Was there a fire brigade when there was a fire in ancient times?

Ancient Chinese architecture uses wood, bricks, and tiles as raw materials, combining columns, beams, shunting, and other components by mortise and tenon, to enhance the firmness and elasticity of the house as a whole. However,  fires are often the nemesis of ancient wooden buildings.  in ancient times, when the technical conditions were relatively backward, it became the consensus of all walks of life in ancient society to do a good job in fire fighting and protect the safety of the property.

Fire fighting needs both hardware and software to achieve the ideal effect. Software refers to the construction of fire protection theory, regulations, and systems. As early as in ancient times, fire policy appeared. In Zuo Zhuan, it is pointed out:  "Fire is Zhu Rong."  the duties of fire administration are fire making, fire use, fire prevention, disaster relief, and so on. According to the Book of Jin,  "Chongli, the son of Emperor Gaoyang, is Xia Guan Zhu Rong."  Xia Guan's duties are equivalent to those of the military Department, and Zhu Rong is the official position of his subordinates, not specifically referring to a particular person. It can be said that fire fighting comes into being with the emergence of human civilization.

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in the Zhou Dynasty, the fire policy was refined, and the official positions of the chief, chief, and Gongzheng were set up, which were respectively responsible for fire use, fire prevention, fire fighting, propaganda, and supervision from the people to the royal palace. Kao Gong Ji is an authoritative work on the theory of urban planning. It advocates the planning idea of "nine tracks painted, seven tracks painted around", and holds that the width of the ring road and trunk road in the city should be separated at a certain distance, which can not only isolate the source of the fire but also ensure the smooth flow of fire control.

the Book of Rites in the Spring and Autumn period is the first fire protection law in China. It prescribes the details of the use of fire. During the ceremony, the person holding the torch should sit in the corner of the wall, holding the lit torch in his left hand and spare firewood in his right hand, ready to continue the fire at any time. At the same time, we also need to prepare a big bowl to carry on Mars that fell on the torch. Torchbearers are not allowed to say hello, speak or Sing, to ensure their attentive attitude.

Xun Yue, a thinker of the Eastern Han Dynasty, put forward  "Prevention is the first, salvation is the second, and the commandment is the lower."  he advocated that fire prevention should be put in the first place, fire rescue in a secondary position, and finally, the improvement of laws and regulations. From this point of view, fire prevention is better than fire fighting, which is highly consistent between ancient and modern times.

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the method of slicing management was implemented in the fire fighting of the Tang Dynasty, such as water sac, matte, pump, water bag

. The fire control organization of Wuhou Pu has been set up in the capital Chang'an. According to the size of the area, the number of people ranges from five to 100, thus achieving full fire protection coverage. The Law of the Tang Dynasty stipulates that when a fire breaks out,  "those who guard palaces, warehouses and prisoners are not allowed to leave the place to put out the fire."  for prisoners who intentionally set arson, the Tang Law determines the severity of punishment according to the size of the loss. For criminals with very bad circumstances, the Law of the Tang Dynasty stipulates:  "No limit on the number of houses to be burned, please be put to death with a determined stick." ensures the safety of people's lives and property by legal means.

in law, the Song Dynasty inherited the provisions of the Tang Law, but it was slightly different. The Law of the Song Dynasty should clarify the principal-subordinate relationship and treat arsonists differently. At the same time, it abolished the principle of "determining the severity by the number of stolen goods"  in the Tang Dynasty, that is to say, regardless of the size of the arson case, someone must be punished. In addition, it also expanded the scope of the death penalty for the crime of arson. These regulations are more stringent than the Tang Dynasty, to deter crime.

artificial arson has an extremely bad influence and bad nature. The Ming Law refines the arson case. Prisoners who burn their houses are generally punished relatively lightly. Whoever sets fire to another person's house shall be given a heavier punishment and may be sentenced to capital punishment. In the case of accidental fire, the punishment of "Ming Law" is relatively light and not a capital crime.

