work, study and rest in an air-conditioned room in the hot summer. Air-conditioning may be humanity’s proudest invention for cooling. But for our ancient friends, what method would they use for cooling in summer? Here are some ancient ways our ancestors chose to get relief from the summer heat.

At first, ancient Chinese people used leaves to cool themselves off—these are believed to be the original fans. Since leaves were easy to tear, fans weaved from bamboo strips subsequently came into being. Silk also can be used to make fans, but only rich people could afford them. The ancient Chinese literati enjoyed writing poems or putting paintings on the fans to express their elegant tastes. According to the records of the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220), a wheeled device equipped with seven paddles was invented, which rolled rapidly to produce a cool breeze. However, this big machine was hard to afford for common people, so only the royal families were able to enjoy it.

Ancient Air Conditioning

During the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people built houses beside the streams, using special devices to draw water up to the roof, from where it would drop down along eaves, giving off a light spray that brought cool wind into the house.

Cold drinks

Fans and houses are the ways ancient people chose to make their bodies cool. But what about their mouths? Cold drinks were a good option.

About 3000 years ago, during the winter noble families would preserve ice in cellars, in preparation for the summer heat. Ice was very special in ancient times. In the Zhou Dynasty (About 1100-256BC), the royal court even had an official in charge of making cold drinks. In the late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), the feudal princes loved to drink iced rice wine at banquets, for it tasted not only cool but also mellow

Ice sellers emerged in the Tang Dynasty. They stored ice in winter and sold it in summer. In later Tang Dynasty, the ice sellers added sugar into the ice to attract customers.

Cold drinks gained popularity in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). It even had stores that exclusively sold different kinds of iced drinks.

Iced sweet-sour plum juice, iced plum blossom wine and iced bean soup were the most popular cold drinks in that time. Some celebrated painters of the Song Dynasty even painted scenes of cold drink selling onto their works.

The Song Dynasty’s poet, Yang Wanli, highly praised an iced creamed milk which was made from juice, milk and ice blocks. When Marco Polo came to China during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), he had a chance to taste the iced creamed milk, which was exclusively enjoyed by the royal court. Later, Marco Polo brought the technique of making iced creamed milk back to Italy, where it was kept secret for nearly 300 years. Then the French bought the technique at a high price. Later, it was introduced into United Kingdom and improved by the English men. The ice cream we eat today evolved from this delicious iced creamed milk.

Porcelain Pillows

Beside the methods mentioned above, ancient people also used porcelain pillows to relieve the summer heat.

China is noted for its porcelain, and the ancient Chinese not only used it to make bowls, plates and vases but also porcelain pillows. The surface of the porcelain pillow was glazed with enamel, making it smooth and cool. It is pleasant in hot summer to rest one’s head on the pillow to have a good sleep.

Porcelain pillows were originally made in the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and were put into mass production after the Tang Dynasty (618-907), and they got popular during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) to Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Porcelain pillows were made in various shapes, delicate in quality and skillful in technique, among which the porcelain pillows of the Song Dynasty were most well-known for their artistic value. Cizhou kiln, Dangyangyu kiln and Dengfeng kiln were the three kilns that produced the most porcelain pillows in the Song Dynasty.

The baby-shaped pillow from Ding kiln of the Song Dynasty not only reflected the superb skills of craftsmen but also signified that the society of the Song Dynasty paid great attention to children. People of that time thought kids symbolized auspiciousness, and could bring happiness to the families and avoid evil things.

After the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911), with the appearance of more suitable materials for making pillows, porcelain pillows gradually faded away from people’s daily life.