What did ancient people do at night?

The development of modern science and technology has greatly enriched the lives of ordinary people, and it is nothing special for those who are rich and powerful. In ancient times, rich and powerful people enjoyed something unimaginable today.

There was no electricity in ancient times. Would those rich and powerful people sleep honestly at night? Of course not. Look at the unearthed cultural relics Changxin Palace Lantern is just a lamp, but how exquisite it is. Can you make such beautiful lights, will there be less nightlife?

Just taking some poems to illustrate, we can see that the nightlife of the literati class is still very pleasant.

There is a glimmer of green in the old bottle and a hint of red in the quiet stove. It feels like snow outside at dusk. How about a glass of wine inside? .

There are good wines and stoves. Wait for friends to come over at night and watch the snow while drinking. Don't be too moist.

This is a poem by Bai Juyi, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty. Bai Juyi's famous poem describing nightlife is Pipa Xing, which begins with? In the evening, I bid farewell to a guest on Xunyang River. Maple leaves and mature rushes rustle in autumn. I, the host, have dismounted, my guest has boarded his boat, and we raise our cups, hoping to drink-but, alas, there is no music. Although we drank a lot of wine, we were not happy. When we were leaving each other, the river mysteriously widened in the direction of the full moon. ? The tone of nightlife has been set.

Bai Juyi drank with his friends until midnight. When you are drunk, you have to send someone away and hear the pipa on the river. It turned out that the dusty woman who married the merchant woman could not bear loneliness and came out to play the pipa. Pipa speaks well, and there is another dialogue after playing, which makes people's family finances clear. This also happens at night.

Let me talk about Bai Juyi again. Bai Juyi has a romantic life and likes to wait on concubines. Is it famous? Cherry Su Fan mouth, waist? He wrote this. What did he write? The water chestnut embraces the spring, and the valley wipes the pipa. Red gauze believes in hand dancing, and purple gauze sings at will. ? There are so many concubines. As a current official, I certainly don't have time to watch them perform during the day. Needless to say, it must be part of nightlife.

Let's take a look at a poem by the great poet Li Shangyin:

The stars were bright last night, but there was a cool breeze at midnight. Our banquet is on the side of Hualou Temple and the east of the county. Without Cai Feng's wings, it is impossible to be Qi Fei in fly with me; The heart is like a soul, and the feelings are the same. Guessing and intrigue, wine warms the heart; This group of people came to the bet of drinking friends, and a win-lose red in candlelight. Alas, it's time to call the roll in the morning when you hear the drums of the fifth watch; Riding to Lantai is like the wind in the wind. ?

What do you do at night? You light a lamp, pull out a handful of wax, have a drink and shoot a shot, not for a while, but until you hear the drums, which means you have to play until the early morning. This party is great.

There is also a great poet Du Mu:

Smoke cage cold water moon cage sand, night parking near Qinhuai restaurant. Businessmen don't know how to hate their country, but they still sing "backyard flowers" across the river. ?

This poem seems to say that the merchant girl doesn't know the hatred of national subjugation and satirizes the authorities, but Du Mu himself is a prodigal son, wandering in a romantic place. He doesn't know how many times he heard the merchant girl sing at night.

The nightlife of the ancient literati class was so rich, drinking and partying, listening to music and watching performances, or chatting with beautiful women in brothels.

As for what ordinary people can do, the residents of big cities are not bad. For example, there was a night market in the Song Dynasty. People could go to the night market and go home to sleep.

There are still many people in the countryside, and it is estimated that they also follow the life law of sunrise and sunset. It's dark at night. Besides watching the stars or getting dark, I can only go to bed early and get up early for work the next day.