As winter comes, hands and feet can easily get cold (手腳易受涼, shǒu jiǎo yì shòu liáng), especially among women. Thick gloves (厚手套, hòu shǒu tào
) might be a good choice, yet sometimes wearing them is not convenient, especially when people want to do something with their hands.

However, this was not a problem for ancient Chinese people, who had a more exquisite tool to keep their hands warm: hand warmers (手爐, shǒu lú).

There is no accurate written record regarding the origin of this tool, but there are some tales about its invention.

One folk story concerns Emperor Yangdi from the Sui Dynasty (隋煬帝, suí yáng dì) (581-618) who visited Jiangsu in the winter. Due to the bitter cold, the local official asked manufacturers to make a small warmer for the emperor that could be held in one's hands. Thus the hand warmer was created.

By the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the tool was in widespread use. Techniques for producing the tool were extensively employed in the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911).

Many poems and books from this period recorded people using hand warmers.

The Dream of the Red Chamber (《紅樓夢(mèng)》hóng lóu mèng), the classic novel by Cao Xueqin (曹雪芹, cáo xuě qín) from the Qing Dynasty, also featured a maid sending a hand warmer to the protagonist Lin Daiyu (林黛玉, lín dài yù) in one chapter.

Zhang Mingqi (張鳴岐, zhāng míng qí), a veteran manufacturer of hand warmers (手爐匠師, shǒu lú jiàng shī), was considered a first-class craftsman in the Qing Dynasty. The tools he produced bore his surname, called Zhang-style hand warmers ("張爐", zhāng lú).

Made of bronze (青銅, qīng tóng) or ceramics (陶瓷, táo cí), ancient hand warmers had a variety of designs. Round, square and octagonal shapes are typical, with some fashioned to look like pumpkins, flowers and turtle shells.

Inside a hand warmer, there were burning charcoal (木炭, mù tàn) or simple coals (煤，méi). Some coals were blended with fragments and pressed into flower shapes, emitting a pleasant scent when burned.

來(lái)源：chinadaily.com.cn
編輯：萬(wàn)月英