In today's society, staying up late has become a "trend". People work and go to class during the day, and choose to stay up late at night to get more entertainment time.

Do you think that modern young people have pioneered the practice of staying up late?

In fact, it is not the case. It is not the modern young people who really lead the trend of staying up late. The initiators of the "stay up late" movement have appeared as early as ancient times.

When people in the Song Dynasty started a craze about staying up late, can you think of any pastimes they had?

Are you wondering that the ancients did not have mobile phones, computers, or various modern entertainment activities, so what did they do when they stayed up late?

Is it possible that so many students in Chengdu are staying up late studying hard?

Or is it like Li Bai in the Tang Dynasty who "raised a glass to the bright moon and made three people in the shadow"?

In fact, the life of night owls in the Song Dynasty was much richer than we imagined!

1. Curfew that means "lockdown" at night. Young people who often go out to look for food after dark may find it hard to imagine that in the Tang Dynasty, it was illegal to walk around after dark.

If you sneak out to play in the middle of the night, you will be spanked if you are caught by the soldiers on patrol!

However, emergency matters should prevail. If someone in the family is sick, they will still be allowed to go out to seek medical consultation.

In addition, ordinary people can only stay at home after the "closed door drum" is sounded at night, and they cannot go out until the "open door drum" is sounded the next day.

During the Tang Dynasty, eunuchs held high positions and officials did not dare to offend easily. One eunuch was beaten to death despite being drunk and violating the curfew when he went out.

One can imagine how stringent the “curfew” was in ancient times.

So how could the people of Song Dynasty, who are said to be "masters of staying up late", be able to go out without restrictions?

2. The Song Dynasty people who were "unblocked" actually experienced a period of war in the Song Dynasty, and the Song Dynasty's economy had problems.

At this time, the Song Dynasty BOSS's requirements for "curfew" were no longer so strict, and restrictions on commercial transactions were also weakened.

People who had partially solved the basic problem of food and clothing no longer followed the traditional lifestyle of "resting at sunset" and began to go out of their homes at night to visit friends and conduct transactions in the market.

The people who had finished their farm work during the day began to hawk on the streets at night, selling flowers, paintings, and food. The economic development of the Song Dynasty also developed rapidly along with people's nightlife.

At this time, the backwardness of ancient science and technology exposed some flaws - people's night life was very boring.

In order to enrich their lives and have fun, nobles may advocate elegance and learn from literati to recite poems and compose poems, or they may hold grand banquets and invite relatives and friends.

When the festival coincides with the festival, nobles from well-known families will hold banquets and invite their close friends, where they will give each other gifts and enjoy singing and dancing. The moonlight is very good, and they will invite two or three close friends to drink and write poems together or go out at night.

Su Shi's poem "Drinking in Dongpo at night makes me feel drunk again. Returning seems like the third watch. The boy's breath is thundering. He doesn't answer the door. He leans on his stick and listens to the sound of the river." It is after drinking at a banquet that he didn't go home until midnight.

At that time, the child at home was sleeping soundly and could not even hear the knock on the door. Su Shi could only lean on the fence stick and listen to the sound of the rushing river.

1. In the Song Dynasty, time calculation appeared in the brightly lit Song Dynasty. Su Song, a mechanic at that time, invented what was considered to be the world's first real mechanical clock - the "Water Transport Instrument Stand", which allowed people to accurately calculate day and night.

Activities have gradually emerged, and "ghost markets" open at night have gradually emerged.

But in ancient times, only rich families could afford oil lamps, while poor families didn't even have the opportunity to "work overtime."

How could the night owls of the Song Dynasty seek entertainment in the dark? Therefore, candles, a lighting tool that had appeared long ago, were improved and loved by the night owls of the Song Dynasty.

Under the warm candlelight, the breeze blows, and the shadows falling on the ground and windows sway slightly, providing creative inspiration for literati and poets, and also lighting up the bustling night market.

Our country is a big agricultural country, and farming was a major life event for most people in ancient times. Farmers worked hard during the day, and only after dinner could they take a leisurely walk and have fun.

Some people have seized the business opportunity and performed talent shows or sold gadgets during this period to make some "extra money."