Bed

The young man sleeping on the kang bed had his second brother Han Zhu beside him, snoring at varying volumes. Not far from the bed was a yellow mud wall, aged with time, with several fine cracks through which the complaints of Han's mother and the sound of his father smoking a dry tobacco pipe could be heard. The young man slowly closed his sore eyes, hoping to fall asleep soon. He knew he had to wake up early tomorrow to go to the mountains with his friends to collect firewood. This young man was named Han Li. Although his name sounded quite proper, it was actually given by Old Uncle Zhang at the cost of two steamed buns from his father. Old Uncle Zhang was the only literate person in the village, and he had named many of the children. Han Li was nicknamed "Dummy," but he wasn't stupid at all. In fact, he was the smartest child in the village. He longed to escape this small village and see the outside world. But he didn't dare share this thought with others, as it would be surprising for a child to have such ideas. Han Li had two older…

One-third of life is spent on sleeping, and beds play an important role in people's lives. So, what did the bed look like in ancient China? Ancient humans often lived in caves. In order to keep warm, weeds, leaves, and animal skins were spread on the ground, which was roughly the earliest bed. During the Banpo cultural period of the matrilineal society, the prototype of the bed appeared, that is, the Tutai (土台), which is similar to today's kang bed-stove. In "Guangbo Wuzhi", there is such a record: "Shennong invented the bed, and Shaohao made the Kui (篑), and Lu Wang made the Ta (榻)." During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the prototype of the bed was slowly determined. Compared with our modern beds, the ancient traditional beds had many functions. At night, the ancients slept on the bed, but during the day, they also needed to sit or lie down to rest, so the "Ta (榻, couch)" was invented. The earliest prototype of the couch is the mat. In other words, putting a mat on the ground can sit and lie down. In ancient times, people in northern China generally used grass to make mats, while southerners generally used…