Take Yong Zhengdi as an example. Although he hasn't been in office for a long time, he works hard and often stays up reading newspapers. Yong Zhengdi used plant therapy to relieve eye fatigue, and also brought high-grade chrysanthemums from Hangzhou. It is said that this kind of chrysanthemum for the royal family grows in the crevices of rocks, enjoying good mountains, good water and good nutrition on weekdays, and the whole body is full of healthy elements. Chrysanthemum production is not high, how many are transported to the palace, stuffed into pillows to make chrysanthemum pillows, and Yong Zhengdi lies on them when his eyes are dry, which is said to be quite useful.
Eating chrysanthemums is also good for your eyes, especially bright yellow chrysanthemums. Take off the petals, rinse them, blanch them with licorice soup and nitrate, and cook them together when the rice is almost cooked. It is called golden rice, which has both rice fragrance and floral fragrance, and enjoys the curative effect of improving eyesight.
The typical representative of the plant healing system is Lycium barbarum, which ranks in the forefront of medicinal materials for protecting good eyesight with its efficacy of "improving eyesight and calming nerves, helping longevity and prolonging life". Gao Lian recorded gouqi tea in "Eight Notes on Respect for Life": "It is very eye-catching to decoct and drink in a pot." Besides soaking in water to cook porridge, Lycium barbarum has other wonderful uses for the ancients. "Zhi Ya Tang Miscellaneous Notes" records: "Lycium barbarum can extract oil and light, and it is good for reading." Extracting oil from Lycium barbarum seeds for readers to read at night is more beneficial to their eyesight than candles and ordinary oil lamps.
However, it sounds simple, but it is not when you think about it. Lycium barbarum is not big, but the seeds are smaller. How many Chinese wolfberry do you need to extract enough oil to meet the needs of reading? This kind of consumption obviously belongs to the luxury level, and the average reader is absolutely unable to enjoy it. Even Ouyang Xiu, a general social elite, has been a prime minister all the way, and has never consumed Chinese wolfberry lamps. He is still lamenting sadly that "the sick eye hates the red candle, who wants to accompany the white beard Weng" in "playing the sentence of holding a candle", and reading at night is only accompanied by a candle, which hurts his eyes.
Eating yam is a good way to improve eyesight and save money. Chinese yam, which is regarded as tonifying kidney, has the function of improving eyesight and has been highly praised by Li Shizhen. In Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica, it is called "long-term service, smart eyes and ears, light body fit, no hunger, and longevity". And drink some wine. The traditional view is that drinking alcohol will hurt the eyes, but the popular calamus wine in the Ming Dynasty has the effect of protecting the eyes. According to Compendium of Materia Medica, this kind of plant wine is "effective after a long time". Similarly, there is chrysanthemum wine, which can also "cure the wind and clear the ears."
If you have no money in your pocket, you can try eye ointment, such as Jiulong ointment made of Hollyleaf and Coptidis Rhizoma, which has the effect of improving eyesight and protecting your eyes. According to the Book House Yuan Gui, during the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, Uzbekistan paid tribute to eye drops with a bottle of refined eye drops. The History of the Song Dynasty records that in Song Taizong, Maharaja paid tribute to the Song Dynasty, and the tribute also included "twenty small glass bottles of eye drops". Can be used as a tribute, the price is definitely not cheap.
Your eyesight tonic is sea cucumber, which has been highly praised by the celebrity Lin Zexu. Lin Zexu, who has been sent to work in Xinjiang, thinks of his wife who suffers from eye diseases at home and urges her to put on glasses and eat two boiled sea cucumbers every day, because "boiled sea cucumbers, eat two a day" can improve her eyesight.
The eye protection method in Li Yu's era in the Southern Tang Dynasty was the most striking. Take Zhongshu Province as an example. All the screens are made of soap. Soap is a kind of silk fabric with dark color and light texture, which is generally used to make headscarves and robes. The fact garden in the Song Dynasty recorded that "all five colors hurt the eyes, but black doesn't hurt the eyes", which means that all colors are colorful, which are irritating and harmful to the eyes, and only black is the best, which doesn't hurt the eyes. Therefore, during Li Yu's administration, "Chinese books are all pasted with soap, so they are eye-catching."
In the Song Dynasty, Wang Anshi read widely, learned this skill, and used all the barriers in the yamen. According to the popular practice at that time, well-known painters were generally invited to draw by hand. Whether it was landscapes or figures, the office space was equivalent to a fine decoration. The effect is absolutely satisfactory, highlighting the tall style. As for the cost of production, labor and meals, of course, it is indispensable.
The only person who keeps a low profile is Mr. Xianghong Wang. Some people say that "the Prime Minister Wang is in the government, and he still uses soap to paste the screen" to be eye-catching, while others say that it is to save public expenses. In any case, frugality and pragmatism are worth promoting.
This article was originally published in Binhai Times and Tuyuan.com, and the copyright of pictures and texts belongs to the original author.