There is a classic model-Zhu Kezhen curve about the temperature change in China in recent five thousand years. In the Zhu Kezhen curve, the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties were the fourth Little Ice Age. At the end of Ming Dynasty, China entered the coldest stage since the civilization period.
At that time, the national average temperature was 2% lower than normal. Although this is only a small degree, the butterfly effect it brings has caused related meteorological disasters to appear many times. In many parts of China, snowstorms, frozen rivers, sudden drop in temperature and extremely cold climate lasted for about 500 years, which drastically reduced the population of China and further aggravated the crisis of Ming Dynasty rule.
According to the Zhu Kezhen curve, several large-scale social upheaval and regime change in the history of China were indeed closely related to the Little Ice Age.
County annals in Hannan: "The first year of Chongzhen, five years of famine, six years of flood, seven years of autumn locust and fourteen years of drought." China experienced the fourth Little Ice Age in history, with the lowest temperature as low as minus 40 degrees.
Agriculture has always been based on land, relying on heat and precipitation. Less precipitation leads to drought, and low heat leads to severe cold, both of which are insufficient at the same time, and the consequences are difficult to estimate and imagine.
At that time, the drought in the north lasted for many years, the land cracked and it didn't rain for a long time. Crops, especially grain crops, have failed in many areas, and the grain output has dropped sharply, which has brought devastating disasters to agriculture and made people around the world miserable.
Drought is usually accompanied by locusts. Because drought gives locusts a more suitable place to lay eggs and an environment for young eggs to grow and develop, drought and locust disasters often accompany each other. Social contradictions are particularly prominent when people are hungry.
Famine became the fuse of war, and peasant uprisings occurred in many places in the Ming Dynasty, and ethnic wars and class contradictions intensified. Affected by the temperature, the grassland was seriously degraded, and the northern minority regime had to invade the Ming Dynasty frequently, and the struggles of all ethnic groups were fierce. During this period, the failure of official management within the ruling class aggravated social unrest. These are the last straw to destroy the Ming regime.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were countless hungry people and victims, and a large number of people dropped sharply. Historical Records Biography of Lu Jia in Li Sheng: "The people are the sky for the monarch, and food is the sky for the people". Under the "people-oriented society", the basic strategy of "building the country by agriculture" was simply unbearable for China under the small-scale peasant economy, and the economic foundation of the whole feudal dynasty was seriously damaged.
The climate is so cold that people still have to live. To this end, the wise ancients came up with a variety of ways to keep warm from the cold.
1. Keep out the cold
The upper class in China's ancient feudal society was naturally treated better than the poor at the bottom in all aspects. One aspect of this performance is wearing. Dressing is not only a symbol of personal status, but also one of the main measures to keep warm from the cold.
In the cold winter, especially in the cold period, the royal family and dignitaries always wear fur clothes. This fur coat is a luxurious, soft and thick coat made of animal fur to keep out the cold, and it is a winter suit for the rich.
There are many kinds of fur used to make fur, such as dogs, sheep, deer and rabbits, among which fox skin and mink skin are the most warm and precious. This luxury is not owned by ordinary people, at least at that time it must be middle class and wealthy families.
If the rich dress like this, the poor will basically wear cotton and linen that was allowed under the social conditions and handicraft level at that time. "Biography of Mr. May 6th" says: "Short brown knot, ladybug is empty." "Brown" is the coarse clothes for most poor people to keep out the cold in winter. It is a kind of linen fabric, which is not very beautiful and has poor warmth retention.
In order to survive, people have to sew such clothes to cover the holes in them. Or you can sew cotton and other plants into your clothes to make a living.
In addition, there are cotton, fur and so on. It can also be used to make some small objects, such as gloves, scarves, hoods and so on. Different styles, various patterns, meticulous tailoring and exquisite styles can make poor families live different winters.
keep warm
The climate in the north is cold, especially in winter. Kang is one of the oldest heating methods in China, which generally appeared in northern residents' homes after Ming and Qing Dynasties.
After entering the customs, a large number of northeast people widely spread their unique experience of freezing to keep out the cold, sleeping, eating and chatting on something made of mud called "Kang". There is a passage in the kang. In winter, burning combustible materials such as coal, wood and kitchen ash generates hot air, which enters the passage in the kang to heat up, thus generating heat.
Stove, an ancient way of heating, is still used and circulated by some rural families. People can also see the kang in the cave and feel the wisdom of the ancients.
As early as the Tang and Song Dynasties, the middle and upper classes had already used bronze hand stoves, foot stoves, soup pots, foot warmers and other "heating artifacts". This kind of heater is generally oval, with small pieces of charcoal, charcoal cake or kitchen ash with residual heat inside, and then put on a delicate and elegant "little dress" outside the furnace, which is not only beautiful, but also can prevent hot hands.
These small, exquisite, portable and easy-to-take stoves can not only be easily moved, but also prevent the surrounding flammable materials from being accidentally burned. They are indispensable things for ancient people to visit relatives and friends, read and write in winter.
The productivity of the ancients has improved, and coal mining has gradually become convenient. Charcoal basin has become an important and main heating tool in ancient China.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people generally used coal or furnace ash for heating, which also promoted the popularization, popularization and application of clay, copper or iron-carbon pots. Add a breathable cover slightly conditionally to prevent fire or burning flammable materials, which reflects the strong fire prevention consciousness of the ancients.
China has had the practice of burning fire underground to keep warm since ancient times, but this way is generally unique to nobles.
This is an underground heating system and building heating facilities. Fire tunnels, flues and fixed ignition points are dug in the underground, and the ground is heated after combustibles release heat, so that the whole underground is filled with hot air, which spreads upwards, and the indoor temperature keeps rising for a long time. It has a long history and keeps pace with the times, so it is necessary to keep warm.
The firewall is a hollow wall built by laying bricks or stones, and there is a fire path under the wall, and the end of the fire path is porous to prevent coal poisoning; Add charcoal port and vent hole outside the house. When in use, just light charcoal fire, and the hot air will warm the whole room along the sandwich wall.
Moreover, in order to let the hot air circulate, the firewall is often used to set up a warm pavilion, which is a small room separated from the big room, but surrounded by wooden boards or partition doors, and communicates with each other, using the waste heat system of the fire path.
The Little Ice Age in the late Ming Dynasty brought disaster to all mankind. The demise of the Ming dynasty is bound to be related to it.
However, without the advanced science and technology of modern society, the ancient people used their diligence and wisdom to brainstorm and integrate, and created and used heating systems such as kang, heater, soup wife, fire wall and earthworm.
Fighting against heaven and life again and again, they have created countless miracles with extraordinary wisdom. These various ways of keeping out the cold and keeping warm have finally left valuable material and spiritual wealth for people all over the world.
References:
Mencius and Teng Wengong.
Hannanxu county annals
Historical Records Biography of Li Sheng Lu Jia
Biography of Mr. Wu Liu