How did ancient people preserve food without refrigerators?
Who says ancient people didn't have refrigerators? In Zeng Hou Yi's Chu tomb in Suixian County, Hubei Province, a 'bronze ice chest' was unearthed, which is the earliest refrigerator ever discovered in the world. As early as the Spring and Autumn period, slaves would cut ice in winter to store it for the nobles to drink during the summer. Simply put, the ancient 'refrigerator' was a box with ice inside, and food was placed in the middle of the ice to achieve preservation. However, the old 'refrigerators' were simple and had a single function, unlike today, where a refrigerator can even become a murder container in a horror movie.
How did ancient people predict the weather?
During the Shang Dynasty, using the sensory systems like eyes and ears to observe celestial phenomena was an impressive skill, and it was entirely possible to hold a high position in the government with such ability. By the Zhou Dynasty, people had already learned to predict the weather based on animal behavior. In the Qin and Han periods, the ancients completed the formulation of the twenty-four solar terms. Later, the invention of the lunar calendar became the crystallization of wisdom of generations of ancestors. Although ancient weather prediction did not have sophisticated instruments, many times it was more reliable than the so-called 'weather forecasters' of today.
How did ancient women apply makeup?
Applying ointments and powders has been a woman's favorite hobby since ancient times. The three most commonly used tools by ancient women were: 'dai' powder, face powder, and rouge. 'Dai' is a black mineral that is first ground into powder and then mixed with water to paint the eyebrows. Face powder is the equivalent of today's compact powder. Rouge was the ancient version of lipstick, made from a flower called 'Honglan,' and when blended with face powder it could also be used as blush. Nowadays, a dazzling array of cosmetics gives women more choices, making their 'masking' skills far superior to those of ancient times.
How did ancient people kill pests without pesticides?
Ancient remedies for controlling pests were diverse. Plant-based ones included jia grass and mang grass, animal-based ones included clam ash and fishy water, and mineral-based ones included salt, sulfur, lime, and arsenic. Methods of use included mixing with stored seeds, planting alongside seeds, soaking or boiling and spraying the juice, burning smoke, or applying to insect-eaten holes. As early as the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the government even appointed officials specifically to manage pest control. During seasons when pests were rampant, there would be the spectacular scene of 'nationwide insect hunting.'
What were ancient working hours? Did they clock in?
Don't think that punching in at work is a modern, perverse invention.Looking at the work records of ancient people, you would feel that nowadays is much more humane. The working hours for officials in ancient government offices were: in spring and winter, they had to check in at six in the morning; in summer and autumn, they had to check in at five thirty in the morning. If anyone dared to be absent or late without reason, it was not just a matter of docking some pay; depending on the number of days and the severity of the offense, they could be punished with flogging or imprisonment. So, being late for work could result in physical punishment – it wasn't easy to slack off.
Did ancient students have winter and summer vacations or weekends off?
Nowadays, students often complain that holidays are too short. If such complaints happened in ancient times, the palms of their hands would probably have been beaten raw by teachers or parents. Ancient students did not have designated holidays; apart from national celebrations like the New Year and the Dragon Boat Festival, a student's daily task was to study diligently, and before exams, they would even go to extreme measures like hanging their heads from beams and pricking their thighs, or chipping a hole in the wall to steal some light, all to cram for exams. Only officials in ancient times could take vacations, so after working hard to achieve a bureaucratic rank, one could then take leave officially.
Did infants in ancient times drink goat or cow milk, or only breast milk?
If infants in ancient times could drink goat or cow milk, there wouldn't have been so many tragic cases of childhood death. Typically, people waited until a certain age before giving animals' milk. Infants were mainly fed breast milk containing human antibodies, because at that time animal milk had not been pasteurized like it is today, and babies had no resistance to bacteria. What if the mother had no milk? They would have to "borrow milk," giving rise to the profession of wet nurse. Poor families without milk had to use finely ground rice porridge suitable for swallowing as a substitute.
