How do the ancients get away from summer heat

As the sun is heating, watermelon, WIFI and AC have become the savior of the modern people in summer. However, during ancient times, which are less-tech, how did the people cope with the summer heat? Surprisingly, they had their own "tools" to fight against the intense heat.

This gown is the pinnacle of weaving in the Western Han Dynasty, representing the highest level of silk weaving technology in the early Han Dynasty.

This Northern Qi Scholars Collating Classic Texts is now preserved in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The man in the picture wears a transparent muslin, with his skin visible. This transparent gauze draped shirt was a popular luxury item for the upper class of the ruling class during the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi Dynasties, and it brought a touch of coolness to people in the hot summer.

Since the gauze is relatively see-through, the ancients then designed half-armed clothes as an alternative. This half-armed garment, excavated from the underground palace of Famen Temple, has a sleeve length of only 14.1 cm, and the end of the clothing crosses over the chest, cool and fashionable. This half-arm top is made of hand-twisted gold thread with an average diameter of only 0.1 mm, the thinnest part of which is only 0.06 mm. This level of craftsmanship is difficult to achieve even with modern high-tech methods.

Su Shan is called the "ancient ice cream", and in the Tang Dynasty, it was a luxury item only available to the nobility. Before being served, the pastry was heated to a near-melting state and then drizzled onto a vessel to create the shape of a mountain range, which was then frozen in an ice cellar to be later enjoyed. According to experts, the figure in the mural of Prince Zhang Huai's tomb, which is now preserved in the Shaanxi History Museum, is holding a Su Shan in his hand.

Summer is the time when melons and fruits are ripe, and the ancients also had the habit of eating melons. This Tang Sancai watermelon in Shaanxi History Museum is endowed with yellow and green skin painted with green glaze and a curved melon tip at the top, which is very vivid and lovely. The firing technique of low-temperature glaze porcelain is a masterpiece of Tang Sancai.

Ice is one of the essential elements for avoiding the summer heat, and storing ice in winter to be used in summer has been a long-standing habit in China. This Bronze Ice Container from the Warring States period in the National Museum of China collection is also considered an ancient Chinese "refrigerator", which can store ice inside to be used as a cooler. Of course, only the royal family could afford to use such a luxurious object in that era.

The ancients also used bamboo bedding during the sweltering summer to bring coolness. This Emperor Minghuang in Concert in the Tang Dynasty, preserved in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, is a typical example.

Because of the altitude, vegetation and topography of its surroundings, Yuhua Palace is accompanied by rich green coverage and cool climate during summer, becoming the summer palace of Emperor Taizong of Tang. In addition to the Taizong, Yuhua Palace was also the place where Venerable Xuanzang translated Buddhist scriptures, gave lectures and taught the Dharma.

When it comes to the "summer resort" of the ancients, Lishan Mountain pioneered the royal summer resort and carried the beautiful love story of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Yang Guifei. As the poet Du Mu wrote in The Summer Palace (Translated by Xu Yuanchong), "Viewed from afar, the hills paved with brocades in piles. The palace doors on hill tops opened one by one. A steed raising red dust won the fair mistress' smiles. How many steeds bringing her fruit died on the run", the life of royalties in the Summer Palace is quite luxurious.

Not everyone can have a summer palace like the emperor, but there are many craftsmen among the folks who can build their own "cooling room". In Tang Paradise, there is a self-cooling pavilion built according to historical records,  and it is just like today's "air-conditioned room". It is usually built near the water, and the water truck will transport water to the top of the pavilion for storage. As the water flows from the eaves of the pavilion to form a rain curtain, people sitting in the pavilion can be brought with the coolness.