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Where did the ancient ice come from in summer? You can't imagine the ancient ice storage technology

Where did the ancient ice come from in summer? You can't imagine the ancient ice storage technology

4hw.com.cn: we often see it in ancient costume palace dramas. In summer, there are ice cubes in the palace to cool down. It's not that ancient costume dramas are faking, because there are ice cubes in ancient summer, so where do their ice cubes come from? Let's have a look with Xiaobian.

Deep excavation and extensive ice accumulation

As early as the pre-Qin period, the ancients began to use ice to relieve summer heat. In Zhou Li, there is a record of ice preservation in the container of ice. Ice watch is a box made of wood or bronze, with large mouth and small bottom, and a small diameter drain at the bottom, which can discharge cold water directly after the ice melts for use.

In the spring and Autumn period, there was also a scholar official of the state of Chu named Zifeng. In order to pretend to be ill and avoid being appointed an official by the king of Chu, he was lying on a bed with big ice in the hot summer under a quilt, which was called the ancient pioneer of "opening the air conditioner to cover the quilt".

Before the invention of modern refrigeration technology, if we want to use ice in summer like Zifeng, we can only collect and preserve the naturally frozen water in the cold season, so we need to invest a lot of manpower and material resources.

Since the Zhou Dynasty, the work of ice mining and ice storage has been arranged by the court for a long time. For example, Zhou Dynasty has a special official position in charge of ice management. In December and January every year, he will lead his subordinates to collect ice on the river and lake, seal it in a cool ice cellar, and equip with leaves and other heat insulation materials for summer use.

Due to the limitation of preservation environment and methods, two thirds of these cellar ice will melt by themselves before use. Therefore, ice storage personnel need to prepare ahead of time and collect ice far more than the demand to meet the needs of the court.

In the period of Wei, Jin, southern and Northern Dynasties, the phenomenon of digging wells to store ice became more and more common, and the scale of "ice wells" for ice preservation became larger and larger. Cao Cao built an ice well platform in 210 A.D., 8-foot-high and 15 foot deep. There are many small ice wells in it, which are called "Yecheng Santai" together with Tongque platform and jinfengtai.

After Tang and Song Dynasties, ice storage work was further improved. For example, the Song Dynasty established a special organization "ice well service", which was used to manage a series of work, such as ice mining, ice storage, ice awarding (giving ice to officials), ice washing room, etc. They also gave up the old method of ice mining in the deep mountains and poor valleys, and directly mined ice in jinmingchi, which is near Kyoto.

After the Song Dynasty moved to the south, it also brought the ice mining activities that had been concentrated in the north to the south, and used the method of sprinkling salt on the ice surface, when it was frozen, there would be a layer of salt and ice. Like the Northern Song Dynasty, the near West Lake was used as the main ice mining area in the Southern Song Dynasty.

By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, because the capital of Beijing has many lakes and cold winter, ice storage has a unique advantage.

Taking the ice storage activities in Qing Dynasty as an example, there are 23 "official cellars" in and around the imperial city of Beijing, which provide ice for the court. There are also many 'cellars' built outside the Imperial City, serving the nobles and officials of various ministries. In addition to Beijing, there are also places for ice storage outside the city, such as Rehe and karahetun, which are mainly used by the emperor when he is on a tour or when he goes to the palace or summer resort.

In the aspects of ice mining, ice storage and ice use, Qing Dynasty had its unique management process.

For example, the division of water and clean-up officials of the Ministry of work is responsible for the ice mining. Before the Beijing watercourse is frozen every year, it is necessary to drain the water to "rinse the river" and remove the weeds in the water. The first batch of ice will be collected around the winter solstice, and the second batch will be collected after the water surface freezes again. Over and over again, about five batches of ice can be harvested each winter.

Before the ice mining, the artisan should use the ice shelf to draw a line on the ice surface, so as to ensure that the ice is in the shape of a block, the size is neat, the size is appropriate, and there is no damage. After the ice is collected to the shore, it needs to be covered with yellow cloth, and then the workers will pull it into the ice cellar with the 'ice chariot'.

In order to ensure the quality of the ice and prevent the ice from falling to the bottom of the cellar, the cellar will be equipped with a special ice plate to carry the ice. When the ice reaches the cellar, the ice plate will be supported at the cellar mouth and the bottom of the cellar to form a slope, so that the ice can slide down, and then the workers in the cellar will stack it neatly.

In ancient times, how could these ice blocks, which had been hard to store, touch the human body and help the ancient people to carry through the tough summer?

How to cool down with ice

The early ice is very precious. Making ice bed like Zifeng to prevent heatstroke is extremely luxurious and hard to bear for a long time. Sometimes it can only be used for one ice. For example, according to Wu Yue spring and Autumn period, Gou Jian, the king of Yue, liked the "ice Chef" when he went on a trip, even stayed in it, enjoying the pleasure of freezing with the fresh food preserved in the ice chef.

In an age when ice was very difficult to handle, the emperor would not only store ice for his own use, but also distribute it as a reward to ministers for their summer relief. This practice of "ice" began in the Zhou Dynasty and continued until the Qing Dynasty.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, the ice storage magnate, often gave ice to his subordinates as a precious object. When Gao Rui, the Minister of the Northern Qi Dynasty, led the Shandong soldiers to build the Great Wall, he was also rewarded with ice by his leaders because of the heat. However, Gao Rui himself refused, because he could not bear to drink cold water alone and let his soldiers engaged in heavy physical labor drink warm water.

