Author: Brian Fagan, Nadia Durrani
JD.com
A good night’s sleep can relieve all worries—a tried and tested method for relieving stress for modern people.When you are tired, sad, or just want to be lazy, lying in bed is a perfect choice.You spend one third of your life in bed. You don't spend that much time just sleeping in bed, do you?Lying in bed is such a simple thing, but it also contains all kinds of unexpected knowledge . Today, let's talk about the things in bed . My bed is a mess like a bird's nest? A glorious tradition of our ancestors!Before modern beds were invented, did our free-spirited ancestors sleep wherever they went?Not really - after all, we are human beings, and we value comfort.Deep in a cave in Texas, the "relics" of our ancestors from 7000 years ago are preserved.Don't underestimate these shallow pits , they are carefully arranged - they are filled with twigs with dense leaves, a layer of well-padded woven mat fragments, and soft grass and mats.
△ The "Sleeping Pit" in Hinds Cave. Image from the "Prehistoric Texas" website
Although there is a large manure pit between the two "sleeping pits", it does not affect its importance - it is a place specifically used for sleeping and not for any other purpose.This "bed" that looks like a bird's nest is the earliest warm and comfortable bedroom for humans. Next time your mother complains that your bed is messy, you can justify it by saying: This is a retro behavior. If you are a real man, you won’t sleep on a soft pillow!In medieval Europe, people might sleep with their heads resting on a long pillow that stretched across the length of their bed.At that time, some men thought that using pillows seemed too effeminate , so many people chose to rest their heads on wooden pillows.Sleeping on wood sounds uncomfortable, but humans have made a unanimous choice - hard .
Early people, the ancient Egyptians, Nubians, Greeks, etc., all used very hard materials to make headrests. People of status used ceramics, and ordinary people used wood and bamboo.
Hey, such a soft and comfortable pillow can only be enjoyed by us modern smart people!Doing some intimate exercises in bed is an essential pleasure for modern people.In human history, sex in bed often means a marriage relationship.For example, during the Tudor period, arranged marriages had great diplomatic significance, so the consummation of marriage for upper-class couples was a public ceremony at court .After the wedding banquet, the groom will enter the bedroom accompanied by his entourage, musicians and priests.
In some cases, these witnesses would not leave until they had seen the couple’s naked legs touch. The next morning, the stained sheets might be displayed as proof of a consummated marriage .
For a long time in history, people always thought that sex in bed was unclean and tried to regulate and avoid it. Fortunately, today we are far away from that era of deformed repression of desire .
Can you fall asleep while sitting?In medieval Europe, people began to like buying various bedding products, including luxurious quilts, cushions, pillows and so on.But they choose to sleep sitting up in a pile of soft blankets. They are afraid to lie down, thinking that lying flat means death.It is said that the famous Rembrandt could sleep in an almost vertical position on a narrow "box bed" embedded in a cabinet, which was truly an acrobatic feat.
△ After waking up, it’s hard not to have a crooked neck!
In the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, people finally had luxurious four-poster beds, and the rich competed to make four-poster beds bigger and more ornate, even covering the entire room.
But they still sit, sit, and sleep! This is probably what it means to waste natural resources.In comparison, my requirements for sleeping while sitting are much simpler. I used to have a desk, but now I have a workstation. (Shh) Lying in bed holding a meeting, Louis XIV was much earlier than you
I still remember the days when we worked from home. Many people said that they had finally realized their dream of working in bed.But for the British and French royal families, this is just a daily routine.The king’s bed is not just an ordinary place to sleep, but a symbol of the royal family - rulers usually sit on the bed to decide state affairs , and the tradition of "state bed" is very long.In important formal occasions, the monarch's bed would be placed on a high platform with seven steps. On the bed, the king would sit or lie; under the bed, high-ranking officials would stand and lower-ranking officials would kneel.It can be said that the king's "bed life" is completely public .△ Louis XIV's bed in the Palace of Versailles (one of them). Image source: Alamy stock photo
For example, the Sun King Louis XIV commanded military operations and ruled France from his bed. The bed was his performance stage.
For the ministers, it was an absolute honor to see the king in his underwear or chatting with people in bed. Labor intensive furniture!
During the Victorian era, people began to prefer brass or iron beds that were insect-free.But covering your bed with layers of blankets, quilts, sheets, and a mattress topper made of feathers, horsehair, and straw doesn’t sound any easier than a bug-infested wooden bed!So, the bed is really a labor-intensive piece of furniture .
Another way to not make your bed: not getting up
The family manuals at the time also had many suggestions and rules: turn the mattress every morning; change the pillowcases twice a day: use colorful ones at night and change to plain ones during the day; if the down in the quilt is exposed when turning the mattress, it must be replaced with a new one...
At that time, it took at least half an hour for a servant to make a bed. In families without servants, the housewife had to undertake this unfortunate task. At that time, London was full of dust and soot, and the bed would get dirty just by being placed there .Now look, you can make your bed in just a few minutes, so is there any reason to be lazy and not make it?
