Candles originated from torches in primitive times. Primitive people painted things like fat or wax on bark or sawdust, and then tied them together to make torches for lighting. Beeswax, which appeared around the 3rd century BC, may be the embryonic form of candles seen today. In the west, there was a time when bees were kept in monasteries to make beeswax. This is mainly because Catholicism believes that beeswax is a symbol of virgin conception, so it is regarded as pure light and enshrined on the altar of the church. According to the existing literature, the time of beeswax production in China is roughly the same as that in the West. Japanese introduced this kind of candle from China in Nara period (7 10 ~ 784). Compared with modern candles, ancient candles have many disadvantages. Li Shangyin, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "How to Cut Candles in the West Window". Why do poets cut candles? At that time, the wick of the candle was made of cotton thread and stood upright in the center of the flame. Because it is impossible to burn out carbonization, it is necessary to cut off the remaining wick ends with scissors from time to time. This is undoubtedly a troublesome thing. 1820, a Frenchman, Jean Bessie, invented a wick made of three cotton threads, which made the wick loose naturally when burning, and the end just tilted to the outside of the flame, so it could burn completely. However, candles need further improvement. Its material is generally animal fat, which has many disadvantages. Chevelle and others solved this problem. 1809 From June to July, the French scientist Schaeffler received a letter from a textile factory, asking him to analyze and determine the composition of a soft soap sample they sent. He took this letter and thought for a long time, thinking: the study of soap seems to start with raw oil. In the experiment with very simple equipment at school, he studied all kinds of oils and fats needed in the saponification process. After a lot of experiments, he discovered the fact for the first time: in all oils and fats, regardless of their source, the content of fatty acids accounts for 95%, and the remaining 5% is glycerol generated in the saponification process. Through research, he found out the essence of saponification process, and at the same time made an important discovery: candles made of oil at that time, because there was glycerin in them, burned with smoke and smell. If stearic acid is used as a candle, it will not only burn brightly, but also have almost no black smoke and will not pollute the air. Schaeffler told Guy Wojciech Luczak about his findings and suggested that the two of them study how to solve the problem concretely. They saponify the oil with strong alkali, then decompose the soap with hydrochloric acid and take out stearic acid. This is a kind of white material, and it feels greasy. Candles made of it are soft and cheap. 1825, Schaeffler and Guy Lussac obtained the patent for producing paraffin wax stearin candles. The appearance of paraffin wax stearin candle opened a new era in the history of human lighting. Later, someone discovered a large oil field in North America, so a large amount of paraffin can be extracted from oil, and the ideal candle has been popularized and popularized all over the world.
When reading an archaeological magazine, I came across that candles seem to have been invented by Egyptians more than 5000 years ago. When do people in China use candles? At least in the age of nineteen ancient poems, oil lamps were still used, and it suddenly occurred to me that there seemed to be no such thing as candles in ancient China. In ancient books of Han Dynasty, wax and candle were generally discussed separately, but the word candle was rarely used together.
You can see the bronze lamps of the Han Dynasty in China. In the center of the circular lamp board, there is often a spike-shaped fire pole. Lamps in the Han Dynasty are divided into oil lamps and candle lamps according to their existence or not in archaeology.
After searching for a long time, I found that in the Han Dynasty, lamps were divided into two categories: oil lamps and candle lamps, and the lamp post of oil lamps was also called "candle". "Candle" means that the lamp post should be immersed in grease; Grease is animal fat, and vegetable oil was used to light the lamp at that time. "Qi Yao Min Shu Ma Zi pian" said: "Hemp (that is, the female plant of hemp) is black, solid and heavy, so it is not necessary to use hemp as a candle." The above words "making candles" and "for candles" both refer to light, which has little to do with candles.
As for the fuel used for lighting, I read in archaeological magazines that "yellow wax cakes are occasionally found in Han tombs", so it can be seen that lanterns in the Han Dynasty are generally filled with grease, but wax can also be used to burn lamps, and the wax in wax lamps can be used as ointment after melting. People finally found an example, which was mentioned in the excavation report of Nanyue king's tomb in the Western Han Dynasty. By the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the wax platform first appeared in the Han tombs in Guangzhou. It proves that slender columnar candles have entered the ranks of lighting products at that time.
Finally, there were candles at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty in China, but they were not widely used and their shapes were different from those of modern times. Furthermore, whether candles were used in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties is an unsolved mystery. Candles mentioned in the literature were first mentioned in the Jin Dynasty. "The Book of Jin Zhou Zhuan" wrote that someone "cast his candle". Shi Shuo Xin Yu tells the story of Shi Chong cooking with candles. After the Jin Dynasty, there were many references to candles in the literature. As for before the Jin Dynasty, there was still a lack of reliable written records. In fact, there were only a few archaeological materials, such as the archaeological materials mentioned above.
& lt < Return to the Field > > Kou Zhun hasn't lit an oil lamp since he was a teenager. Drinking at night is especially good, although the dormitory also lights candles. After every dismissal, people go to the official residence and see the tears in the toilet, which often pile up. "Visible, in the Song Dynasty, oil was still very expensive.
There is an article in Xijing Miscellanies that says: "Xian Di, the king of Fujian and Yue, is 200 honey candles high", but I think this is an isolated case after all, and the records in Xijing Miscellanies can only be used as a reference.
Look at the raw materials of candles, such as yellow wax and white wax. Yellow wax is beeswax, and white wax is wax secreted by termites. It is generally believed that the use of ash originated in the Tang Dynasty, and textual research began in the Han and Wei Dynasties. The above-mentioned "occasional yellow wax cake in Han tombs" is material evidence, so the use of beeswax is earlier than that of white wax. There are records about beeswax or beeswax in Shennong Herbal Classic, Zhang Hua's Natural History and Tao Hongjing's Bielu of Famous Doctors, which are used as medicines. From this perspective, the wax used in the Eastern Han Dynasty was beeswax. But the quantity is probably small, and the use is not universal, so lamps and candles are still made of grease, or a layer of wax is hung outside the grease candle to reduce the tearing of the candle, or a little wax is mixed in the grease. Some data show that the melting point of grease candles is relatively low, so the candles at that time were relatively thick and short. This may be why the candles of the candle lamps in the Han Dynasty stone reliefs are short and thick, rather than the slender shapes depicted in the murals of Li Shou's tomb in the Tang Dynasty.