Beeswax, which appeared in the 3rd century BC, may be the embryonic form of candles we see today. In the west, there was a time when bees were kept in monasteries to make beeswax. This is mainly because Catholicism believes that beeswax is a symbol of virgin conception, so it is regarded as pure light and is enshrined on the altar of the church.
Question 2: What did the ancients use to light candles? Fire passbook
Roll a rough earthen paper into a dense paper roll, and then blow it out with fire. Although there is no flame at this time, you can see the bright red spot burning faintly, just like the embers in the ashes, which can last for a long time. When ignition is needed, it can be rekindled by blowing, but blowing is very skillful and needs to be sudden, short and powerful. I tried to screw it up.
The book said that this thing was used for night raids, and the presenter told me that it used to be used for smoking pipes. Maybe soldiers and civilians.
That's phosphorus and some oxidizable substances. When the temperature is high, it will fully contact with oxygen, and when it is blown with the mouth or thrown quickly, it will react violently and burn. The reason is still very simple. Not mysterious
A real fire break is a piece of toilet paper that can be easily ignited. In the past, it was mainly used to light cigarettes and make fires in rural areas.
Fire folding (folding)
Fire sickle, flint and fire passbook are a set, and fire passbook is a simple lighting and lighting appliance, which is easy to carry. The method of making Fructus Pyramidae is to soak the white (red) sweet potato vine in water, take it out and beat it flat, then soak it in cotton and reed, beat it again, dry it in the sun, and add nitrate, sulfur, rosin, camphor, etc. Fold them into flat tubes or twist them into ropes, put them in bamboo tubes at night as if they were not on fire, and burn them immediately when they are used.
Question 3: What did the ancients use to make candles?
Open classification: daily necessities, handicrafts, lighting.
catalogue
? Basic introduction
? Main classification
? Ethnicity
? Raw material composition
? Related customs
candle
Basic introduction
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Solid lighting products made of wax are generally made into cylinders, and there is a cotton yarn core inside, called candle core, which is lit to glow. The appearance of ordinary candles is cylindrical, solid and milky white. No matter what kind of candle is slippery, insoluble in water and less dense than water.
Candles are often used with candlesticks for decoration, and some containers can also play the role of candlesticks, such as glassware for floating wax, small incense burners for lighting wax and fumigating essential oils, and treated bamboo tubes. At present, candlesticks not only serve candles, but also serve as a part of home decoration.
Main classification
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There are many kinds of candles, which can be generally divided into two categories according to the purpose of use: daily lighting candles (ordinary candles) and handicraft candles (special purpose candles). Lighting candles are relatively simple, usually white stick candles. Craft candles can be subdivided into many types, including jelly craft candles and incense craft candles. Generally, due to the addition of ingredients, various colors (such as birthday candles) are displayed, and shapes are also made into various forms (such as spirals and numbers). ) according to the needs, it can be novel, decorative, ornamental and functional.
In addition, candles can also be divided into coarse wax and light wax. Generally, coarse wax has the smell of frost on it. Different crude waxes will bring different smells. For example, some lavender-flavored candles can be placed in the bedroom to play a hypnotic and calming role. Candles with marine flavor can be put in the bathroom, and some loose-flavored candles can be put in summer to drive away mosquitoes. The smooth wax has no taste, and the surface of the wax body is very smooth, so it is easy to make beautiful shapes.
Candles can be generally divided into extruded cylindrical wax, pointed bamboo wax, torch wax, floating wax, round head wax, flat head wax, etc., and there are many colors. Some of these candles are very delicate to use, such as pointed bamboo wax, which is suitable for being inserted in candlesticks and placed in the middle of the table when eating, especially western food. If the home decoration is European style, it can also be placed in the living room as an ornament. Floating wax is common in bars. When you pour water into a container and put it on the water, it floats on the water, and it has a special mood under the dark candlelight. Wavy wax is widely used in young people's homes, especially among couples. Candlelight dinner can not only use pointed bamboo wax, but also bring good results.
In addition, the same candle also comes in many sizes. For example, the extruded cylindrical wax has four sizes: 8×25 cm, 8×20 cm, 7× 15 cm and 7× 10 cm.
Ethnicity
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It is generally believed that candles originated from torches in primitive times. Primitive people painted things like fat or wax on bark or sawdust, and then tied them together to make torches for lighting. There is also a legend that in the pre-Qin and ancient times, someone tied mugwort and reed into a bundle, then dipped it in some oil and lit it for lighting. Later, someone wrapped a hollow reed with cloth, filled it with beeswax and lit it.
Beeswax, which appeared in the 3rd century BC, may be the embryonic form of candles we see today. In the west, there was a time when bees were kept in monasteries to make beeswax. This is mainly because Catholicism believes that beeswax is a symbol of virgin conception, so it is regarded as pure light and is enshrined on the altar of the church. According to the existing literature, the time of producing beeswax in China is roughly the same as that in the west, and this kind of candle was introduced from China in Nara period (AD 7 10 ~ 784).
