Bean was a traditional food container in ancient times, so how was it used?

Bean is one of the traditional food containers in ancient China. It is shaped like a high-legged plate or has a lid for holding food. Lamp is one of the traditional lighting tools in China. The traditional oil lamps and candle lamps in China originated in the Neolithic Age, and then they were popular for thousands of years. It was not until the introduction of western kerosene lamps that they gradually withdrew from the field of use. Beans and lamps are similar in shape, but their functions are quite different. During the long historical period, beans evolved into lights.

First, the emergence and development of beans

Up to now, the earliest discovered pottery bean was unearthed in Qiao Hu culture in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang, about 8000 years ago. At this time, the beans were all early Neolithic pottery. Later, Qiao Hu culture evolved into Hemudu culture, which spread widely in the southeast of China (mainly in Ningshao area). Taodou was also found in the adjacent Songze culture and Xuejiagang culture. At this time, Taodou was still in its infancy, similar to the prototype. Often called bowl beans, pot beans, dish beans, dish beans or pot beans. In fact, it is formed by raising the handles under these utensils.

The appearance of beans is the inevitable result of the dietary changes of ancient people. In the early Neolithic period, grain production gradually became the main food source, and cooking became more and more common. Cooked food is usually put in a food container before use. In order to facilitate eating while sitting on the floor, pots, bowls, plates, saucers and cans without handles began to be lifted by the handles, so that the utensils can be moved by holding the handles, and the process of eating and drinking is more convenient.

In the middle Neolithic period, beans spread rapidly in the ancient cultures of the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and Shandong, and were found in Chaohu Plain, Ningzhen Area, Lihe Plain and Taihu Plain. During this period, the beanstalk of pottery beans rose continuously, and finally formed a certain proportion with the caliber of utensils, which can be regarded as stereotyped pottery beans. The stalk of this eight-legged pottery bean is about 1 of the diameter of the bean dish. 1.5 times. Later, it gradually spread to Miaodigou culture in the central plains and northwest China, but it was not very common and had not yet occupied the core position of the Dieter group. With the expansion of wave production, beans have gradually become sacrificial vessels in ancient culture in southeast China.

In the middle and late Neolithic period, a large number of painted pottery beans were found in the ruins of Shandong and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. The typical artifact is 1978, the octagonal painted pottery beans of Dawenkou culture unearthed from Dawenkou site in Tai 'an City, Shandong Province. They are mud red pottery, pot-shaped bean boards, round lips and oblique mouths, deep bellies and trumpet-shaped high circles. The abdomen and circle are painted with crimson pottery, and the oblique mouth is painted with white along the surface. The top triangle and several vertical line segments are alternately painted with brown and red, and the abdomen is painted with five squares and eight octagons in the middle on the crimson pottery, which is white.

The pattern may represent the radiant stars in the night sky, or it may suggest a special constellation. Some animal bones were originally put in the watercress? Pig head, jawbone, etc. It can be inferred that it must be a ritual rather than a daily object. In the late Neolithic period, beans gradually became one of the core components of ritual vessels in these colorful ancient cultures, and the combination of jade and beans was formed? A gift? Word,? A gift? Chinese characters consist of three parts: sign, bean and jade, and also reflect the three contents of ancient rituals? Jade, food containers and the sky.

There have been different materials and different kinds of beans in historical period, and there are also corresponding different titles. Beans have different materials and different names. Release device:? Pigeonpea is a bean, bamboo bean is a stem, and tile bean is a board. ? Different types and names of beans correspond to different contents. Kuiren records the beans of the DPRK, the beans of feeding, the beans of adding and the beans of shame. "Zhou Li? There are four different types of beans recorded in People's Tales, namely, morning beans, feed beans, added beans and shy beans.

At this time, the nobles have used beautifully made bronze beans with lids, such as flat striped bronze beans in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In the center of this bean cover, there is a round hand holding an empty hand, with a mother's mouth and a child's mouth, a round belly, and an animal's ears, and an animal's tail is a drooping ear. The lid and upper abdomen of the vessel are decorated with flat stripes, which are solemn and mysterious. In the Western Han Dynasty, with the popularity of cooktops and console tables, the ancients no longer needed to hold handles for eating and drinking utensils, so they gradually declined and disappeared into the long river of history.

Second, beans evolved into lights.

What are the traditional lights in China? Oil lamp? And then what? Candlestick (lamp)? Two kinds, Ci Hai: lamps, stirrups and lighting appliances. ? Hey? Still pass? Deng? , that is, "erya? Release device "includes? Wadou's name is Deng ? It can be seen that pottery beans and pottery lamps are homologous. Taodou became an important food-holding tool in the late Neolithic period, which can hold both meat and vegetarian food. Beans are filled with meat, and the disk is full of animal fat, which can be ignited by fire, thus becoming the original lighting tool. In the Neolithic Age, it can only be preliminarily inferred that pottery beans and pottery lamps are universal.

