In ancient times, there was no electricity. Did the ancients go to bed as soon as it got dark?

When everyone is in bed at night and it is difficult to knock on the mobile phone, have you ever thought about what the ancients would do without electric lights, TV and mobile phones? Do they have a colorful nightlife?

Let's start with a curfew.

The ancient ruling class tried to control the lives of civilians through curfew to avoid criminal activities to the greatest extent. The so-called curfew means that the city gate must be closed at the specified time, and people can't walk in the street at will, otherwise they will be severely punished. For example, in Chang 'an in the Tang Dynasty, at dusk, Chengtianmen drummed 400 times, the city gate was closed, and pedestrians were forbidden to walk at night. Only on the day of Shangyuan Festival, the curfew will be lifted in the capital, fireworks will be set off in the city, and hotels will basically not close. In the late Tang Dynasty, the curfew system was not so strict, and the night market was very prosperous. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Kaifeng became a city that never sleeps, and many big hotels were open all night. But in the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the curfew system began to be clear and strict again. In other words, if you live in Lin 'an City in the Northern Song Dynasty, you can play in the street all night. However, the prosperity of the night market comes at a price. During the Northern Song Dynasty alone, there were 44 fires in Kaifeng, and the government once restricted citizens from lighting lamps.

What if you really want to go out to play at night? For wealthy and powerful aristocratic men, the problem of curfew is relatively easy to solve.

For example, this set of "Han Xizai's Night Banquet" embodies a very lively private night banquet. We can not only find actors, dancers, singers and even a monk in the painting. Han Xizai refused to be prime minister in order to avoid disaster and protect himself, pretending to play the flute every night.

The curfew in the city is strict, but there is generally no night patrol outside the city, so there are many nightlife gathering places in the outer cities of many big cities. For example, the Qinhuai River in Jinling City and the eight hutongs in Beijing? But it is impossible to spend the night here without a few dollars in your pocket.

Those rich and powerful gentlemen have no energy, and are embarrassed to wander around Liuxiang in Huajie Street. They simply keep a group of geisha dancers at home and let them perform comments when they are bored at night. If the kabuki at home is tired of watching it, is there a special organization to perform and hold a banquet in the Song Dynasty? Four innings and six innings? As long as you have money, you can invite not only geisha, dancers, chefs, waiters, but also a group? Lighting engineer? In order to give you a facade, these people specially light up the stage and cut candles. The average little The Rich House can't afford to light so many lights and raise so many people. In a word? We can't imagine the happiness of the rich? .

After talking about the life of the rich, let's talk about the nightlife of ordinary people.

For ordinary people, especially those who live in the suburbs or rural areas, there is really nothing to do in nightlife except telling jokes and ghost stories. The main reason is that ancient lighting is so expensive that ordinary people simply can't afford to light it every night. When we hear. Capsule fireflies reflect snow? 、? Cut the wall and steal the light? When the story happened, I always felt that the protagonist's family was poor, at least below the poverty line. In fact, ordinary people can't afford to light a lamp. Even in the late Qing Dynasty, ordinary people burned a pine branch or a bamboo as temporary lighting at night. ? * * * When do you cut the western window candle? Only literati really have leisure.

Ancient candles are completely different from the candles we use today. The candle we use is very cheap, because it is the product of petroleum industry, with high purity and relatively low price. But in ancient times, people used candles made of beeswax or animal oil. These candles burn unsteadily. When they burn, they give off a very unpleasant smell and emit a lot of smoke. There is a story in the history of the Song Dynasty called Kou Zhun? I haven't seen Ruo oil lamp at home. Although I'm here, I must light some candles. To show the luxurious life in Kou Zhun.

According to the data, the price of a candle in the late Qing Dynasty was between 150 and 200. Generally, about 2 candles are consumed in one night. At that time, an ordinary Qing official with seven grades could not even afford candles for a day's salary, which was only about 120.

Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been street lamps in the Forbidden City, but in the Qing Dynasty, except for the residences of emperors, queens and princes, no street lamps were installed in other palaces. Therefore, ministers go to court every morning, carrying small lanterns for lighting no matter whether it is windy or rainy. Because of the lighting problem, the courtiers had problems on their way to court. During Guangxu period, an official fell into the Royal River and drowned.

Candles can't be bought, so what about oil lamps? First of all, the lighting effect of oil lamps is very bad. In order to save fuel, most families make the lines of oil lamps very thin. If you want the oil lamp to have the same effect as a candle, you have to thicken the cotton thread, which means that the oil consumption of the oil lamp will increase. Lighting a lamp was a very extravagant thing for ancient civilians. In The Scholars, Yan Jiansheng died unsatisfied because he lit two lamps at home. Although this is an exaggeration, it also reflects the preciousness of lamp oil from the side.

In addition to the high cost of lighting, long working hours during the day are also the reason why farmers went to bed early last time. For most people, whether economically or physically, they can't stay up all night. Better go to bed early.

After talking about the rich and the common people, what was the emperor's life like? The emperor should not lack money to buy lamp oil, right? Does he play the flute every night?

Let's first look at the one-day trip of Emperor Taizong. He once wrote ten poems in the Imperial Capital, detailing his day's itinerary. Later generations roughly sorted out the schedule of Emperor Taizong's day? Get up at 5: 00, work until 1 1: 00, 1 hour to eat, read for 2 hours, watch exams at 2: 00, enjoy music at 4: 00, walk in the garden at 5: 00, play the piano at 6: 00, entertain the minister at 7: 00, and write a summary report for the day when you come back.

What was the life and rest of the Qing emperors who were famous for their diligence? Get up at 5 o'clock every day, get up earlier in summer and have breakfast before 7 o'clock; Have a meal around one o'clock and a light meal at five or six o'clock. The emperor worked most of the day, and they kept changing clothes. In the evening, what the emperor does every day is not to turn over the brand, but to read the newspaper. Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong personally reviewed the memorial, and many times they had to review it until late at night. Sometimes the workaholic Yongzheng even stayed up all night. This is probably the main content of nightlife. So can emperors relax during the holidays? The answer is no, ordinary people can have a good sleep during the Spring Festival, but the emperor has to be pulled up in the middle of the night, washed and dressed, and then prepared for various sacrifices and ceremonies? Therefore, the happiest thing for emperors should not be visiting the night market, but going to bed at eight o'clock on time!