above the hardware of fire fighting refers to the improvement of various infrastructure. In the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, there is a collection called  "East well Fire fighting"  in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The collection is about pottery wells. It is 24.5cm long, 18cm wide and 11.5cm high. There is a mortise around the fence and the Derrick can be installed. There is a decorative picture on the front of the shaft wall, showing a man's shoulder bar "fire-fighting" flag, carrying a bottle for hiking. It can be inferred that there was a special fire well at that time.

the emergence of special fire fighting tools has become a sharp weapon for fire fighting in ancient times. The Tang Dynasty literature "Tongdian" records:  "if the enemy set fire to the building, the rough bamboo grew one foot long, and the bamboo was cut off, and the raw thin skin was sewn together as a bag, storing three or four stones of water, and the tube was placed in the bag, tied up like a splashing tube". The stone of the Tang Dynasty was about 59kg, that is to say, at that time there was a fire water bag, which contained at least nearly 180kg of water, plus a special sprinkler to improve the efficiency of fire fighting.

during the five dynasties, when Chai Rong, the late Zhou Shizong, reformed Kaifeng, he pointed out that fire lanes must be planned in densely populated areas. Its function is similar to today's fire passageway, convenient for people to put out the fire, evacuate people, and at the same time play a role in isolating the fire. This practice had a far-reaching impact on the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

given the frequent fires in Kaifeng, in the first year of Tiansheng in the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Renzong and Zhao Zhen ordered the formation of an army to patrol and arrest, which was the first professional fire brigade in history. According to the Tokyo Menghua Records, Kaifeng's  "each alley is about 300 paces, there is a military patrol house, and there are five soldiers.". The military patrol arrested in the "high brick fire building, there is a bright hope upstairs", on duty all the year-round, not to avoid cold and summer, to improve the ability of fire alarm, so that timely deployment to put out the fire. In addition to extinguishing sudden fires, military patrols also have the duty of supervising and inspecting fire bans at night. If there is a memorial to the dead, burning paper money, need to report to the army patrol in advance, and after midnight, to avoid false alarm, causing panic.

Southern Song Dynasty used the system of army patrol and arrest for reference and established the "Guanyu Army". There are more than 2300 sergeants in Lin'an. "Guanfu Square Lane, nearly 200 steps, and one army patrol shop." every few hundred meters in the main street, there are "defense corner official houses," and there are more than 20 watchfire towers in the city. When a fire is discovered, flags are used during the day, and lanterns are used at night to point out the direction. To stimulate the morale of the defense army, a special reward system is set up.

the Taiping cylinder is different from other water tanks in that it has a hollow opening under the base to facilitate the charcoal fire to bake under the cylinder. From Lesser Snow at that time to the next year, 15 kilograms of charcoal was used in a jar every day to prevent water from freezing in winter. In the more than 500 years since the establishment of the Forbidden City, there have been a total of 58 large and small fires, an average of one fire every ten years. The Taiping jar plays the role of spending a small amount of money to do great things.

during the Qing Dynasty, advanced "machine buckets" appeared, similar to the embryonic form of fire engines, large-scale fire-fighting equipment composed of pressing beams, airbags, water tanks, and other components. According to the Records of the Qing Palace:  "the forbidden area in the Forbidden City has been eroded by fire, and there are 70 machine buckets everywhere, such as Palace of Heavenly Purity."  when the barrel is in use, four people are divided into two groups, responsible for lifting the compression beam, and one is responsible for the hose. The water storage in the water tank is squeezed by external air pressure, and the water is sprayed outward through the hose, with a range of up to 30 meters.

A lot of water is needed to put out a fire. Hunan's "fire fighting affairs" stipulate that each county sets up five firemen, each of whom is in charge of ten watermen, and the government gives the husband three dollars a month for working food. The husband's head and his waterman are equipped with their colors and lanterns. In case of a sudden fire, the waterman carries water according to color, and for each load of water, the husband gives a water swab, and afterward, a water swab is converted into a penny. The local government evaluates them according to the performance of all kinds of watermen. Found that the waterman does not listen to the command of the husband's head, or the husband's head deducts water money and enriches his own pockets, once he is found, he will be severely punished.

generally speaking, the facilities of fire prevention and disaster prevention in ancient times were constantly improved, and people's awareness of disaster prevention was also relatively in place and attached importance to at that time.

