In the summer full of fireworks, we can't live without' ice'. If we add ice cubes to all kinds of drinks and put all kinds of fruits in ice cubes, the temperature in summer will be higher year by year. In midsummer, we can't wait to bury ourselves in ice cubes, which hang our last breath like soup cooked by thousands of people. If we want ice cubes, modern people only need to put pure water in the refrigerator, but the ancients can get it. But it is conceivable that it is not easy to get ice cubes in Song and Xia dynasties without refrigeration equipment such as refrigerators. So how did people in the Song Dynasty get ice cubes?
People in the Song Dynasty had already realized the "freedom of ice".
The people of the Tang Dynasty will not believe that the Song Dynasty, which was established shortly after the demise of the Tang Dynasty, realized the "freedom of ice". The "freedom of ice" in the Song Dynasty was not only realized by the dignitaries in the upper class, but also not a great thing for the ordinary people in the Song Dynasty. However, we should know that the ice in midsummer is an elusive' scarce resource' for most ordinary people, and they have no right.
The ice and snow in Chang 'an are as precious as the golden wall in summer.
You ask me how precious the ice cubes in the Tang Dynasty are, and I can only tell you that sometimes the ice cubes in the Tang Dynasty can't be bought with money.
People in Song Dynasty drank ice in summer.
Ice is the life-saving straw for the people in Song Dynasty.
"Food is the most important thing for the people", an old saying of China, is never false, and it is also applicable to the people of Song Dynasty who finally realized "freedom of ice" through unremitting efforts. One of the main reasons why ice is so popular with people of all dynasties in summer is that frozen drinks in summer are really irresistible. One of the reasons why people in various dynasties before the Song Dynasty made great efforts to study the methods of making ice in summer was to taste cold drinks in hot summer. In the eyes of the ancients, cold drinks were the best way to get rid of the sweltering heat, and' freedom of ice' brought' freedom of quick-frozen food' to the people of the Song Dynasty.
If modern people walk around in the midsummer of the Song Dynasty, most modern people must have "transformed" after just two steps. Although the summer in ancient times was not as hot as that in modern times, the air conditioners that can be seen everywhere in modern times were unimaginable high-tech in ancient times. Walking on the streets of the Song Dynasty, you will feel that every gust of wind blows at your purpose, not to bring you coolness, but to bring you sweat that you can't get rid of. At first, you want to go home quickly. After all, it is cooler at home, but you suddenly remember that there is no difference between the temperature at home and the temperature on the street, because there is no fan or air conditioner at home. Just when you were disheartened, the street stalls with green umbrellas in the Song Dynasty attracted your attention. These stalls are the mobile freezers of the Song Dynasty.
In dog days, these "mobile freezers" can be seen almost everywhere in the streets of Bianjing. There are only a few tables and chairs and an umbrella covered with green cloth, and these stalls became "straws for life" in the eyes of the citizens of the Song Dynasty. Cold water litchi cream, smoothies, Weizhou white peaches and other thirst-quenching frozen foods lie quietly. In the summer of the Song Dynasty,' ice and snow' can be said to be popular all over the city. No one, old people or children, likes this delicious food. Ice and snow' is also called' sugar snow balls'. The modern method of "ice and snow" is probably to mix glutinous rice flour with sugar and soybean powder to make a "rice ball" similar to what modern people eat, as the ancients called it.
Speaking of summer desserts, ice cream must be an excellent snack that can't be missed in modern times. Ice cream made of milk with rich chocolate sauce or strawberry sauce, crispy cone shell, just thinking about it makes people drool. Summer amusement parks or idol dramas are a perfect match for ice cream. In fact, ice cream is not a favorite food for modern people. As early as 1000 years ago in the Song Dynasty, ice cream was already mouth watering. Unlike modern ice cream, the ice cream in Song Dynasty was not small. It is like a miniature "hill". It takes only a few hours to make a unique "ice cream" in the Song Dynasty. The method is to drop melted milk on a plate to form a "rockery" shape, and then freeze it in an ice room.
In summer, no one can escape the temptation of ice. The emperor of the Song Dynasty once had diarrhea because he ate a lot of ice water in summer. He also said to his courtiers,' I drank too much ice water before, but fortunately I calmed down' ",and his courtiers also advised him,' I did what I wanted to do, but I didn't regret it afterwards'", even the emperor at the peak of power and money.
