The ancients believed that sleeping is not only a kind of rest, but also a kind of health preservation; Is it not only a realm, but also a kind of learning? "People decide" that sleeping at sea is most beneficial to health. There is a saying in the poem Peacocks Fly Southeast written by Han Yuefu that "lonely people will not decide until dusk". As early as the pre-Qin period, the ancients had summed up a set of "sleep principles". Huangdi Neijing is named after Huangdi? Su Wen Pian can be said to be a "guiding document" of ancient people's sleep, in which the methods and importance of sleep are discussed in detail. Among them, the theory of four-qi regulating spirit points out that the time of sleeping is not fixed, but should change at any time: it is advisable to lie down late and get up early in spring and summer, and it is advisable to lie down early and get up late in autumn and winter.
This "sleep principle" is of reference value even in modern times when the pace of life is very fast. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, people paid more attention to sleep. 1972 A number of Han bamboo slips were unearthed from Mawangdui Han Tomb in Changsha, including the medical book Ten Questions, which revealed people's understanding of sleep: "If you don't lie in front, you won't be there for a hundred days." So, what time did the ancients go to bed at night? Generally speaking, it is eight words-"Do it at sunrise and rest at sunset." Specifically, it is the time when "people decide". What time is it now? The ancients divided the 24 hours of a modern day into 12 units: midnight, crow, Pingdan, sunrise, eclipse, horn, sun, sundial, sunset, dusk and human life; With twelve earthly branches, the corresponding time is: Zishi, Ugly, Yin Shi, Shi Mao, Chen Shi, Shi Si, Noon, Weishi, Shenshi, Youshi, Xushi and Shihai. When a person decides, it is the sea time, which is equivalent to the modern 2 1 to 23 o'clock. People decide, also known as "drowsiness" and "dead of night", which means that people should stop their activities and rest and sleep.
In the story of the peacock flying southeast at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there is a saying that "lonely people will settle down after they die at dusk", which shows that people begin to sleep at an appropriate time. The ancients believed that you should not go to bed at the latest after midnight, that is, from 23: 00 to the next morning 1: 00. There is a saying that "reading at night is not out of time" in the five miscellaneous notes of Ming metabolism. Xie believes that if you study too much, "when you cover someone, your blood will return to your heart." If you can't sleep, your blood will run out and you will get sick. " In today's words, studying late will seriously overdraw your health. Xie was surprised to see someone reading all night and vomiting blood. For the time to get up, the ancients advocated "getting up early", even in the imperial family. According to Jiang's Record of the Song Dynasty Garden, he kept a good sleep habit, "sleeping late and bulging five times". The courtiers who need to go to the early dynasty get up earlier, so they have the pain of "courtiers waiting for leaks". Getting up in the "Five Watches" is the best for your health. Su Dongpo, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, was willing to take a nap. As far as sleeping is concerned, many famous people in ancient times had some experiences. Su Dongpo, a scholar in Song Dynasty, is an expert in sleep. He once talked with fellow traveler Li Zhi about the beauty of sleep.
Li Zhi wrote down Su Dongpo's remarks at that time in Talk with Teachers and Friends, entitled "Dongpo said he slept in Samadhi". Su Dongpo has a strange sleeping habit. Even if the bed is a little unstable, he can't sleep. He must arrange it before going to bed. Lying in bed, when he officially began to sleep, he "closed his eyes and listened to breathing" and "could not wriggle". He said it was "concentrate on winning". Su Dongpo never sleeps late and gets up at the beginning of the fifth watch every day. But he didn't go to work and study immediately after getting up, but combed his hair and washed his face. After dressing neatly, he found a clean couch and closed his eyes for a while. This is called "catnap". This kind of "fake sleep", which is what we call "taking a nap", is tantamount to going back to sleep. Su Dongpo was so happy that he dozed off, deeply impressed, and said, "The taste of a moment is endless; The taste at night is almost unparalleled. " Judging from the notes left by the ancients, the Song people slept the best in all previous dynasties, and they also slept a lot of theories, which may be related to the situation in the Northern Song Dynasty. There was a famous thinker in Song Dynasty named Chen Tuan, who paid more attention to sleep than Su Dongpo.
Chen Tuan is rumored in The History of Song Dynasty and listed as a hermit. It occupies an important position in the development history of Taoism in China, and is called "the ancestor of Chen Tuan". About Chen Tuan's Sleep Well, according to the history of Song Dynasty? The Biography of Chen Tuan records that Chen Tuan "can't get up for more than 100 days every night", which means that Chen Tuan can sleep for more than 100 days. Chen Tuan is also called "Sleeping Fairy" because he can sleep so much. Chen Tuan can sleep, not only paying attention to "sleeping goods", but also sleeping out of the realm. In his early years, he was "not the first scholar, so he didn't ask for Lu's family and took pleasure in mountains and rivers." Zhao Guangyi in Song Taizong has long heard of his name. He once sent someone to Huashan, where he lived in seclusion, and asked him to come out of the mountain and become an official in the DPRK. It is said that Song Taizong wrote a poem to Chen Tuan, saying, "If you are willing to call now, you will always seek three peaks." However, Chen Tuan was unmoved and responded with "Answering the words of the messenger, not going to the imperial edict": "The clouds in the Xuan are absolutely worried, and the three peaks only want to sleep for a thousand years." "Three peaks only want to sleep for a thousand years", what a terrible sleep state! In fact, Chen Tuan has not simply slept, but regarded sleeping as a means of self-cultivation and health preservation-"the matter of returning health to Dan", so he lived to 1 18 years old. Sleeping posture "lying like a bow" has the highest sleep quality. Cai, a philosopher in the Southern Song Dynasty, advocated "sleeping on your side, bending over and stretching". In ancient China, people were also very concerned about sleeping posture, which was considered unhealthy.
