Chapter 3 2 The legend of drilling wood to make fire

There are many legends in ancient my country about how human life evolved from the primitive population to the early days of the clan commune.There are some great figures in the legend, these people are often both leaders and inventors.Most of these legends were imagined by the ancients based on the life of primitive people in ancient times. The tools of primitive people are very simple, and there are many ferocious beasts around, and they will be hurt by them anytime and anywhere.Later, they saw birds making their nests in trees, and wild animals could not climb up and harm them.Primitives followed the example of birds and built nests in trees, that is, built a hut in trees.This is much safer.Later people called this "building a wood for a nest" (chao, which is a bird's nest).Who invented it?Of course, everyone figured it out together.But in the legend, it is said that there is a person who taught everyone to do this, and his name is "Youchao".

The earliest primitive people didn't know how to use fire, and they ate everything raw, not to mention eating raw plant fruits, even the beasts they attacked would eat them alive, including their hair and blood.Later, the use of fire was invented (the traces of the use of fire have been found on the Peking man site in Zhoukoudian, which shows that the use of fire was already known at that time). The phenomenon of fire has existed in nature for a long time. When a volcano erupts, there is fire; when there is thunder and lightning, there will be fire in the woods.But when primitive people first saw fire, they didn't know how to use it. Instead, they were terribly afraid.Later, I occasionally picked up a wild animal that was burned to death, and tasted it, and it tasted very fragrant.After many experiments, people gradually learned to use fire to eat, and tried to preserve the fire so that it would not go out all the year round.

After a long period of time, people drill hard and sharp wood on another piece of hard wood to produce sparks; some also beat flint (sui sound sui) to produce fire.This shows that workers can make fire (according to archaeological materials, cavemen already knew how to make fire manually).Who invented it?Of course they are working people, but in the legend it is also said to be a person, called "Suirenshi". Making fire by hand is a remarkable invention.Since then, people have been able to eat cooked things at any time, and the variety of food has also increased.It is said that Suiren also taught people to fish.It turns out that things like fish, turtles, mussels, and clams cannot be eaten raw because they have a fishy smell. With the method of making fire, they can be cooked and eaten.

After an unknown period of time, people began to use ropes to make nets and nets to hunt, and invented bows and arrows, which are much better than hunting with sticks and stone tools.Not only animals on the ground, but also birds in the sky and fish in the water can be shot and caught.Most of the birds and beasts caught are alive, and they can't finish eating at one time. They can also be kept for watching and raised until the next time they are eaten. In this way, people have learned to raise them again.This kind of netting, hunting, and livestock raising are all the experiences accumulated by people in their labor.According to the legend, the person who invented these things was "Fu Xi", or "Paoxi" (胡苏 sounds paoxi, blister means kitchen, and sacrifice means livestock).

I don't know how many years have passed since this period of fishing and hunting, and human civilization has become more and more advanced.At the beginning, people occasionally sprinkled a handful of wild millet on the ground. In the second year, seedlings were found on the ground, and in autumn, more millet grew.As a result, people planted them in large numbers.They use wood to make a farming tool called Leisi (sound leisi, a wooden shovel with a handle).They use Leisi to plow the land and plant five grains, and the harvest will be even greater.Later, in the legend, these people who grow crops were described as one person named "Shen Nong".

According to the legend, Shennong personally tasted all kinds of weeds and fruits, some were sweet, some were bitter, and some were even poisonous.He not only discovered many edible foods, but also discovered many medicinal materials that can cure diseases.It is said that the medical industry began at that time. From Youchao to Shennong, these legendary figures do not actually exist.However, from building logs to make nests, drilling logs to make fire, to fishing and hunting, animal husbandry, and the development of agriculture, it reflects the development of primitive people's productivity, which is reasonable.In 1952 AD, a clan village site about six or seven thousand years ago was discovered in Banpo Village, Xi'an, Shaanxi.From the things excavated from the ruins, it is known that people in that period had learned to raise and farm.