Chapter 3 Section 3 Drilling wood to make fire

It may be a forest fire caused by lightning, or it may be a forest fire caused by the spontaneous combustion of dead branches and rotten leaves accumulated in the forest. Human beings come into contact with fire and gradually understand the meaning of fire.Fire has changed the human habit of "drinking blood with hair and hair", turned raw food into cooked food, and expanded the scope of human food; fire has brought light and warmth to human beings, which can be illuminated at night and warmed in winter; fire can effectively prevent wild animals from invading, and can also be used to hunt; fire can be used to reclaim wasteland, expand the area of ​​arable land, and develop agricultural production; fire can be used to burn pottery, bake bamboo and wood, and burn rocks to make more utensils and tools;... It can be said that human beings themselves The evolution of physique and the progress of human civilization are inseparable from fire.

The Yuanmou people in Yunnan 1.7 million years ago and the Lantian people in Shaanxi 700,000 to 900,000 years ago may have used fire.In the caves inhabited by Peking Man 400,000 to 500,000 years ago, several layers of ashes were found, the thickest of which was six meters, reflecting that bonfires had been lit for a long time at that time, and they had the ability to preserve and manage fire. ability. It is very difficult and inconvenient to obtain kindling from nature and preserve it for a long time.After all, human skills and wisdom are evolving. When making stone tools, they found that smashing stones would sputter sparks; when grinding, diamond and wood tools, they discovered the phenomenon of friction and heat generation, and finally invented the drill. The technique of making fire from wood.In ancient my country, this credit was attributed to "Sui [sui] Renshi", saying that he "drilled the fire to make fire to eliminate the smell" ("Han Feizi · Five Beetles"). In fact, the Suiren family may have invented the drill earlier. The tribe who made fire from wood.In addition to drilling wood to make fire, the ancestors may have invented other methods of making fire.For example, the sparks splashed when striking stones are used to obtain fire. The method of striking flint with a fire knife to generate sparks and ignite moxa has been used for a long time in the history of our country, which may have developed from this.In the 1940s and 1950s, some brother ethnic groups in our country still maintained the original methods of artificially making fire, such as the method of drilling wood to make fire by the Li people, the friction method of the Wa people, the pressing method of the Dai people, and the bamboo sawing method of the De'ang people. Fire method and so on.

The invention of the artificial method of making fire marks the first time that humans have truly controlled and utilized a powerful natural force.Its role in the development of human civilization is immeasurable.