In ancient times, there were no heating facilities like today. So how did the royal family keep warm in the Forbidden City?

In the winter, the Forbidden City will also make braziers, but this is quite dangerous. This is something people didn’t know before, but I can see from the TV series that it is basically a quilt, a charcoal pot, and a stove. , cotton-padded jackets and clothes made of animal skins.

Actually, don't worry. The wisdom of the ancients is beyond our imagination. Anyone who has been to the Forbidden City knows that there is a tunnel under the Forbidden City, similar to the current heating pipeline in the north. Craftsmen built a sealed tunnel leading to various parts of the Forbidden City. When a carbon fire is ignited at the source, the hot gases flow to various parts of the tunnel. Such continuous heating makes the Forbidden City as warm as spring without feeling cold at all.

This is also because ancient Chinese buildings were mainly made of wood. To ensure safety, open fires are absolutely not allowed to be seen in the palace. Tunnels were built to avoid open fires and provide heating. As for major halls like the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the heating in tunnels can no longer meet the needs of resisting the severe cold, so charcoal pots are still the main method in these places. Due to the open spaces of these magnificent temples, the danger of carbon fires is greatly reduced. In addition, royal nobles like to wear mink coats to protect themselves from the cold to a certain extent.

Another reason for the lack of smoke is that the heating materials in the Forbidden City are mainly coal and charcoal. Most of the coal comes from Taixi coal in Ningxia, which is black, shiny, non-stained, smokeless, odorless, and has high odor. heat. Therefore, Ningxia's coal is called "Jade Beauty". The charcoal was called "Hongluotan". It was made from hard solid wood from Tongzhou, Daxing and other suburbs, sawn to their size, placed in small thorns covered with red soil, and transported to Xi'an Gate (now Hongluotan). snail plant) and then put it into the uterus for use. Now, Hongluochang Street outside Xi'an Gate is where the charcoal is stored. That's it, there's no open flame in the room, it doesn't create smoke. It is not for the sake of environmental protection, because the palaces in the Forbidden City are made of wood to prevent soot from blackening the palaces.

Throughout history, cold winters are still inseparable from charcoal fires. No matter how many mink furs there are, they can't withstand the cold winters in the north. Today's heating and air conditioning make the cold no longer a fear.