What did the ancients do to deal with annoying mosquitoes?

In addition to the high temperatures, the scorching summer also brings annoying mosquitoes, which is very annoying. But fortunately, we have the blessing of high technology, and there are various ways to repel mosquitoes, so don't worry too much. If you're interested, let's take a look at it with the cat who loves fish at home.

The first is the smell repellent method, which is very similar to the principle we use today to light mosquito coils, which uses mosquitoes' aversion to certain smells to repel them. There are two specific methods: the first method requires wormwood and artemisia.

At that time, people would collect some wormwood and artemisia grass in the wild, put them in the sun until there was no moisture, and then weave them into strings of grass to burn, and repel mosquitoes through the smell of their burning. This method was used by the Southern Song Dynasty poet Lu You, who once described it in his poems: "There are many mosquitoes in Zeguo, and it is strange to call for the night."

If you can't lift the fan, take a piece of burnt wormwood. Pu Songling of the Qing Dynasty also mentioned this method in his "Song of Mosquito Repellent", which shows that this method is still quite commonly used.

The second is to wear a sachet. People sew herbs, peppermint, perilla, calamus, lemongrass, star anise and other drugs that have the effect of repelling mosquitoes into delicate sachets and wear them on their bodies, which is equivalent to having a mosquito coil that can be moved. And because the sachet itself not only has the effect of repelling mosquitoes, it also has a decorative effect, so it is very favored by the literati and scholars, and it is widely spread.

The second is the method of isolating mosquitoes from themselves, and the most typical tools are our common mosquito nets and fans. And as early as the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Huan Gong had invented this method to expel mosquitoes, when people covered their beds or tables with mosquito nets, and mosquitoes could not fly to people's sides to bite. The shaking fan is a small airflow formed by the fan, so that the mosquitoes have to fly away, and the mosquito repellent effect is achieved.

The last one is to kill mosquitoes, and the methods include mosquito lamps and mosquito tanks. When the lamp is lit, the mosquitoes will be attracted by the light in the lamp, so as to enter the lamp to achieve the mosquito repellent effect, which is similar to the mosquito killing lamp used today. The mosquito control tank is to raise frogs in the water tank, because mosquitoes like both shade and water, and when it passes by the water tank, it will be killed by frogs, so as to achieve the effect of mosquito control.

Mosquito repellent. As we all know, mosquitoes are afraid of smoke, the ancients braided wormwood into a rope to dry high, so that it dried slowly, and when there were more mosquitoes, they used to light the fire rope, and the smoke it produced smoked mosquitoes is a good way to repel mosquitoes. Of course, if you use wormwood or artemisia grass, don't use straw or straw, because the smoke produced is so great that the mosquitoes will choke on tears before they smoke it.

Most of the ancients would put mint, wormwood and other plants in the room to repel mosquitoes with the smell of plants, but if they can't do it, they can only drive away annoying mosquitoes by themselves.

Hanging mosquito nets, burning wormwood, hanging sachets, planting mosquito repellent grass, raising frogs, and even at that time there were mosquito sucking lamps.

Therefore, the wisdom of the ancients is very high.

In summer, it's not just the heat that bothers people, but also the mosquitoes that buzz in your ears at night and keep you awake at night.

With the continuous progress of science and technology, modern people's anti-mosquito means are more and more advanced, more and more diverse, there are mosquito killers, mosquito lamps, mosquito control bracelets, mosquito stickers, etc., compared with modern people, the ancients' mosquito prevention methods are much simpler, showing a kind of natural wisdom.

In order to prevent the scourge of mosquitoes, the ancients usually raised some anti-mosquito plants at home, such as mosquito repellent grass, cordyceps, Huoxiang, violet, impatiens, Qilixiang, etc., these flowers and plants can not only repel mosquitoes, but also purify the air and beautify the environment, which is really a double win.

The ancients often used sachets to repel mosquitoes, and we can still see them in some costume dramas today. The sachet is generally filled with a variety of herbs with mosquito repellent effect, such as Huoxiang, mint, star anise, fennel, etc., and the fragrance emitted by the sachet has the function of repelling mosquitoes. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the sachet was once popular among literati and nobles.

In ancient times, people made wormwood and artemisia grass into the earliest mosquito repellent tool "fire rope". At night, when sleeping, people will light wormwood and artemisia grass in the house, which has an excellent mosquito repellent effect and functions like a primary version of mosquito coils. When I was a child, my grandfather's common mosquito repellent method in the countryside was to burn wormwood and artemisia.

I remember that when lit, there is not much smoke, the smell is not choking, but the mosquito repellent effect is very obvious, so this method is widely favored by the people.

