Beijing Evening News |Written by Zhou Qian.
The Ming and Qing dynasties were in the fourth cold period in the history of our country, which was the "Ming and Qing Xiaoice Age". The city of Beijing is located in the northern region, and the temperature in winter is low, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, the Forbidden City was the residence of the emperor, and it also maintained a warm and comfortable environment during extremely cold periods. This stems from the ingenuity of ancient craftsmen, who not only invented heating facilities – underground heating systems known as "fire grounds", but also hand stoves, braziers, kettles, inkstones and other thermal appliances. These heating facilities are scientific and reasonable, simple and effective, and are the crystallization of the wisdom of the working people in ancient China.
The fire floor is heated and smoke is exhausted.
The fire ground is the underfloor heating system of the ancient buildings of the Forbidden City. The fire ground consists of an underground operating opening located outside the window, an underground furnace cavity inside the window, and a fire tunnel under the floor tiles in the room. The basic principle is that the palace service personnel put firewood or charcoal into the furnace cavity at the operation port to burn, and the heat source generated by the charcoal fire spreads along the path of the fire channel, and is discharged from the underground smoke outlet, during which the ground bricks are heated, and the heat storage and heat of the ground are used to radiate upwards for conduction, so as to maintain the warmth of the room.
The operation port and smoke outlet of the Forbidden City's "Fire Land".
The operation port is located outdoors, which not only does not affect the life of the people indoors, but also the service personnel of the palace can also observe the heating effect in the room through the glass, so as to increase or decrease the charcoal fire in time. When the outdoor operator port is not in use in seasons other than winter, it is usually covered with a cover plate to prevent small animals from getting in. The heat generated by the stove (mixed with a small amount of smoke) is still discharged from a special small opening in the ground after it has spread underground, which is located in the lower part of the outdoor terrace stone. The smoke outlet is blocked with a hollow brick carving with copper coin pattern, which is both beautiful and practical, and can also prevent small animals from getting in. This practice has also created the phenomenon of burning charcoal for heating in the Forbidden City in winter, but not a single chimney is missing. It should be noted that there is a chimney in the northwest corner of Kunning Palace, but this is a special passage for cooking meat and exhausting tobacco in shamanic rituals in the Qing Dynasty, and it has nothing to do with heating in winter.
Because of the fire system, the emperors felt warm indoors. For example, Emperor Qianlong wrote in the poem "Winter Nights": "People are bitter and the winter days are short, but I love the long winter nights." The moon hangs in the sky, and the wind crushes the frost. The curtain is in the curtain, and the red candle is painted brightly. Boshan burns the water and sinks, and with plum incense. Knocking on poems does not feel cold, and leaking eternal nights. Emperor Daoguang wrote this poem in "The Complete Works of Yangzheng Library": "The fine cloth of flower tiles is good at strange work, and the dark and hot pine branches are baked underground." Meditation only suspects the youth, and when you close your eyes, you often feel that your body melts. The shape of the bird road is connected layer by layer, and the sheep intestine is clear. It is recommended to be elegant and interesting, and a heated curtain. Here, the "bird road" and "sheep intestine" are the underground heating channels.
The hand stove is beautiful and warm.
The hand stove is one of the necessary utensils for heating in the palace in winter, and its material is generally copper or enamel. Hand stoves are small in size and have a charcoal fire that can be held in your hand or placed in your sleeve for heating. The Forbidden City has a black lacquer depiction of gold and a hand furnace of Kaiguang landscape map, about 18 years long4 cm, width about 129 cm, approx. 14 cm high (without wooden handle). Its shape is like two butt clouds, and the side is based on black lacquer, and the traditional lacquer painting method of our country is used to paint the patterns of landscapes, pavilions, green trees and birds. The side wall of this hand stove contains two layers, the inner layer is copper gall to store charcoal; The outer layer is made of wood and painted with colored paint. The cover of the hand stove is a cover made of copper wire, and its main function is ventilation. When using this hand stove, charcoal is added to the furnace, and the heat generated by the charcoal fire (high temperature) is transferred to the copper liner, which in turn transfers the heat to the wood tank (at the right temperature). The user can feel warm and comfortable by holding the stove in both hands.
The Forbidden City has a hand furnace of black lacquer depicting gold and opening light landscape maps.
The extensive use of the handstove in winter can be seen in court paintings. For example, in the "Costume to the Mirror" of the silk painting "Concubine Yinzhen Xingle Picture Axis" in the Forbidden City, it depicts the daily life scenes of the ladies in the palace in winter. In the picture, a woman with a beautiful face is resting on a couch. The beauty is dressed in a blue coat, with a jade pendant tied around her waist, holding a bronze mirror in one hand and holding the other hand on the hand warmer to keep out the cold. This hand stove is a handle type, which is easy to carry. The hand stove is light green with a pattern of branches and leaves. Not only is it beautiful in appearance, but it is also conducive to putting more charcoal in the lower part of the hand stove to generate more heat.