By the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, bean-shaped lamps had been produced, and a kind of pottery was also found in the tombs of the Warring States Period. Fine beans? The middle of the upper plate and the lower plate are connected by a handle, and the bottom of the shallow plate is flat, which obviously does not have the function of holding food. A pointed body protrudes from the center of the shallow plate, which some scholars call? Fire Lord? Named by the archaeological community? Bean lamp? This is the cultural relic evidence that the bean evolved into the same origin as the lamp bean, and it is also the original prototype of ancient lamps.

Bean-shaped lamps in this period were made of pottery and bronze, with many decorations and patterns. For example, the bronze sitting lamp in the Warring States period consists of three parts: the sitting person, the lamp handle and the lamp panel, in which the Three Lamps District is erected. Besides, combined? Even a lamp? It has already appeared, and the typical representative is the fifteen lights of Zhongshan State during the Warring States Period. The overall shape is like a big tree, with its trunk standing on a hollow dragon-shaped base and supported by three double-headed ring tigers. Seven branches extend around, and 15 lamp trays are supported on the branches in a neat and orderly manner. Each lamp has a removable tenon, and there are Youlong, songbirds and naughty monkeys on the branches. By the Qin and Han Dynasties, bean-shaped lamps were widely popular, which also laid the basic shape of China oil lamps and candle lamps.

Third, the development and change of bean lamp

From the mutual popularization of bean lamps in the Neolithic Age to the appearance of bean lamps in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, they were widely used. Oil? As fuel? Vegetable oil or animal fat. In addition, what else are there in the pre-Qin literature? Blue ointment and bright candles? According to records, candles are directly lit for lighting, but solid candles can also be melted into liquid before use. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, with the gradual maturity of wax-making technology, bean-shaped candlesticks gradually became popular. This kind of candlestick is somewhat similar to an oil lamp, except that there are sharp needle-like protrusions at the bottom, which are used to insert candles, such as the copper staggered silver snake candlestick in the Han Dynasty, and the convex needle in the middle of the lamp plate is thin and high. After the Jin Dynasty, candle cultural relics and literature records gradually increased, indicating that candle lamps and oil lamps began to be used in parallel, but oil lamps were still mainly used by the people. In terms of modeling and materials, bean-shaped lamps have also developed and changed in different periods.

In the Western Han Dynasty, bean-shaped lamps were mostly made of pottery, iron and bronze. Decorative patterns and images of animals and plants began to be added to the handle and base of the lamp, and the shape was completely mature and stereotyped? The top half is a shallow dish, and the middle is a lamp handle. The shortest distance of the lamp handle is about one punch, which is convenient for people to hold, and there are many decorations that play an anti-slip role. The lower lamp holder is a horn-shaped ring foot, and some patterns are complicated. The lamp holder is slightly larger than the lamp plate, and its weight accounts for at least two-thirds of the total weight of the lamp, so as to keep the vessel stable. Since Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ceramic bean lamp has gradually given way to the porcelain bean lamp, but the shape has not changed much. During this period, bean lamps gradually became the mainstream lamps.

It was not until the Song Dynasty that the shape of the bean lamp changed again. This is a new style, which conforms to the lifestyle of furniture in Song Dynasty, that is, feet down instead of sitting on the floor. There are three important changes: first, the deepening of the lamp plate can store more oil; Secondly, the lamp holder becomes a bearing plate to collect the oil dripping from the lamp plate; Third, the height increased, and a tall lampstand appeared. Subsequently, the shape of the bean lamp tends to be fixed again. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, small bean-shaped lamps of about 20 to 30 centimeters were popular among the people. It was not until the popularity of candles in the Qing Dynasty and the introduction of western oil lamps (lanterns) that they gradually withdrew from the historical stage.

Four. conclusion

Beans, produced in the early Neolithic period, evolved from bowls, pots, plates, saucers, cans and other stemless utensils. So early beans were also called bowl beans, pot beans, dish beans, dish beans or pot beans. The vessel is equipped with a handle, which keeps a certain distance from the ground and is easy to hold. It is really a great creation of the ancients. In the middle and late Neolithic period, the bean has gradually developed into a ritual vessel, and its appearance is decorated with complex patterns. In the historical period, Zhou Li recorded eight different types of beans and their functions in detail, which reflected that food etiquette played an important role in the ritual system of China. Beans and oil lamps are similar in shape and have the same name, reflecting that they are originally an object.

Beans or lamps were widely used in the Neolithic Age and were discovered in the Warring States Period? Thin bean lamp? Very similar to the bronze ritual beans of the same period, it is actually a cultural relic display of the same origin of beans and lanterns. After the gradual decline and disappearance of beans in the Western Han Dynasty, bean-shaped lamps gradually matured and became oil lamps used today, which were popular with candle lamps for thousands of years. From the material point of view, the Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han, Tang and Song dynasties experienced the material changes of pottery, bronze (iron) and porcelain. From the type point of view, different times have different characteristics, but fundamentally, they still belong to the bean lamp type. It was not until the widespread use of candles and the introduction of western lanterns in the Qing Dynasty that they gradually withdrew from the historical stage. The evolution of beans into lights can be regarded as one of the positive examples of the function expansion and evolution of traditional cultural objects in China.