Chapter 6 The first unquenchable fire

Hunger, cold and darkness are the problems that human beings often encounter in childhood.Since human beings mastered the skill of using fire and invented the methods of making fire and preserving fire, they have gained light, warmth and cooked food. Humans first used natural fire.It is called "Sky Fire".Sky fires include volcanic lava fires, dead wood spontaneous combustion fires, rock impact fires, lightning and lightning strikes, and fires ignited by meteorites falling to the ground.Heavenly fires appear from time to time. When humans first saw raging fires, they, like other animals, would run away and run away.But human beings are different from ordinary animals. In addition to fear, when feeling warm in the embers of sky fire, they may intentionally collect some firewood to continue the fire and survive the severe cold.Or in the forest engulfed by flames, some burnt beasts and roasted nuts were found. After taking a taste, they had a different taste, so they started the experiment of grilling food.The invention from heating to cooked food means that human fire technology has entered a mature stage.

The conclusive evidence of the earliest prehistoric use of fire in China has not yet been found, and the time when fire was first used is unknown.The remains of fire were found in Zhoukoudian Peking Man’s Cave. Archaeologists unearthed a four to six meter thick ash layer mixed with some burnt stones, charred animal bones, and burnt hackberry seeds. These are relatively clear evidences of fire use, dating back more than 500,000 years ago.Some other earlier human fossils and Paleolithic sites, such as the Lantian man site, Yuanmou man site, and Xihoudu site, have found charcoal scraps and burnt bones, but the materials are not very rich. Whether it is the remains of artificial fire However, there are differences in understanding in the scientific community, and there are many people who think that it is caused by natural wildfires.

After encountering a wildfire, it is not difficult to ignite it to where it is needed, but it is not an easy task to keep it from going out.How to preserve kindling may be the first technical problem encountered by prehistoric people.Although the real situation in that distant era is difficult to understand, we have found many primitive methods of preserving fire from the peoples who were more civilized.The bonfire method is a simple method used by many ethnic groups to preserve fire. When using fire, add firewood to the fire, and cover it with ashes when not in use to keep the fire smoldering for the next use.For the Lhoba people living in Tibet, the elders are in charge of the fire, adding firewood to the fire all night long.In many ethnic groups, managing fire is an important responsibility of the elderly. This is a major matter related to livelihood and must be undertaken by the elderly.

In the era when there were no houses and no settled life, human beings had to be forced to migrate frequently in search of new food resources.When migrating, kindling must be carried.The method of transferring fire mainly adopts the torch method and similar methods.Oroqen people use dried mushrooms as kindling fuel, which has no bright flame after being ignited and is not easy to extinguish.The Yi people in Daliangshan use the straw rope method to preserve the fire. The long autocratic grass rope can keep the fire for a long time in the smoldering state. Although there are many ways to preserve the fire, it must be a frequent occurrence that the fire is extinguished.When encountering this kind of situation, I don't know how long I will have to wait, waiting for the sky fire to descend on the world again.Perhaps it was in this anxious waiting that the idea of ​​making fire was born, which should be regarded as the first and greatest ideal of mankind.It is hard for us to imagine how difficult it is for human beings to take this great step, and this great invention that shines with the light of wisdom and illuminates the history of human evolution calculated over millions of years is almost independently completed in most primitive groups up.Human beings used different methods in different regions to create the first fire that they were eager to pursue. Since then, there has been a fire that will never go out, and there is no need to worry about the sudden extinguishment of the fire.

Before the production of the most practical fire tools, matches, in the first half of the 19th century, various fire-making methods were invented in history, the most primitive method being drilling wood to make fire.In ancient Chinese legend, "Suirenshi" invented fire by drilling wood ("Han Feizi · Five Beetles"), which is a method of making fire by friction and heat. Both drilling and sawing can get sparks that ignite grass velvet.Many later civilized nations use this method, and a skilled driller can drill fire in 10 seconds.In addition, sparks can also be obtained by striking stones. This may be an accidental discovery when making stone tools.

It is conceivable that when the first spark shot out from the hands of human beings, and the first man-made fire burned around them, people were ecstatic.Artificial fire has illuminated the progress of human culture. Without fire, all the achievements of modern civilization would be impossible.When human beings become the masters of fire, they become the masters of this world.Using fire and making fire is the first attempt of human beings to control natural forces, and it opened a glorious chapter of human beings transforming and conquering nature.