Spring and Autumn Period, usually refers to the first half of the historical period of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty in China. It is known as the "Spring and Autumn Period" in history, which is the historical period from 770 BC to 476 BC.
Fires in China during the Spring and Autumn Period, people's firefighting ideas and firefighting methods are mainly recorded in two pre-Qin classics
One is "Spring and Autumn". It is said that the historians of the state of Lu recorded the major events in various countries at that time by year, season, month and day, and recorded the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. They called this chronicle "Spring and Autumn".
The other one is "Zuo Zhuan". "Zuo Zhuan", said to be written by Zuo Qiuming , is a chronological history book with a complete narrative in ancient China, and it is also a representative of pre-Qin prose works.
"Spring and Autumn" and "Zuo Zhuan" recorded 23 fires and formed a system, leaving a valuable legacy for future generations to study fires and firefighting at that time.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, the top chief executives of various countries paid special attention to fire protection. Under the historical conditions at that time, the countries were relatively small, and the country's leading organs, army and wealth were concentrated in the capital. Once a major fire occurs in the capital, not only will the losses be heavy, but neighboring powerful countries will also take advantage of the situation, which will affect the survival of the country.
attaches great importance to fire protection, which must first be reflected in doing a good job in fire prevention.
Such as Song Dynasty demolished flammable huts in the capital, and used mud to seal the flammable components of large houses that were not suitable for demolition to improve their flame retardant properties.
Relevant parties also reserve water for firefighting, pile up sand and soil, and prepare ropes and water-holding utensils for drawing water from wells.
Song Guo also required all departments to be prepared for emergencies and disaster relief at any time.
Countries are clear about the objects that must be protected in the event of a fire.
Classics and documents
In the third year of Duke Ai of Lu , a fire broke out in the priest's palace, and the temples of Duke Heng and Duke Xi were burned down. At this time, the fire fighters all said that they should first protect the warehouses in the palace where supplies were stored. Nangong Jing arrived just in time and ordered the officials in charge of Zhou Shu to move out the "Yu Shu" and guard it there, otherwise he would be executed.
In the fire-fighting measures of the Song Dynasty, Dazai was also ordered to take care of the "Six Codes" and Sikou was to take good care of the criminal books.
This shows that when a fire broke out, rescuing classics and documents that govern the country took priority over general supplies.
The Palace where the King Lives
During the fire that happened to Duke Ai of Lu three years ago, everyone tried their best to protect the palace of Duke Ai of Lu.
Zhuer and the big turtle
Zhuer is the main card of the God of the Past Kings. When a fire broke out in the state of Zheng , the chief officer in charge of putting out the fire ordered Zhu Shi to move the former king's masters to the Zhou Temple for centralized protection; and sent Gongsun Deng to move away the big tortoise used for divination.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the scale of buildings was not very large, and most of them used combustible components such as hay and wood. Once a fire broke out, it was difficult to put out.
The main goal of people's rescue operations is to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings and prevent the disaster from expanding. There are two main methods.
One is to open a fire blocking channel. That is, an isolation zone is opened between the building that has caught fire and the building to be protected, and the combustible materials, including some small buildings, between the isolation zones are removed.
The other is the "Eco-curtain", which is a curtain and other fabrics soaked in water that are covered on the building to protect it from catching fire.
During the fire rescue in the third year of Duke Ai of Lu, both methods were used to protect the palace.
Fire rescue in the Spring and Autumn Period also reflected the people-oriented idea.
When putting out a fire in the third year of Lu Aigong's reign, Ji Hengzi ordered: "Firefighters should only stop hurting people and make money." That is to say, if the person fighting the fire is injured or in danger, he should step back and stop fighting the fire. Because property can be recreated after being burned, but the harm suffered by people cannot be repaired.
More than two thousand years have passed, and the wisdom of the ancients is amazing. Their fire rescue methods still have something worth learning from.
