Lightning protection measures in ancient China

The understanding and research of lightning in ancient China was much earlier than that in western society. Many ancient buildings adopted measures to prevent direct lightning, and the early lightning protection measures recorded in literature can be traced back to the Han Dynasty.

First, China ancient people's understanding and appellation of lightning.

We all know that the ancients called thunder and lightning "Leigong" and "Dian Mu", which originated from The Journey to the West in Wu Cheng'en's works. Before that, lightning had many names, from which we can see the ancient people's understanding of lightning. The ancient wonderful book Shan Hai Jing records that "there is a Raytheon in Razer, and the dragon god has a head and a bulging belly". The image of thunder and lightning is a monster related to dragons. Huainanzi in the Western Han Dynasty recorded that "in March in Ji Chun, it was Fenglong that came out to make it rain", and lightning was called "Fenglong" at this time. At the same time, in Dong Fangshuo's book "The Miraculous Classic", "A jade girl throws a pot, and the sky laughs at it, and it is called" the sky laughs ". In Lun Heng of the Eastern Han Dynasty, "Another figure is a man, and if he looks like a mighty man, he is called Lei Gong, which means thunder rumble", which means that the ancients personified the lightning phenomenon and called it Lei Gong. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, thunder and lightning have been called "Leigong" and "Dian Mu" gradually, and this kind of appellation has appeared in many poems of Tang and Song Dynasties. It can be seen that the ancient people in China knew about lightning very early, and most of them were recorded in myths and legends.

Second, the document of lightning protection measures in ancient China records that the early lightning protection measures in China were in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, when the Liangdian was repaired after the fire, the wizard suggested that a copper tile in the shape of a fishtail could be placed on the top of the floor to prevent the skyfire caused by lightning. This kind of structure is called "the tail", that is, the ninth son of "Dragon Born Nine Children" or "the kiss". Scientifically, this is equivalent to the lightning device on ancient buildings, which has the effect of lightning protection. During the Three Kingdoms period, the iron tower of the temple tower was used for lightning protection. At present, the top of the "Baosheng Temple Tower" in Gucheng Lake, Gaochun County, Jiangsu Province uses a four-meter-high iron temple. This is the metal lightning receptor.

During the Tang dynasty, there were cases of installing independent lightning-receiving devices on high mountains. "Journey to the Tang Dynasty to Seek the Dharma" records that "Wutai Mountain, the center of Wanshan Mountain, is also filled with five hundred dragon buried hills. At 4: 00 and 8: 00, the thunder and hail dropped frequently. "At that time, Wu Zetian, the ruler of the Tang Dynasty, set up the Zhenlong Tower near Longchi on the top of the mountain. From the scientific point of view, this is an independent lightning device-lightning tower, which can protect the surrounding buildings from direct lightning damage. During the Southern Song Dynasty, Jin Zhangzong set up an iron pestle in the Guanghan Temple to "save the dragon" for lightning protection. In addition, there are many wooden structures in ancient buildings, and the ancients used the principle of wooden insulation to prevent lightning. Many of these lightning protection measures in ancient China have been used to this day, which fully embodies the profoundness of China culture and is worth inheriting and learning by modern people.