The Palace Museum has the "Costume to the Mirror" (detail) of "Yinzhen Concubine Xingle Picture Scroll".
The Qing Dynasty court office has a relatively rich archive of hand stoves. For example, "Yongzheng Nine Years of Completion and Clearing of Work Files": On December 19 of that year (1731), "Chen Fu, the palace superintendent, and Liu Yu and Su Peisheng, the deputy attendants, handed over a cane, two hand stoves, and a box of food. Biography: The cane is equipped with a bamboo tube, and the black felt is wrapped in a cotton plug pad. Another example is "Qianlong's First Year of Completion and Clearing of Work Files": On June 23 of the year (1736), the treasurer Buddha Bao said that Chonghua Palace used some utensils, including "two bronze hand stoves with beams".
A kettle is used to hold hot water.
In the cold winter, life in the palace is inseparable from drinking hot water. The kettle is an indispensable tool for "keeping warm" water. The silver beam square kettle in the Forbidden City is one of the physical objects used that year. The main components of this kettle are: the spout at the front, the body in the middle (with handle), and the handle at the rear. There are two circular openings on the top surface of the pot body, the front one is the charcoal feeding port, and the back one is the water filling port. The bottom of the inner tank is connected to the vertical inner tank, and the bottom of the inner tank is a fence type, which can make the burned charcoal fall into the bottom of the pot. There is a charcoal outlet on the front of the pot body, which is used to remove the charcoal dust at the bottom of the pot; There is an engraved pattern on the surface of the carbon outlet, which is not only beautiful, but also can ventilate to help charcoal burning. There is a large space between the inner tank and the body of the pot for holding hot water.
The Forbidden City has a silver beam square kettle.
In court paintings such as "Yinzhen Concubine Xingle Picture Axis" and "Hongli Dynasty Xingle Picture", you can also see the fire kettle. For example, the silver kettle in the "Hongli Dynasty Xingle Map" is located on the tea shelf next to Emperor Qianlong. There are also tea cans, tea cups, teapots, water tanks and other utensils on the shelves. In this picture, the handle is connected to the base of the kettle, and it is made of gold, which combines luxury and convenience.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs also has a lot of files on kettles. For example, "Yongzheng Seven Years of Work and Cleanup Files" contains: on September 6 of the year (1729), the eunuch Liu Xiwen issued a decree, "to make a tin kettle, and its style is made by Haiwang (Qing Dynasty minister) at his discretion, and he admires this." According to the "Qianlong Six Years of Completion and Clearing of Work Records": On October 7 of that year (1741), the chief manager Liu Cangzhou and the leader Cao Jin handed over a number of utensils, including "a silver kettle (weighing 94 taels)" and a Western beam silver round kettle (weighing 103 taels with a seat)".
The brazier is easy to carry for heating.
The brazier is also one of the heating utensils in the palace, and its material is mostly copper or cloisonné enamel, and charcoal is burned inside. For example, the Forbidden City has a cloisonné enamel eight auspicious braziers, with a diameter of about 52 cm, a height of about 21 cm, and a three-legged soles. The brazier is surrounded by sky blue enamel glaze, and the surface is decorated with eight auspicious patterns, including wheels, lids, jars, umbrellas, snails, fish, flowers, and intestines. The brazier is easy to transport, so it can be used in the front court (office area) and the inner court area (living area). There was no fire in the former dynasty of the Forbidden City, and the main heating appliance was the brazier. For example, in "Qianlong's Six Years of Completion and Clearing of Work Plans", on the third day of December in 1741, the eunuch Gao Yu and others handed over "58 pieces of copper brazier size and 34 pieces of brazier cover size". The file also supplemented: on the ninth day of the first month of the seventh year of Qianlong (1742), the eunuch Gao Yu and others issued a decree, "The Taihe Hall and the Zhonghe Hall are adding braziers, according to the current peace of the Heart Palace, and the brazier style is enlarged." The Taihe Hall and the Zhonghe Hall were both places where the emperor held important ceremonial activities, and Emperor Qianlong requested that braziers be added to ensure the heating needs of activities held in the palace in winter.
The Forbidden City has a cloisonné enamel eight auspicious braziers.