In addition, the ancients also used mosquito nets to ward off mosquitoes. According to historical records, during the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Qi Huan often avoided mosquitoes in the "green yarn"; In the Tang and Song dynasties, mosquito nets began to be further popularized, as can be seen from the Northern Song Dynasty poet Zhang Lei's poem "Prepare for hunger and cook rice, repel mosquitoes at night", it can be seen that mosquito nets seem to have been a must-have at home at that time.

In addition to the above methods, there are two other methods that are quite interesting: one is the mosquito control tank. In layman's terms, it is a large vat containing water and stones, and the ancients raised some frogs in the vat.

Since mosquitoes like shade and need to lay eggs in the water, they become a food for frogs as soon as they fly in; There is also a "mosquito killer lamp". The mosquito control lamp is hung in the mosquito net, there is a small opening on the side of the lamp, and after the lamp rope is lit, due to uneven heating, air flow will be generated, and the mosquitoes in the mosquito net will be sucked into the lamp by the air flow and burned to death.

Reading the history of the ancients to prevent mosquitoes, what we find is not only the way of the ancients to repel mosquitoes, but also the inexhaustible wisdom of the Chinese nation.

According to the Xi'an Evening News

It can be said that the prevention of mosquito bites has been a constant topic in summer since ancient times. However, the mosquito repellent methods of the ancients are no less than those of modern times. From the usual methods to the bizarre, there are many tricks, everything.

1.Hang mosquito nets.

The history of hanging mosquito nets is relatively old. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Qi Huan Gong had a "green yarn curtain", so that mosquitoes were not allowed to enter. In the Book of Songs, there are:

Su Su Xiao Zheng, hug and wrap. "裯" means mosquito net. Tang Dynasty poems "mosquito incense, sweat wet light yarn, high roll mosquito kitchen lying alone".

This shows that hanging mosquito nets was the most popular and effective way in ancient times.

2.Smoked mugwort.

Lu You of the Song Dynasty wrote in "Smoked Mosquitoes and Mr. Wanling's Body": "There are many mosquitoes in Zeguo, and it is strange to call for nights." If you can't lift the fan, take a piece of burnt wormwood. ”

This is the ancient mosquito coil. Burning mugwort to repel mosquitoes is very common among the people. During the Dragon Boat Festival, in addition to burning mugwort, realgar wine will also be applied to the body to achieve the effect of repelling mosquitoes.

3.Grow anti-mosquito plants.

Plants such as Huoxiang, mint, calamus, lemongrass and other plants have mosquito repellent effects according to historical records, and the ancients often planted some plants with mosquito repellent effects in the courtyard, so that they can not only evening primrose, but also resist mosquito bites, which is now mosquito repellent grass.

4.Wear a sachet.

The mosquito repellent plant is treated and worn on the body, which looks and smells good. The most important thing is that in ancient times, giving sachets was not ordinary. If you see a young lady who is popular and beautiful, marry it quickly.

5.Raise frogs.

Unexpectedly, there are frogs to repel mosquitoes, but there is no doubt that this is a very good way. In ancient times, the ancients would raise frogs in a large water tank, and in the hot summer, mosquitoes would fly to the water tank if they loved the shade, which became a delicacy for frogs.

6.Copper mosquito lamp.

Therefore, don't look down on the wisdom of the ancients, they really did a lot of tricks to get rid of mosquitoes, only you can't think of it, no one you think. In fact, in the Lingnan area, people also raise tall spiders and geckos to catch mosquitoes and cockroaches. This is because the climate of Lingnan is hot and sultry, and there are many mosquitoes throughout the year, which cannot be dealt with by ordinary methods, and as the most powerful natural enemies of mosquitoes, they are undoubtedly the tall spiders and geckos that can go up to the sky and the earth.

And these two creatures are not picky eaters, almost all insects like to eat, and naturally they are deeply liked by the ancients. So if you see spiders and geckos at home, don't kill them unless it doesn't get in your way.

Only female mosquitoes suck blood, and female mosquitoes must suck blood from their ovaries in order to develop and reproduce. Female mosquitoes mostly start to suck blood 2 to 3 days after emergence, and various factors such as temperature, humidity, and light can affect the blood-sucking activities of mosquitoes.

Use wormwood to repel mosquitoes. The ancients dried wormwood and tied it together. At night, the wormwood is lit and the mosquitoes are smoked away.

Sometimes people will keep some plants at home that can prevent mosquitoes, or smoke wormwood, and use some medicinal herbs to make sachets to repel mosquitoes.

The ancients generally used a special kind of grass to repel mosquitoes, and the smell of this grass was very disliked by mosquitoes. So the ancients put this grass on the head of the bed to avoid mosquito bites.

In ancient China, there were plain tents, which functioned like our current mosquito nets. And they will also pick some herbs to use as mosquito coils, which can effectively repel mosquitoes.