Fauna_Woods

Cnetizens: I know there are ling, luo, chou, duan.

OP: It's actually eight major categories, ling, luo, chou, duan, jin, xiao, sha and juan, and countless variations exist under them in history. (绫ling，罗luo，绸chou，缎duan，锦jin，绡xiao，纱sha, 绢juan) (cr珑师傅)

绫(Líng): It adopts twill or modified twill weave. The fabric bears clear mountain-shaped diagonal lines, featuring light, soft texture and subtle luster. It was the designated fabric for officials’ daily uniforms in the Tang Dynasty. The varieties of Ling appearing in Tang dynasty — Pattern Square Ling, Fish-Mouth Ling, White Braided Ling, Water Wave Ling and Checkerboard Ling(方纹绫、鱼口绫、白编绫、水波绫、方棋绫) — were all recorded as imperial tributes in the Tang Dynasty.. After the Song Dynasty, it was mainly used for mounting calligraphy and paintings.

罗(Luó) adopts a unique twisted warp weave. Intertwined warp threads create star-shaped holes, making it highly breathable, known as "the natural air conditioner of silks". Four-warp twisted luó demands 30 procedures. Weavers can only produce a few centimeters a day. Suzhou patterned luó is an intangible cultural heritage craft.

The fabric worn by ladies in Beauties with Flower Hairpins is luó. It is the top sheer silk fabric with outstanding transparency, yet extremely costly. Handwoven four-warp luó is priced above 10,000 RMB per meter, harder to get than an Hermès bag. What makes it expensive? Thirty elaborate steps. Threads are twisted manually, with only 5cm woven each day. It was royal exclusive. In the Zhou Dynasty, only emperors could wear it. Noble ladies in Tang and Song loved luó, including Yang Guifei. Covered with star-like holes, it is breathable yet not see-through, keeping you cool in summer.

绸(Chóu): Simple interlacing, tightly woven like a fine sieve. A major category of silk, using plain or modified plain weave, referring to silks without the special structure of luó, líng or duàn. Medium weight, tight, smooth surface with soft luster, prone to creasing. Thin chóu for blouses and skirts. Thick chóu for coats and trousers, widely used as embroidery base fabric and decorative material.

缎(Duàn): Long silk threads rest on the surface, creating a mirror-like glossy sheen. It adopts satin weave. One set of threads stretches across the surface with long floats, covering evenly distributed interlacing points.

锦 (jǐn)/Brocade is the most sophisticated silk textile. Its weaving consumes massive time and raw materials, resulting in exorbitant costs. Constructed with multi-layer warp and weft threads, it forms patterns with colored silk yarns through figured weaving techniques. It boasts raised three-dimensional motifs and a dense, heavy texture, making it the most technically challenging type of silk. It feels substantial and stiff, featuring dazzling, luxurious luster, intricate elaborate patterns, strong wear resistance and great shape retention. Laws in the early Ming Dynasty strictly restricted commoners from wearing high-grade brocade, which was mainly supplied to the imperial court and officials. By the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the booming commodity economy fostered extravagant customs in the Jiangnan region(generally refers to the area south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in eastern China). Violations of dress codes became widespread. Numerous wealthy landowners, merchants and affluent commoners ignored the regulations and wore brocade, figured flower brocade and gold-thread brocade. In short, it was prohibited by law, yet wealthy civilians could acquire and wear such fabrics in practice.

绡 (xiāo) took shape in the Shang and Zhou dynasties and flourished in the Tang Dynasty. Extremely thin like cicada wings, it became the iconic fabric for overgarments worn by noble women in Tang China. It adopts plain weave or modified plain weave, featuring low warp and weft density, few interlacing points and neat, clear mesh openings. Xiao is usually woven from raw silk, granting the fabric inherent stiffness and structure. Lightweight and translucent, it holds its shape well without sagging, with open, breathable pores. In ancient times, it was used for outer cover gowns. Today, it is made into wedding veils and sun protection blouses.

纱 (Shā) is matured in the Han Dynasty and remained popular from the Tang and Song dynasties through the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was widely used for summer court robes, official garments and noblewomen’s attire. Generally woven in plain weave with sparse warp and weft threads, the fabric features evenly distributed tiny openings. It represents the lightweight, thin and sheer category of silk. Extremely light and breathable, it feels soft and flowing with natural drape. In ancient times, it was used for veils and outer overgarments; today it is crafted into lightweight dresses and veils. They may look alike, yet Shā is soft and supple with little rigidity. By contrast, Xiāo is woven from raw silk, firm and shape-retaining, and does not sag easily.

绢(Juàn) is one of China’s oldest silk fabrics and a vital carrier of cultural heritage. It served as the base material for many famous ancient paintings handed down through generations. Woven in plain weave, it features warp and weft threads of similar thickness arranged in neat, uniform intersections. The fabric boasts high density and a solid, stable structure. Varieties include plain juàn, dyed juàn, and juàn specially made for painting and calligraphy. It has a fine, smooth, firm texture and great durability. Soft against the skin, it balances suppleness and structural rigidity. Its applications cover painting and calligraphy, cultural relic restoration, and minimalist luxury apparel.