Can ice cubes only be used as' food' in the Song Dynasty? In fact, ice cubes can also play a huge role in the political diplomacy of the Song Dynasty. In that era when there were no high-tech products such as refrigerators, ice cubes could be inexhaustible in summer, which was unimaginable in other countries. When the diplomatic envoys of other countries came to the Song Dynasty in the midsummer, they thought that they could only eat all kinds of dishes in their own country at the banquet, but they saw a series of cool and delicious frozen foods put on the table by the maids. And all frozen foods are' free choice', so you can eat whatever you like. This kind of "shock" is definitely a kind of "spiritual shock" to the diplomatic envoys of other countries. Diplomatic envoys of other countries will be surprised to the rulers of other countries when they return to their own countries after tasting such delicious food in the Song Dynasty, and the rulers of other countries can also appreciate the power of the Song Dynasty from the words of diplomatic envoys.
The emperor is so hospitable to the courtiers of other countries, and even more considerate to the courtiers of his own country. In the hot summer, the ministers of the Song Dynasty often sweated because of their work, and the emperor also knew the hard work of the courtiers. In order to show sympathy for the courtiers, the emperor also instructed the eunuchs to prepare some herbal tea and other good products for the ministers. Who is the hardest person in the summer palace? They are not ministers who worked hard for the emperor, nor are they conscientious eunuchs, but soldiers who stand still in the scorching sun. Ministers and eunuchs are indoors no matter how hard they try, and soldiers standing in the sun directly accept the sun's' beating', so every summer, soldiers standing guard in the palace can get a certain amount of ice.
Tujietou cold drink stall
Without a refrigerator, ice cubes will be stored from winter to summer.
Even though people in Song Dynasty have realized the freedom of ice, it doesn't mean that ice is a kind of resource that can be wasted casually. In Song Dynasty, ice was still a very precious and scarce resource. Every year, the emperor will order the icebox to be opened on a certain day, and a grand sacrifice ceremony will be held on that day. The sacrificial ceremony is also centered on' ice' to thank God for giving human beings' ice'. There must be special sacrificial objects in the sacrificial ceremony. The sacrificial object in the pit opening ceremony is the water god "Hans" in China traditional mythology. In addition to worshipping the water god, people also worship their ancestors to express their gratitude. The specific method of the sacrificial ceremony is to put all kinds of food made of ice cubes on the sacrificial platform, so that the water gods and ancestors can eat frozen food first. Every summer, in this sacrificial ceremony, the court uses a lot of ice cubes, and the weight of the ice cubes even reaches about 1500 kg.
Ancient people used ice.
Such a huge amount of ice was almost whimsical in the Tang Dynasty, when the price of ice was equivalent to that of gold, but in the Song Dynasty, the cost of picking and storing ice was greatly reduced, so that ordinary people in the Song Dynasty also had ice available.
Generally, there are only two sources of ice in Song and Xia Dynasties. One way is to make a lot of ice cubes artificially in summer. We produce ice cubes, and we are not just porters of nature' is probably the endorsement of ice makers in the Song Dynasty. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, when people were processing the crude gunpowder, they accidentally found that the water in the brazier could turn into ice as long as saltpeter was put into the brazier, and discovered the characteristics of saltpeter absorbing heat and freezing. According to this characteristic of saltpeter, the clever Song people finally worked out the most suitable ratio of saltpeter to water after many experiments. Since then, Song people have used this technology to make a lot of ice cubes in summer.
Tusongsong herbal tea stall
The second method is to store ice cubes in winter until summer. In the Song Dynasty, there were special ice pickers who were responsible for collecting ice from1February to February of the following year. More than 300,000 kilograms of ice need to be mined every year, and the size of the collected ice should be as large and thick as possible. Business-minded northerners will also store a lot of ice cubes in winter and sell them to southerners in hot summer, making a lot of money.
Conclusion:
Behind an ordinary piece of ice is the progress of ice-making technology and human civilization. Enjoying life and pursuing life have been deeply portrayed in the minds of Song people, and the prosperous economy and enlightened policies have promoted the material and spiritual construction of Song people.
Today, it is common to see ice in summer.
In the scorching sun, take a bite of ice cream and look up at the distant coastline. Do you think maybe in the Song Dynasty 1300 years ago, there was a parallel universe where you buried your head in ice?