The popularity of candles has gone through a long historical period. According to Xijing Miscellanies, there were candles in the tribute from South Vietnam to Gaudi in the Han Dynasty. It is said that the king will send candles to officials above the marquis and top-grade officials during the Cold Food Festival, indicating that candles were extremely scarce at that time. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, candles were widely used, but they were mainly used for lighting in the upper class, not in the homes of ordinary people. In the Tang dynasty, it was also recorded that there were candles in Jinzhou's tribute, and officials of the Tang dynasty also set up an official to look after the candles in the palace. It was recorded in the Song Dynasty that there was a candle trade in the border trade with Xixia at that time. Candle, as a kind of foreign trade and foreign exchange, shows that although when ... >; & gt
Question 4: When did candles begin to be used in ancient China? Some candles began to be used in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but oil lamps were rarely the main ones.
When I was reading an archaeological magazine, I came across that candles seemed to have been discovered by Egyptians more than 5,000 years ago. When do people in China use candles? At least in the age of nineteen ancient poems, oil lamps were still used, and it suddenly occurred to me that there seemed to be no such thing as candles in ancient China. In ancient books of Han Dynasty, wax and candle were generally discussed separately, but the word candle was rarely used together.
You can see the bronze lamps of the Han Dynasty in China. In the center of the circular lamp board, there is often a spike-shaped fire pole. Lamps in the Han Dynasty are divided into oil lamps and candle lamps according to their existence or not in archaeology.
After searching for a long time, I found that in the Han Dynasty, lamps were divided into two categories: oil lamps and candle lamps, and the lamp post of oil lamps was also called "candle". "Candle" means that the lamp post should be immersed in grease; Grease is animal fat, and vegetable oil was used to light the lamp at that time. "Qi Yao Min Shu Ma Zi pian" said: "Hemp (that is, the female plant of hemp) is black, solid and heavy, so it is not necessary to use hemp as a candle." The above words "making candles" and "for candles" both refer to light, which has little to do with candles.
As for the fuel used for lighting, I read in archaeological magazines that "yellow wax cakes are occasionally found in Han tombs", so it can be seen that lanterns in the Han Dynasty are generally filled with grease, but wax can also be used to burn lamps, and the wax in wax lamps can be used as ointment after melting. People finally found an example, which was mentioned in the excavation report of Nanyue king's tomb in the Western Han Dynasty. By the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the wax platform first appeared in the Han tombs in Guangzhou. It proves that slender columnar candles have entered the ranks of lighting products at that time.
Finally, there were candles at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty in China, but they were not widely used and their shapes were different from those of modern times. Furthermore, whether candles were used in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties is an unsolved mystery. Candles mentioned in the literature were first mentioned in the Jin Dynasty. "The Book of Jin Zhou Zhuan" wrote that someone "cast his candle". Shi Shuo Xin Yu tells the story of Shi Chong cooking with candles. After the Jin Dynasty, there were many references to candles in the literature. As for before the Jin Dynasty, there was still a lack of reliable written records. In fact, there were only a few archaeological materials, such as the archaeological materials mentioned above.
In the middle, "Kou Zhun has never lit an oil lamp since he was a teenager. Drinking at night is especially good, although the dormitory also lights candles. After every dismissal, people go to the official residence and see the tears in the toilet, which often pile up. " It can be seen that in the Song Dynasty, oil was still very expensive.
There is an article in Miscellanies of Xijing that says: "Xian Di, the king of Fujian and Yue, is ... 200 honey candles" and that "honey candles are wax candles", but I think it is an isolated case after all, not to mention the records in Miscellanies of Xijing can only be used as a reference.
Look at the raw materials of candles, such as yellow wax and white wax. Yellow wax is beeswax, and white wax is wax secreted by termites. It is generally believed that the use of ash originated in the Tang Dynasty, and textual research began in the Han and Wei Dynasties. The above-mentioned "occasional yellow wax cake in Han tombs" is material evidence, so the use of beeswax is earlier than that of white wax. There are records about beeswax or beeswax in Shennong Herbal Classic, Zhang Hua's Natural History and Tao Hongjing's Bielu of Famous Doctors, which are used as medicines. From this perspective, the wax used in the Eastern Han Dynasty was beeswax. But the quantity is probably small, and the use is not universal, so lamps and candles are still made of grease, or a layer of wax is hung outside the grease candle to reduce the tearing of the candle, or a little wax is mixed in the grease. Some data show that the melting point of grease candles is relatively low, so the candles at that time were relatively thick and short. This may be why the candles of the candle lamps in the Han Dynasty stone reliefs are short and thick, rather than the slender shapes depicted in the murals of Li Shou's tomb in the Tang Dynasty.
Question 5: Candles are extracted from petroleum. How are ancient candles made? The raw materials of candles include yellow wax and white wax. Yellow wax is beeswax, and white wax is wax secreted by termites.
So not all of them are extracted from oil.
Question 6: Were there any specific candles in ancient times? What's your name? Is it a candlestick? It should be a kind of candlestick lighting device, which refers to an unadorned or decorated device with spikes or holes for holding candles. Some containers can also play the role of candlesticks, such as glassware for floating wax, small incense burners for burning wax and incense essential oil, treated bamboo tubes and so on.