There is another fabric category not covered in this video.

OP: Veteran actors are truly on another level.（Behind-the-scenes footage from the mid-1990s adaptation of Outlaws of the Marsh）

Cnetizens: Get a winter melon, lie on a bamboo mat and cuddle it to sleep.

OP: Here’s my experience from last summer. Temperatures in Shanghai stayed above 35°C through July and August last year. I almost never turn on the air conditioner at night, only run a fan. Waking up soaked from the heat was pretty normal. Then I roll over, and my arms and legs touch something nice and cool. It’s not that sharp shocking cold that makes you shudder just really pleasant. What’s more it holds a steady cool temperature. No matter how long I hug it, it barely warms up. Once my skin moves away from its surface it cools down quickly again. It regulates itself surprisingly well. You don’t need to worry about it turning lukewarm.

Pros Great at keeping a constant cool temperature energy-free totally silent thick rind means it lasts a long time up to three months multi-purpose you can even hold it while doing squats or use it as a barrier so you don’t roll off the bed. Cons You’ll reek of vegetable odour after sleeping all night with it. You can’t eat it afterwards. Don’t get any ideas about turning it into a stuffed winter melon bowl. Don’t ask how I found out. It’s really heavy. Getting it home from the market is tough and throwing it away later is just as much hassle. The inside turns completely mushy watery pulp so you have no choice but to dump it. (cr 星辰大海随风去)

AC and electric fans can be found in nearly every household across China, yet not everyone likes keeping the AC running nonstop. Some people with extremely weak constitutions cannot stand air conditioning at all, nor can they bear constant airflow. That’s why people have come up with all sorts of ways to beat the heat.

Winter melons are 96% water. Their surface stays several degrees cooler than the surrounding air, so sleeping with one in your arms is basically hugging a natural cold water pack. As long as the rind stays intact, you can use it all summer. Just watch out for ruptures — if it splits open, all the liquid inside leaks out. Using winter melons to beat the heat has been a folk custom in China since ancient times.

There’s also the zhufuren竹夫人(literally bamboo lady, aka bamboo wife), a similar popular cooling tool. It’s a hollow cylindrical cage woven from thin bamboo strips. Air flows freely through its gaps, carrying heat away nonstop.

Chinese people had plenty of other clever ways to stay cool. In 1978, the bronze jian fou was unearthed from the Marquis Yi of Zeng’s tomb in Suizhou, Hubei. Dating back over 2,400 years, it’s China’s ancient version of a refrigerator. Ice went in the outer vessel, and wine was stored inside the inner container.

The Tang Dynasty had cool pavilions built next to water. Waterwheels channeled cool air indoors. Some even pumped water up to the rooftops to create artificial water curtains. The cooling trick relied on waterwheels spinning fans paired with flowing water.

By the Tang Dynasty, plenty of icy treats already existed. The most famous one was su shan酥山, an icy dairy confection. Modern researchers have worked out its general recipe. First, heat dairy cream until it nearly melts and turns soft. Drip it onto a plate to shape it like rolling mountains, then store it in an ice cellar to freeze solid.

Song Dynasty people enjoyed frozen drinks too. Records of the Eastern Capital’s Dreams documents summer treats sold in Bianjing, the Northern Song capital.

Cold treats grew far more diverse in the Song Dynasty. Historical records show that as early as 962, the third year of the Jianlong reign—the exact timeframe featured in Where Winds Meet—the imperial court set up the Bingjingwu冰井务(Ice Well Service), an official department dedicated to making cold food for summer relief. Every summer the government handed out these icy delicacies to officials to help them beat the heat. Booming Song Dynasty commerce gradually made cold drinks accessible to ordinary people, and the variety of icy treats available to civilians expanded greatly. Documents note three major cold drink shops operating in Kaifeng, capital of the Northern Song, selling a huge range of refreshments including bingxue(icy snow), cold congee soup, licorice decoction, preserved papaya, fresh papaya, chilled lychee paste, golden tangerine balls, snow foam spleen-soothing drink, elsholtzia beverage, perilla drink, cold rice wine drink, soapberry syrup, sweet soybean candy, mung bean water, brined plum drink, jiangcha tea, Wuling San herbal mix, Dashun San herbal mix, lychee cream and snow foam plum wine. The most common cold drink back then was bingxue冰雪❄️, comparable to modern ice pops. In winter Song people filled bronze basins with water mixed with sugar, sometimes fruit juice and plant gel, and left them outdoors to freeze solid. These blocks were then stored in ice cellars. The following summer they would cut the frozen slabs into chunks or carve them into animal shapes such as dogs and foxes to sell at cold drink shops.

Street vendors also sold frothy soybean drink, pear juice, plum syrup, ginger honey water and papaya nectar. The menu rivals today’s trendy bubble tea shops. Vendors set up stalls everywhere — at street corners, alley entrances and bridge crossings.

Giant Shallot? WTF is that

...1 google later and some time in photo editor...

Damn he right...

Hehehehehhehe