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the emergence of special fire fighting tools has become a sharp weapon for fire fighting in ancient times. The Tang Dynasty literature "Tongdian" records:  "if the enemy set fire to the building, the rough bamboo grew one foot long, and the bamboo was cut off, and the raw thin skin was sewn together as a bag, storing three or four stones of water, and the tube was placed in the bag, tied up like a splashing tube". The stone of the Tang Dynasty was about 59kg, that is to say, at that time there was a fire water bag, which contained at least nearly 180kg of water, plus a special sprinkler to improve the efficiency of fire fighting.

during the five dynasties, when Chai Rong, the late Zhou Shizong, reformed Kaifeng, he pointed out that fire lanes must be planned in densely populated areas. Its function is similar to today's fire passageway, convenient for people to put out the fire, evacuate people, and at the same time play a role in isolating the fire. This practice had a far-reaching impact on the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.

given the frequent fires in Kaifeng, in the first year of Tiansheng in the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Renzong and Zhao Zhen ordered the formation of an army to patrol and arrest, which was the first professional fire brigade in history. According to the Tokyo Menghua Records, Kaifeng's  "each alley is about 300 paces, there is a military patrol house, and there are five soldiers.". The military patrol arrested in the "high brick fire building, there is a bright hope upstairs", on duty all the year-round, not to avoid cold and summer, to improve the ability of fire alarm, so that timely deployment to put out the fire. In addition to extinguishing sudden fires, military patrols also have the duty of supervising and inspecting fire bans at night. If there is a memorial to the dead, burning paper money, need to report to the army patrol in advance, and after midnight, to avoid false alarm, causing panic.

Southern Song Dynasty used the system of army patrol and arrest for reference and established the "Guanyu Army". There are more than 2300 sergeants in Lin'an. "Guanfu Square Lane, nearly 200 steps, and one army patrol shop." every few hundred meters in the main street, there are "defense corner official houses," and there are more than 20 watchfire towers in the city. When a fire is discovered, flags are used during the day, and lanterns are used at night to point out the direction. To stimulate the morale of the defense army, a special reward system is set up.

the Taiping cylinder is different from other water tanks in that it has a hollow opening under the base to facilitate the charcoal fire to bake under the cylinder. From Lesser Snow at that time to the next year, 15 kilograms of charcoal was used in a jar every day to prevent water from freezing in winter. In the more than 500 years since the establishment of the Forbidden City, there have been a total of 58 large and small fires, an average of one fire every ten years. The Taiping jar plays the role of spending a small amount of money to do great things.

during the Qing Dynasty, advanced "machine buckets" appeared, similar to the embryonic form of fire engines, large-scale fire-fighting equipment composed of pressing beams, airbags, water tanks, and other components. According to the Records of the Qing Palace:  "the forbidden area in the Forbidden City has been eroded by fire, and there are 70 machine buckets everywhere, such as Palace of Heavenly Purity."  when the barrel is in use, four people are divided into two groups, responsible for lifting the compression beam, and one is responsible for the hose. The water storage in the water tank is squeezed by external air pressure, and the water is sprayed outward through the hose, with a range of up to 30 meters.

A lot of water is needed to put out a fire. Hunan's "fire fighting affairs" stipulate that each county sets up five firemen, each of whom is in charge of ten watermen, and the government gives the husband three dollars a month for working food. The husband's head and his waterman are equipped with their colors and lanterns. In case of a sudden fire, the waterman carries water according to color, and for each load of water, the husband gives a water swab, and afterward, a water swab is converted into a penny. The local government evaluates them according to the performance of all kinds of watermen. Found that the waterman does not listen to the command of the husband's head, or the husband's head deducts water money and enriches his own pockets, once he is found, he will be severely punished.

generally speaking, the facilities of fire prevention and disaster prevention in ancient times were constantly improved, and people's awareness of disaster prevention was also relatively in place and attached importance to at that time.