How did the ancients open umbrellas? The name of "umbrella" was only determined in the Tang Dynasty.

Most of the time from Tomb-Sweeping Day to spring, it always rains quietly. When it rains, you have to take an umbrella. Umbrella is a very common thing for people, and the situation in the sky is unpredictable, so people need it to keep out the changes of rain and snow. Therefore, this object has a high sense of existence in people's lives. Every family will have a corner belonging to an umbrella. Parasols used at home are usually stored here and taken out when the sun is big or it rains.

China was the first country in the world to invent umbrellas. Although ancient umbrellas are different from today's umbrellas, they all have similar functions. Historians have long recorded in historical records: "Umbrella is an ancient system of sheltering from rain." Later, someone added, "Take a new red oil umbrella and cover it in Japan and China." After all, it is to keep out the sun and rain. Imagine, more than 3,000 years ago in China, someone was already walking in the rain or under the scorching sun with an umbrella, and it was inevitable that there was a feeling of connecting the past with the present.

Umbrella in the movie In the Mood for Love

Before umbrellas appeared, what did people use to keep out the bad weather? There is a Tang poem in the primary school textbook, which many people are familiar with: "Green bamboo hat, green hemp fiber, no need to return to the oblique wind and drizzle." Dai Li is a hat. Like Mo Yi, it is generally made of bamboo sticks, bamboo leaves and some waterproof bark. When people wear it in rainy days, they won't get wet by rain, just like our raincoats today.

However, Kun and Li did not appear in the Tang Dynasty. The pre-Qin people wrote in the Book of Songs: "Why Kun and Li?"

In Shuo Wen Jie Zi in the Eastern Han Dynasty, there was an object named "Bang", which wrote: "Bang, Geliya. From Bamboo Dengsheng, this is a hat with a handle. Think about it, a small "shed" supported by a stick is actually the early appearance of an umbrella. Later, the material of the umbrella slowly changed, from simple vegetation to expensive silk. After papermaking appeared, some people brushed tung oil on paper to make it waterproof, which gradually evolved into the most common paper umbrella in later generations. The quotation in Taiping Yu Lan says: "Jaco's shelter from the rain is called an umbrella, which has been used for three generations." "Mi" is pronounced as "umbrella", which is also one of the early umbrella names. It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the name "umbrella" was finally determined.

There are many legends about the invention of umbrellas, one of which is about the inventor Lu Ban and his wife in the Spring and Autumn Period. According to legend, there was no umbrella at that time. In order to expose people to the scorching sun and heavy rain as little as possible, Luban built many pavilions on the roadside. However, Luban's wife still felt sorry for her husband, always thinking that it would be nice to have a small pavilion to accompany her, so she made a light shed out of bark and grass leaves, fitted with handles, so that her husband could carry it at any time and would not get wet by the sun. This legend is very human and symbolizes one's feelings for others. Now, in the well-known white snake legend, the white snake and Xu Xian also made love with umbrellas when they first met. Therefore, the umbrella has always been covered with ancient and pure romance and warmth.

The umbrella in the legend of white snake.

In the early days, all practical objects appeared for the convenience of people, and so did umbrellas. But later, with the increasing popularity of umbrellas, people began to attach rich social information to them. Especially after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the imperial court had strict regulations on the use of umbrellas, especially when the emperor traveled, and the car should have a "canopy" made of silk and satin to show his dignity. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, emperors and senior officials used "purple covers", and those with lower ranks used "green covers", and even specified specific colors.

In Sui Shu, there was a common umbrella etiquette at that time: "Prince and Princess, three or more companies, pheasant-tailed fan, purple umbrella"; "Huang Zong and officials above the third grade, Green Umbrella Zhu Li"; but

"Green umbrellas are better than scholars." In the Song Dynasty, the royal family had "square umbrellas and big umbrellas, all in red, purple and bronze with four corners", which was magnificent, while the princes used "green umbrellas with four corners". The rule of "green umbrella" caused people to follow suit, which directly led to the use of green umbrellas by people with some status in China at that time, and it was impossible to distinguish between the superior and the inferior, so the court had to order that "only the prince can use them, and the rest are forbidden."

This seems a little incredible today, but in ancient times, everything within reach in life had to be divided into various shapes to be lined up with others. Even if they are canopies symbolizing dignity, there are differences between them, such as "curved cover", "guide cover", "treasure cover" and "peacock cover", which must be highlighted.

Especially in the Ming Dynasty, this control became more serious. There is a record in Ming History: "In the first year of Hongwu, the common people were forbidden to use silk umbrellas, but oil-paper umbrellas were allowed." Ordinary people can't use umbrellas, only paper umbrellas. Even officials have to look at the level, such as whether they can "put on an umbrella cover", what color of "pagoda top", "green silk showing red silk" or other things, whether they can add decorations to the umbrella cover and so on. Essentially, it's just an umbrella. But perhaps an ordinary blue umbrella today can be a lifelong pursuit of a scholar in ancient times.

Fortunately, besides its status, Umbrella is more of a poetic and beautiful attachment to China people. Every time I walk in the spring rain, there will always be a girl wandering in the rain lane in the south of the Yangtze River with an oil-paper umbrella. It's just an oil-paper umbrella, the most common kind, even decades ago. I saw it at my grandmother's house when I was a child. There are no flashy decorations. Bamboo strips cut by hand are used as umbrella stands, and the "little leather paper" mentioned in Tiangong Wu Kai is used as umbrella cover, with tung oil painted on it and some flowers painted on it, even if there is nothing.

It's still so natural that craftsmen have to make it bit by bit, otherwise we won't be able to catch up with the hazy spring rain season.