In ancient times, among these "hard" pillows, porcelain pillows were the most numerous and widely used. Porcelain pillows were also called jade pillows in ancient times. It was born in the Sui Dynasty and developed in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. It was popular in bedding in the Song Dynasty and later became a household necessity. Especially in the Song Dynasty and after thousands of years, porcelain pillows have been playing a very important role as important bedroom supplies, and even many friends' grandparents have used such bedding.
Like other daily-use ceramics, porcelain pillows are produced with the development of porcelain-making technology. The rapid development of porcelain burning technology in Song Dynasty, especially the decoration technology on porcelain, made the porcelain in Song Dynasty more expressive and artistic. After the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the appearance of more excellent pillow materials, porcelain pillows began to slowly withdraw from the historical stage.
In ancient times, this kind of hard pillow had certain warning significance. In ancient times, there was a person who preferred hard pillows. Because the pillows are hard, they sleep for a short time, so they can spare more time for study. Especially during lunch break or short break, using hard pillow can save time while ensuring sleep. There is also a kind of pillow called police pillow, with bells on it, which will wake up when you move a little. In order to warn people to cherish time and not sleep.
Sleeping on a hard pillow is not without benefits, but with many benefits. The first advantage is cool. There was no air conditioning in ancient times, and many people could only comfort themselves by the words "calm down and cool naturally" in hot summer. In the rich and expensive house, in addition to some fruits and drinks to cool off the summer, you are also very particular when you sleep. Porcelain pillows are used the most except those powerful people who let the maids fan themselves.
The second advantage of using porcelain pillows is health preservation. Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica said: "Porcelain pillows can improve eyesight and eyes, so that you can read old and refined books." Zhang Lei, a poet in the Northern Song Dynasty, also said in "Xie Huangshi is a porcelain pillow in Bi Hui": "The public made a strong pillow, so he gave me anti-inflammatory steam, which made me feel cold in my room and made my brain cold." In the book Pulse Diagnosis of TCM, it is recorded that "the sage's head is cold and his feet are warm". Warm feet with cold head is a health-keeping rule advocated by ancient Chinese medicine, and porcelain pillows just meet the requirements of cold head.
The third advantage of using porcelain pillows is to protect the bun from being messy. Ancient people "hair is influenced by parents", and it is very long, so it is difficult to comb the ancient bun. Jade pillows are generally high, so they are not easy to press on your hair. In addition, ancient hard pillows have many uses, such as reflecting Confucian etiquette culture, "sitting in a sitting position, standing in a standing position, sleeping in a sleeping position" and "hard pillows can strengthen bones; Bones must be hard to stand upright, and the height of hard pillows is beneficial to people's cervical health and so on.
Although ancient people's pillows were hard and tall, we don't have to consider whether they were comfortable to sleep, because they were different from our pillows. We sleep on the back of the head now, but in ancient times their pillows were around their necks, which was actually quite comfortable.