Before matches were introduced to China at the end of the Qing Dynasty, how did the ancients make fires? Matches have appeared in the Northern and Southern Dynasties
So-called"Foreign fire", in fact, it is a match, which was introduced from the West during the Opium War of the Qing Dynasty, because it was imported from a foreign country, so one was used in front"Ocean"Word. Well, the one that was introduced to the Qing Dynasty earlier"Foreign fire"How did the natives get the tinder? In fact, primitive matches appeared in China during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but unfortunately they were not popularized.
Drilling wood for fire: from ancient times to the Tang Dynasty.
Drilling wood for fire is actually the process of using hardwood sticks to rub or drill holes in the wood to make a fire by friction. The inventor of drilling wood for fire is unknown, but it is said to have originated in ancient Chinese mythology.
Legend has it that in ancient times, people drank blood, a wise man saw a bird pecking quartz to produce sparks, thought that there was fire in quartz, so he broke off the quartz branches for experiments, invented the method of making fire through wood, and taught this method to others, since then, people have mastered the art of artificial fire, began to cook food, use fire to keep warm, greatly improve people's ability to survive, people call this wise man"Quartz"and bowed down to him. People call him"The head of the Three Emperors"。People call the wise"Fusiliers", for him"The head of the Three Emperors"。
In the Zhou Dynasty, the method of drilling wood for fire was greatly popularized and became the main way to make fire. Because the aborigines are more superstitious and believe that fire is a gift from God to mankind, the wood used to burn firewood must correspond to the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter in order to conform to the principles of heaven"Willow wood in spring, jujube apricot in autumn, mulberry hemp in winter:"Willow wood is used in spring, jujube apricot is used in autumn, and mulberry is used in winter: willow wood is used in spring, jujube apricot and mulberry wood is used in summer, oak wood is used in autumn, and locust wood and sandalwood are used in winter'Turn into fire'or'Turn into fire'。
Du Fu wrote in the poem "Qingming"."The wild geese return to this nest in the clouds, and there are green maple trees at home that are ready to burn"。It can be seen that until the Tang Dynasty, drilling wood for fire was still the main way for people to make fire. In the last century, even in the countryside, people still used drilled wood to make fire.
Stone fire from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the Qing dynasty.
This method may have been inspired by the phenomenon of sparks on the impact of stone tools, where an iron tool (such as a knife) strikes a stone to produce a spark, which then falls on an igniteable object. When combustibles start to smoke, it will slowly be blown up or blown away, causing an open flame. By striking a stone fire, an image is produced, as the indigenous people call it"Stone fire"。
Pan Yue, one of the three great writers of the Western Jin Dynasty, once wrote"Sacrifice is like stone fire"The poems show that there was also this custom in the Wei and Jin dynasties. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the writer Liu Xian, in "Wenxin Carving the Dragon-A New Theory of Xiushi", compared people's short life expectancy"Stone fire"。In the Tang Dynasty, the method of striking stones to make fires spread. Liu Zongyuan has a poem:"The night comes to hit the stones, and the mountains and forests are like day", Bai Juyi has a poem:"The deep furnace hits the stone to cook new tea, and sends me to the line in the light of the stone fire"。
The aborigines struck with iron and stones, and sparks fell on the burning velvet,"Velvet"is made with wormwood or paper with water nitrate, and then they"Take"A lamp (also called a candle, made of dried hemp stalks into small pieces five or six inches long, coated with sulfur at one end) was lit. (And then, they.)"Take"A lamp (also called a candle, made from a short section of five or six inches of dried hemp stalk, coated with sulfur at one end) to light the fire.
In the Qing Dynasty, which preceded the appearance of matches, fire extinguishing technology was further developed, and a method called"Scythe"It is considered to be the earliest portable fire extinguishing tool. This fire sickle has leather as its sheath, iron as its blade, and flint as its inner plate. When used, take a flint core and place it on the stone, and then slash it with an iron knife to instantly emit sparks, thus creating a fire.
Sunlight in fires: not common, because fireproof materials are too expensive.
Zhou Li" records:"The autumn official avoided the torch and instructed the fire to be cleared"。Qiuguan is an official position in ancient times, and Suirenshi is a kind of fire-making utensil, that is, a cup with a pointed bottom made of metal, placed in the sun, so that the light gathers at the bottom of the cup, and the bottom of the cup is first put on mugwort, wool, etc., and the fire can be lit when there is light. It can be seen that since the Zhou Dynasty, people have mastered the method of using sunlight to ignite fires.
There is a more detailed description in Song Shenkuo's "Dream Creek Writings": a concave copper mirror is placed in the sun, and the light in the mirror gathers, and one or two centimeters away from the mirror, the light is concentrated on a point the size of a hemp bean, touching the combustible. In fact, it is the use of concave mirrors to collect sunlight to collect heat for combustion, which is very similar to modern solar stoves.
Although this method of making fire has appeared in the past, it has not been widely spread because the tools used to make fire are valuables such as metal and copper mirrors, and the conditions for ordinary people to use them are very limited.
Early shovels: can be traced back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, but are not common.
The earliest matches in China can actually be traced back to the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, which is contained in the "Zizhi Tongjian"."Emperor Chen Xuan was built for nine years, and he was a poor concubine and sold candles as a business", here"candles"In fact, it is the most primitive early match.
Tao Zongyi, a scholar of the Yuan and Ming dynasties, at the end of his article "Commentary"."Candles"The article says:"The executioner loosened the pieces into small pieces as thin as paper and coated them with molten sulfur on the wood chips. "Split, the name of the candle, also known as the net son, cover with fire instead of candles also. Zhou Jiande's six-year history "Cloud:"It is not said that Qi is equivalent to the poor people sending candles to live, and it is also the executioner's handiwork. "Gao Shiqi also has a similar record in the "Tianlu Zhiyu" in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
At that time, the Northern Qi Dynasty was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and there was a lack of materials, especially fire, and cooking was a problem. At that time, wives and a group of prostitutes used fire-lit knives or claws to dip small wooden sticks in sulfur and easily put them"Yin fire"became"Yang fire"。
The Northern Song Dynasty and Song Taogu's "Qing Yilu" contains:"There is an urgent matter at night and the light is slow. There are wise men who apply sulfur to cedar sticks and use them in the fire, and the flame is like a horsetail. The two gods are called lamps and lead slaves. Today, there is a name for easy exchange"。It is said that it was popular at the time to use sulfur-coated cedar sticks to make fires, and it is conceivable that sticks coated with sulfur and other flammable materials were no different from matches.
However, although this primitive match appeared earlier, it was not widely spread due to its dangerous structure, the flammable and toxic sulfur, and the difficulty of storage.