It can be imagined that although frozen fruits and drinks can barely play the role of heatstroke prevention and cooling, they are far from enough to help people who are particularly afraid of heat overcome the heat. For example, tuobaxun, the prince of Xiaowen emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty, as a top privileged figure, was unable to adapt to the obesity and heat after moving his capital to Luoyang, so he launched a rebellion to return to his hometown in the north. As a result, he was killed in Heyang and failed to cool down.

In the Tang Dynasty, not only some rich and powerful people began to use ice privately, but also in a very luxurious way. In addition to cold drinks with ice as raw material, such privileged figures as Yang Guozhong can also build a private ice room with icebergs carved by craftsmen. Visitors even need to wear cotton padded jackets to stay inside. The refrigeration effect is no less than that of an air-conditioned room opened to 16 & deg; C.

The amount of ice used by the imperial court of Song Dynasty is very large. The average amount of ice consumed by the imperial court is 38300 pieces per year, and the actual scale of ice mining is much larger than this, because 40% of the ice collected will melt during the storage period.

It can be imagined that the emperor of Song Dynasty used ice in summer to be quite unrestrained. Huizong of Northern Song Dynasty and Xiaozong of Southern Song Dynasty both had records of physical discomfort caused by drinking too much ice water. There were more ministers who were granted ice by the Emperor than in the previous dynasty. In addition to the ministers above Sanpin, the soldiers on duty in turn in the palace and the non-stop historiographers all year round would be rewarded with ice.

In addition to the emperor's reward to his subjects, senior officials will also give ice to junior officials. For example, Ouyang Xiu once gave ice to Mei Yaochen. In addition, ice is also given as a gift to visiting foreign envoys for their summer.

The Yuan Dynasty also used a wide range of ice. Not only the army stored ice in its camp to relieve summer heat, but also the troops in the army could get ice in the post station.

By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, ice products were more popular. For example, in Shunzhi, the largest ice storage year, the annual reserve of the official ice cellar can reach 208621 pieces of ice, multiplied by the weight of a single piece of ice (about 100 kg), and the total weight can reach more than 20000 tons. Even in the Yongzheng year with the least ice reserves, the official reserves are about 9000 tons a year.

In addition to the use of royal family members, ice tickets were also set up for officials at all levels to supply by ticket. However, the amount of ice that can be obtained with ice tickets is very small, which is not enough for use at all. Officials often go to the market to buy ice.

In addition to ice tickets, the Qing Dynasty also had a system of "giving ice soup". Under the steps of the office, ice buckets were placed, which contained ice Soup for the staff of the unit to drink.

Popularization of ice

However, before the Tang and Song Dynasties, ice was too precious to be popularized, and it was mainly used to cool fruits and drinks in the hands of powerful people.

Of course, the amount of ice in the Tang Dynasty is still very limited, and the price is very expensive, to the point of 'Chang'an ice and snow to summer price and so on'. The minister will be very proud when he is rewarded with ice by the emperor. For example, Bai Juyi once recorded that "& hellip; & hellip; the ice giver, such as the imperial edict, fell down to present the ice ceremony, the imperial ceremony, with its extraordinary things, used to show special grace. '

If we want ice to really go to the people, we need to wait until the Song Dynasty when material civilization is rich.

In the Song Dynasty, there were more and more units capable of collecting ice and using it. It was common for people to collect ice, store ice and even sell all kinds of ice food.

For example, there are many cold drinks and cold foods recorded in "Tokyo Dreamway", such as "ice and snow cold primordial", "ice and snow liquorice soup", "ice and snow cold water litchi cream", "ice and snow fine material" and so on. They are made of ice as raw materials or auxiliary materials, such as "ice and snow liquorice soup" which is made of liquorice, sugar and other raw materials and then added with ice chips.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, there were more abundant ice products, such as Xuepao Shupi drink, litchi cream water, Kushui, Fujia sunstroke medicine ice water, etc. In Yang Wanli's litchi song, people in the city are like cooking and sweating like rain / selling ice to separate water / pedestrians are open-minded without eating heart and eyes / sweet frost and sweet snow like pressing sugarcane ', which praises the function of ice food in relieving summer heat.

As for the ice sold on the market, part of it comes from the "civilian cellar" operated by the common people, which didn't appear until the end of the Qing Dynasty. In the early days, the private ice cellar still needs to pay money to the Royal Palace, and the latter can only obtain the right to open the cellar in the name of business.

In addition to the civil cellar, the government cellar and the government cellar will also put part of the reserve ice on the civilian market, and the supply is quite sufficient. The buyers are mainly restaurants, fish shops, butchers, restaurants, etc. every morning, there will be mules pulling the lane with ice to unload at the subscribers. There are also many households who buy ice. They can buy 1 / 3 cube of ice for about 5 big copper coins. There are more kinds of ice drinks on the market, such as iced plum soup, ice cream, ice cream cheese, etc.

In this way, Beijingers can have a cool summer life from time to time, and no longer need to fight like the Royal Prince 1500 years ago because of the high temperature.