The ancients had a variety of methods and strategies for escaping the heat, ranging from simple daily habits to more complex devices and systems.
Fan to cool off. The fan was a common summer tool used by the ancients and was called "shaking the wind" or "cool friend". Fans are usually woven from bamboo, and for those with better economic conditions, they may buy fans made of silk silk, which are lighter to shake, and if used by literati and artists, there are often poems and paintings on the fan, adding some artistic interest.
Ice cubes to cool down. The ancients would use ice cubes in the summer to lower the temperature indoors. In addition, the ancients would also eat cold food in the summer, for example, in the Ming and Qing dynasties, ice food has been common in ordinary streets and alleys, and in the middle of summer, there are many vendors carrying their burdens along the street to sell "cold water".
Dress appropriately. In the summer, the ancients would choose to wear lighter, breathable clothes, such as silk or **, which are cooler materials than modern cotton and chemical fiber products.
In addition, the clothing design of the ancients also helped to dissipate heat, such as their gauze robes and trousers were wide shapes, which could keep air circulating and help the body dissipate heat.
Diet. The ancients also helped themselves through the hot season by adjusting their diet in the summer. For example, they will drink bitter tea, herbal tea, mung bean soup, etc., to relieve the heat, and these drinks are still widely used in modern times to prevent heatstroke and cool down.
At the same time, the ancients also paid attention to clearing heat and refreshing taste in food, for example, some people in Beijing in the Qing Dynasty would choose Chinese herbs such as Su leaves, weed leaves, and licorice to escape the heat, while Suzhou people would drink herbal tea, cold soup, and eat hot and refreshing foods such as cold powder.
Other ways.
In addition to the above methods, the ancients had some other interesting strategies when it came to escaping the heat. For example, some people choose to go to a higher altitude to escape the heat in the hot summer, because the temperature there is lower, which is good for cooling off. In addition, the ancients added calamus, wild chrysanthemum and other plants or medicinal materials with a strong aromatic smell to smoke mosquitoes and flies, which is also a way to repel insects and freshen the air to escape the heat.
In ancient societies, in the absence of modern technology, people used their own ice cubes to cool down.
In ancient times, people would put ice cubes indoors in the summer to lower the temperature of the room. This method has been around since the pre-Qin period, when aristocrats would place ice cubes into copper basins called "bingjian" on hot summer nights, and then place the copper basins in the room, using the low temperature of the ice cubes to lower the temperature of the room.
Use the water system to cool down.
The wisdom of using natural elements to cool down was also incorporated into the planning and architectural design of ancient cities. For example, ancient palaces and mansions often employed tall buildings and loggias for shade and ventilation. In addition, some ancient cities also used water systems as the main landscape, using the reflection and evaporation of water surfaces in lakes, rivers and canals to reduce the temperature of the city.
Use the wind speed to cool down.
Ancient people also used wind speed to lower the temperature. For example, the ancients would consider the direction of the wind in the design of the house, so that the house could get the maximum wind power in the summer, thus taking away the heat from the interior.
In some coastal areas, trees are even planted between houses to create natural wind ducts to increase wind speed and further reduce temperatures.
Use vegetation to cool down.
People in ancient times also lowered the temperature by planting a large number of trees and plants. Trees and plants can reduce heat from the ground by absorbing the sun's energy and converting it into chemical energy.
In addition, the leaves of the plant can also release water through transpiration, further reducing the surrounding temperature. These are some of the ways ancient societies used natural elements to cool down. Although these methods cannot be compared with modern equipment such as air conditioners in terms of efficiency, they are undoubtedly very advanced and practical from the perspective of energy conservation, environmental protection and sustainable development. Light Knowledge