As an auxiliary tool for our sleep, the importance of pillows is self-evident. Modern research shows that human beings maintain a natural posture under normal circumstances. The human spine is a straight line from the front, but there are four physiological curves from the side, and the neck is slightly curved.
In order to protect the normal physiological curvature of our neck, we need to sleep at a height suitable for our neck curvature. This means that people must have suitable pillows when they sleep. In this way, the neck organs and tissues can be fully relaxed.
Why did the ancients use "tall and hard" pillows?
So, why do we know that ancient pillows are tall and hard? Did ancient people sleep comfortably? This is totally out of line with what we call ergonomics. Why? I think many people are curious. The ancients speculated whether many people had problems with their cervical vertebrae.
Although it is not a wild guess, the author wants to expose these little common sense of the ancients!
The origin of pillows
The development history of pillows is very long, which can be traced back to the Paleolithic Age. Of course, people at that time would unconsciously put wood, stones, hides and so on under their heads. Why do they do this? I don't think sleeping is the best, just the most basic pursuit of comfort. Because of the quality problems of these pillows, many of them are rotten.
According to archaeological data, the first pillow should be unprocessed stone. 1982 The earliest wooden pillow in China was excavated from the Chu Tomb in Mashan Township, Jiangling, Hubei Province, which also shows that people were very particular about pillows during the Warring States Period.
Development of pillows
With the development of science and technology and people's needs, pillows have made great progress.
There are many kinds of pillows, including stone pillows, bamboo pillows, wooden pillows, copper pillows, ceramic pillows, jade pillows and amber pillows. There are also square pillows, round pillows, trapezoidal pillows and horseshoe pillows in shape.
You can also use logs as pillows. Just move a little while sleeping and your head will fall off the pillow. You will soon wake up and become a pillow called "police pillow". In order to achieve a certain therapeutic effect during sleep, some medicinal materials are sometimes added to the pillow. This is a kind of medicine pillow, which is called "medicine pillow". Anyway, I admire the wisdom of the ancients, and a pillow should also play a variety of needs.
Of course, the ancient pillow is also a symbol of power and wealth!
The pillows of the Wangs are made of gold thread and inlaid with exquisite beads, which shows the elegance of the royal family. This pillow is called "jade pillow". Pillows used by officials can't come like this. Generally use "wooden pillow" or "ceramic pillow". The rich people use silk as the fabric, and the back cushion is a square pillow with selected cotton, also known as "coin silk pillow". People's pillows are relatively simple, such as "stone pillows" and "rattan pillows". Of course, the oldest is the porcelain pillow.
The moral of pillow
With the development of pillows, the ancients also added the concept of life and the pursuit of a better future to pillows, and pillows also have rich cultural connotations.
The ancients left epigrams on porcelain pillows. For example, philosophical sentences such as "many people talk less, everything comes back early" and "in order to fight for the spirit of three inches, the young man's head is white". Read these sentences before going to bed, and when you wake up, you will naturally see famous sayings and aphorisms, thus realizing life.
There are also "birthday pillows" commonly used by the elderly. There are birthday stars, peaches, cranes and pine trees painted on the pillow, which are all symbols of longevity and have strong implications.
There is also a deer pillow painted with deer patterns, symbolizing "Lu". Draw a lotus pillow, bright and high definition. Yuanyang pillow depicts Yuanyang and expresses perfect love. ...
The reason why the ancients used high pillows
Did the tall and hard pillows of the ancients mean "sit back and relax"? What is the reason?
In ancient times, there was something that "damaged the skin and made parents suffer", so it could not be hurt, so this kind of hair could not be trimmed. Think about this long hair. It's very troublesome to do. In this case, the hard pillow plays a fixed role, and the hairstyle will not be messed up from the next day.
Secondly, there were no living conditions like ours in ancient times. Think about summer. There is no air conditioner or electric fan. There are soft pillows and thick hair on the pillow. Still too hot to sleep. At this time, stone pillows, wooden pillows, porcelain pillows and jade pillows are laid. It's just cool and ventilated. How comfortable it is. You can really "sit back and relax".
In addition, the ancients were greatly influenced by "rites", and everyone was very hard on themselves, just like others now, "sitting standing", "sleeping" and "pillows are hard, and as a person, bones are hard"