There are three main sleeping positions: supine, prone and lateral. Which of these three postures is better? The ancients had a seven-word evaluation: "The dragon lies on its side and the tiger lies on its side." The people who paid the most attention to sleep in the Song Dynasty also summed up a set of theories. For example, Cai, a famous philosopher in the Southern Song Dynasty, once published a 22-word "sleeping tactic": "When you sleep, bend over, stretch when you feel right, and don't think about distractions. Sleep first and then sleep in the morning and evening. " "Bend over while sleeping" is what the ancients often said: "Lying like a bow". The ancients did not like "supine", and Confucius, a Confucian sage, did not like this sleeping position. He wrote in the Analects of Confucius? "Homesickness" says "I can't sleep without a corpse, and I can't stay without a guest", which means don't lie like a corpse when sleeping, and don't be so constrained when staying at home. Perhaps influenced by Confucius' viewpoint, the ancients were most afraid of "sticking to the body" when sleeping, and advocated "sleeping tirelessly and stretching tirelessly". Why did the ancients think it was good to lie on your side? Sun Simiao, a medical scientist in the Tang Dynasty, wrote in "A Thousand Daughters Should Be Prescribed?" Dowling said in "Cultivating Nature": "Kneeling on your side will benefit people and win the battle." This view is also advocated by Taoism in China. Jing yuan, a hybrid, holds a similar view: "If you sleep on your back, you will lose your essence and you should bend sideways." Chen Tuan's "Yi Xi Anshui Ji" also specifically describes the method of lying on the side: "When lying on the left side, your left foot is bent, your left arm is bent, your hands are on your head, your right foot is extended, and your right hand is placed between your thighs. Lying on the right side is the opposite. " According to this sleeping method, the body is just a half-moon shape, just lying like a bow. This kind of sleeping method was regarded as a good prescription by the ancients, and it was called "sleeping prescription". There is a poem called: "Huashan Chu Shi, if you see it, you can't find a sleeping pill unless you find a fairy." Moreover, the side of the body is also about which direction. The ancients thought it was better to lie on the right side, and some even called it "auspicious sleep." This kind of "auspicious sleep" has been proved to be scientific and reasonable by modern medicine, because from the physiological and anatomical position, this kind of sleep method will make the heart position to the right, the liver to the right and the gastrointestinal opening to the right, which can relieve the pressure on the heart. "Auspicious sleep" is especially suitable for the elderly. In the Qing Dynasty, Cao Tingdong said in the article "Sleeping peacefully" in "Old Old Words": "If you want to lie down after meals, you should relax your temper on the right side." The direction of "head east and feet west" has the best sleep effect. Sun Simiao recorded that "spring and summer go east, autumn and winter go west" in Qian Jin Fang Yao in the Tang Dynasty. While looking for the best sleeping position, the ancients were also exploring the sleeping direction. The ancients thought that where to sleep with your head is related to your health and sleep quality, but where to sleep with your head is better, it is better to choose the best sleeping position. The popular view in ancient times was that the direction of sleeping should change with time, which was called "four seasons". Sun Simiao, a medical scientist in the Tang Dynasty, is the representative of this view. Tao Lin raised nature and said, "The lies of mortals are east of spring and summer and west of autumn and winter." It means that in spring and summer, sleep with your head facing east and your feet facing west; Autumn and winter are just the opposite, so your head should face west and your feet should face east. The specific time to change the direction should start with the solar terms of "beginning of spring" and "beginning of autumn".
Song Puqian's "Baosheng Yao Lu" says: "Anyone who lies in beginning of spring to beginning of autumn wants to be the first in the East; After autumn, I will go to beginning of spring and want to be the first in the west. " This concept of "East-West Sleeping" has a long history in China, which has a far-reaching impact on the internal structure of buildings. After the Qin and Han Dynasties, the beds in the rooms were mostly east-west, which was probably based on the health care concept of "nourishing yang in spring and summer and nourishing yin in autumn and winter" in Huangdi Neijing. Generally speaking, in the choice of sleeping position, the ancients gave priority to the east, followed by the west; The south is ok, but the north is not suitable. Some health experts simply think that the direction of sleeping should be "sleeping east", that is, sleeping with your head fixed to the east and your feet facing west. The reason is that the east dominates spring and the main gas rises. The first of the four seasons is the best place to sleep in the east. "It is said that you are angry and lie down." Among the four orientations, "lying north", that is, head facing north and feet facing south, is the least welcome and taboo of the ancients. "A $ one thousand party? Daolin raises nature, that is, "don't lie on your head north, don't sleep on the wall north"; The article "Sleeping peacefully" in "Lao Lao Heng Yan" also said, "First, don't lie in the north, that is, avoid the atmosphere. "Why can't you sleep with your head facing north? Ancient health experts believe that the north belongs to the yin position of water and yin, which is mainly cold in winter, and the north is afraid of lying in the yin cold, which directly hurts the human body Yuanyang and damages the house of Shenyuan.
In fact, this view is also influenced by Confucius' speech "Confucius Family Language? There is a saying in "Ask the Rites" that the head facing north is "the direction of the dead", that is, "the living face south and the dead face north". Finally, it needs to be explained that the "direction theory" of ancient people's sleep is actually unscientific and even contains many superstitious elements, which is too mysterious. Take the ancient saying that the north-south direction is not suitable for sleeping. Some modern scientists think that the north-south direction is consistent with the magnetic field of the earth sphere, and the sleep effect is better.