How did emperors and ladies-in-waiting in ancient times spend the winter without air conditioning?

As we all know, in ancient China, emperors of Ming and Qing dynasties lived in the Forbidden City. It is still very cold in winter in Beijing. After all, Beijing has two distinct seasons. It is colder in winter and hotter in summer. Many people are asking, how did emperors and maids spend the winter when there was no air conditioning in ancient times? Bian Xiao was also curious and did some sorting on the Internet. Next, let's take a look!

Beijing used to be much colder than it is now.

At that time, there were nearly 150 days of cold winter in a year. Emperors of the Qing Dynasty usually spend their summers in gardens in the western suburbs and their winters in the Forbidden City.

So what kind of cold protection measures does the Forbidden City have?

0 1

The first line of defense-palace wall

The buildings in the Forbidden City are usually in the yard. Each yard has a separate fence. This wall after wall can be used to prevent fire and resist the cold wind in winter.

In addition, most of the palaces in the Forbidden City face south, which is beneficial to rely on natural sunlight for heating.

Moreover, the walls and roofs of most palaces are relatively thick, which can also play a good role in keeping warm.

02

Early Floor Heating-Kang and Warm Pavilion

Most palaces in the Forbidden City are equipped with fire exits, and there are fire exits under the fire exits. Its structure is similar to today's fire kang in the northern rural areas of China.

In addition, the floor of the palace nuange can also be heated, which is the early floor heating.

There is a stove in the pit, which is connected with the flue in the temple. The eunuch in charge of firefighters squatted here to make a fire. The circulating flue in the temple will generate heat flow and heat the ground, and the temperature in the temple will rise slowly to keep out the cold.

This facility is still in the East Warm Pavilion of the Peace Palace.

The pit in front of the temple was covered with a wooden cover wrapped in iron plate, which is still visible.

03

Exquisite heaters, smoking cages and hand stoves

In the palace of the Forbidden City, a stove is set to keep warm in winter, which is called a fumigation cage. The fumigation cage is beautifully made and divided into two parts: basin and cage.

Large smoking cages weigh hundreds of pounds, exceeding 1 m, or 3 or 4 feet high. Some are gold-plated bronze, some are enamel, which is very luxurious.

Now, in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Zhonghe Hall, Baohe Hall, Gan Qing Palace and Kunning Palace, you can see the fumigation cages displayed at that time.

In addition to the big smoke cage, there is also a small stove that can be lifted at hand. It's called a foot stove. Put it under your feet to warm your feet, and a hand stove to warm your hands. Their products are more exquisite.

Of course, this small stove can only be used by emperors, queens, concubines and wives.

The hand rest is usually placed on a kang or a kang table, and the upper end of the hand rest is provided with a hanging beam, which can be moved to a suitable place by eunuchs or maids at any time according to the owner's wishes.

04

Good charcoal for furnace-carrot charcoal.

The charcoal from the furnace in the Forbidden City is the best "red charcoal".

This kind of charcoal is made of hardwood from Zhuozhou, Tongzhou, Jizhou, Yizhou, Wanping and Daxing counties under the jurisdiction of Shuntianfu.

After the charcoal is made, it is transported to Luohong factory, sawed according to the size, put in a small round basket coated with red soil, and then sent to the palace for use, hence the name "Luohong charcoal".

The Forbidden City has many houses and a large population. In the long winter, the demand for charcoal is quite large. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, charcoal was supplied in the palace as usual. The daily standard is: empress dowager 120 kg; Queen, 1 10 kg; Imperial concubine, 90 kg; Imperial concubine, 75kg；; Princess, 30 kg; Prince, 20 kg; Sun Huang 10 kg class.

05

Clothing is very important. -Winter clothes

It is natural to wear clothes with better warmth retention effect in winter, and the emperor is no exception.

In the decoration of clothing, there is not much difference between winter and summer, and the difference is mainly in the material.

In winter, the dragon robe will be made of black fox skin, and tied with Shanghai dragon and sable, which has outstanding warm-keeping effect.

The crown is made of smoked mink and black fox skin.

06

She Wen Jian de nuan-hotpot

There are two kinds of hot pot.

Hot pot is a famous court dish in Qing dynasty, and there are many dishes to rinse, including mutton, venison and dog meat.

According to records, Emperor Qianlong once hosted a 530-table palace hotpot banquet in the imperial clan of Gan Qing Palace.

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