Braziers were used for heating in the inner court area of the palace, which can be seen in court paintings. For example, the Forbidden City's collection of "Hongli Dynasty Pleasure Map" depicts the scene of Emperor Qianlong and the princes welcoming the New Year. In the picture, Emperor Qianlong sits under the eaves of a palace in the inner court, holding the prince with one hand, beating the chime with the other hand, which means "more than auspicious", and resting his feet on the brazier in front of the seat. There are many princes around it, among which a little brother in a pastel robe in the front left squatted on the ground with great interest, leaning against the brazier, holding a cypress branch in one hand and putting the cypress branch into the brazier with the other hand to burn. The burning of cypress branches can produce a special aroma, which has the meaning of removing bad luck and driving away evil spirits. Burning pine and cypress branches on Chinese New Year's Eve is called "熰 (ǒu) years". Ming Liu Tong and Yu Yizheng's "Imperial Scenery and Things" has a similar record: "At night, pine and cypress branches and firewood are burned in the courtyard, and it is said that the pine basin is burned, and the year is also long."
The Forbidden City has a picture of the history of the dynasty (detail).
There is a record of brazier making at the manufacturing office. For example, "Yongzheng two years to do work to do the work of the file" contains: on March 3 of the year (1724), "the chief eunuch Zhang Qilin passed on to make (into the copper) brazier lamps three, braziers three, lampshades three, fire shelter three, remember this." Another example is "Qianlong's Four Years of Doing Work and Clearing Files": On the third day of December in the year (1739), "the eunuch Hu Shijie handed over a cloisonné enamel brazier (with the inlaid rosewood seat) and a cloisonné enamel covered sunflower brazier." Message: Put the cloisonné enamel brazier and the seat, clean it up, and send it to its seat, such as a little inlay, and then make up for it when driving the Old Summer Palace; There is a covered sunflower brazier, with a high nanmu hexagonal seat; Chin this. ”
From the above, it can be seen that the brazier is a relatively common heating appliance in the palace.
Warm the inkstone to prevent the ink from freezing.
In addition to the above heating equipment, in the palace in winter, in order to prevent the ink from freezing, the ancients also provided hot water, charcoal fire and other "auxiliary heat" materials under the inkstone, and put them into a box to form a whole with the inkstone. For example, the Forbidden City Tibetan stone cloisonné enamel box rectangular warm inkstone, about 19 cm long, about 15 cm wide, about 16 cm high, mainly composed of inkstone, two stone inkstones, and a top cover. The circumference and top lid of the inkstone box are decorated with cloud dragons and seawater cliffs, and the base is decorated with copper gold-plated chisel flower double dragon motifs. There is a groove around the upper perimeter of the inner surface of the inkstone, which is mainly used to hold the inkstone. Under the inkstone, there is hot water. The heat generated by the hot water can keep the ink in the inkstone liquid at all times, which is conducive to the normal writing of the writer in the winter.
The Forbidden City collects stone cloisonné enamel box rectangular warm inkstone.
Scenes of the Forbidden City emperors using warm inkstones in winter can be seen in court paintings. For example, in the "Portrait of Emperor Qianlong's Imperial Costume" in the Forbidden City, Emperor Qianlong wears a crown of winter auspicious clothes, wears a winter dragon robe, and sits in front of the bookcase. It is worn to reflect the cold season at this time. The bookcase is furnished with warm inkstones, porcelain bowls, books, papers, scales, porcelain bottles and other items. Emperor Qianlong held the case in his left hand and a pen in his right hand, preparing to transcribe the famous sayings and sentences in the book on paper.
It is worth noting that the shape of the warm inkstone on the bookcase is similar to the rectangular warm inkstone of the above-mentioned stone cloisonné enamel box, but the warm inkstone in the painting, the ring around the box is decorated with gold, and the chisel flower decoration on the top of the box and the lid of the box highlights the style of the royal supplies.
The Forbidden City has "Portrait of Emperor Qianlong in Imperial Costume" (detail).
The historical materials of the manufacturing office to make warm inkstones are also relatively rich. For example, "Yongzheng Nine Years of Completion and Clearing of Work Files" contains: On July 11 of the year (1731), the eunuch Wang Minggui handed over (into the copper) "copper burning ancient square warm inkstone two squares, round warm inkstone two squares", hoping to "burn the ancient and see the new". In addition, "Qianlong's Six Years of Work and Clearing Files" contains: On June 26 of the year (1741), the eunuch Gao Yu and others handed over "one side of the copper-gilded five-dragon warm inkstone, one side of the copper-plated gold-plated six-dragon warm inkstone", and passed the decree "engrave the Qianlong year". Another example is "Qianlong's Sixteenth Year of Doing Work and Clearing Files": On November 12 of the year (1751), the eunuch Hu Shijie passed on the copper warm inkstone, and passed the decree "according to this inkstone pattern style, the practice is smaller, and the two sides of the warm inkstone are made.
*Provided by Zhou Qian.