CULTURALQA 07-2023-09 Q1 What are some of the most amazinginnovations in ancient China?
A1 Xiao Wang,Jun 5 This lamp issomething I want to share with you on the World Environment Day. This lamp from China’s Han Dynasty has a history of overtwo thousand years. It’s very popular due to itsunique and advanced environmental concept. This lamp was unearthed in Hebei province In 1968. It’sname “Changxin Palace Lamp” is gained from the inscription"Chang Xin Shang Yu" (meaning "Chang Xin Palace Lighting")carved on its body. During the Han Dynasty, bronze lamps were often in theform of animals. The ChangxinPalace Lamp is the only known human-shaped bronze lamp from the Han Dynasty.The lamp's overall design depicts a palace maid kneeling while holding a lampin her left hand. Her right arm is raised high, and the wide sleeves naturallycascade down, ingeniously forming the top part of the lamp. The lamp can be divided into six parts: the head, body,sleeves, curved screen panel, lamp dish, and lamp stand.Each part can be easily disassembled and reassembled, making it convenient tomove the palace lamp and clean the lamp ash. Astonishingly, it can adjust the direction and brightnessof the light, similar to the desk lamps we use today.The lampshade consists of two curved screen panels that can be closed into acircular shape and fit into the slot of the lamp dish. One of the screen panelscan be opened or closed horizontally to adjust the direction and brightness ofthe light. During the Han Dynasty, animal fat was commonly used asfuel for lighting lamps. Although it served the purpose ofillumination, the burning of animal fat resulted in significant smoke and dust,often leading to polluted indoor air, hazy smoke, and a pungent odor, therebypolluting the indoor environment. The lampconnects the sleeves of the "palace maid" to the body, forming asmoke exhaust passage. Once the candle is lit, the smoke and ash generated arepropelled by the thermal force and enter the lamp body through the sleeves,where they are stored until they reach the bottom of the "palacemaid's" body. At the same time, a water tray is placed in the base of the palace lamp to purifythe waste smoke, effectively minimizing air pollution and achieving the goal ofcontaining the dirty smoke and maintaining clean air. The design ofthe Changxin Palace Lamp reflects the care and concern that the Chinese peoplehad for the environment 2,000 years ago. Q2 What happened with Tulsidas ji whilecomposing Hanuman Chalisa? A2 Surendra Kumar Kumawat,Apr 4 Tulsidasji used to write Hanuman Chalisa, he used to keep the written letters carefullyat night, when he woke up in the morning and looked at them, the writings inthem were erased. Tulsidas jiworshiped Hanuman ji, Hanuman ji appeared. Tulsidas told that if I writeHanuman Chalisa, someone gets erased in the night. Hanuman jisaid, if you want to write praise, then write of my Lord Shri Ram, not of me.At that time, Tulsidasji thought of the first couplet of Ayodhya incident, he wrote it at thebeginning of Hanuman Chalisa. "श्रीगुरुचरनसरोजरजनिजमनमुकुरुसुधारि। वरनउंरघुबरबिमलजसुजोदायकुफलचारि॥ So Hanuman ji said, I am not Raghuvar. Tulsidas jisaid that you and Lord Shri Ram have incarnated after receiving the sameprasad, therefore you are also Raghuvar. Tulsidas reminiscedthat there lived an apsara named Suvarchala in the Brahma world who had oncebeen enamored of Brahma, and in anger Brahma had cursed her to be a vulture.The prasad that will be distributed among the three queens in the Yajna ofDasaratha's son, you will fly away with Kaikeyi's share. Mother Anjana waswishing for a son by extending her hands to Lord Shiva, in those hands she haddropped the prasad from which you incarnated Lord Shri. Ram himself has calledyou his brother. "तुमममप्रियभरतहिसमभाई Tulsidas gave another argument that when you went toAshok Vatika in search of Maa Janaki, Maa Janaki made you her son. "अजरअमरगुननिधिसुतहोहू। करहुंबहुतरघुनायकछोहू॥ Lord Shri Ram himself had made you his sonwhen he came back after searching for mother Janaki. "सुनुसुततोहिउरिनमैंनाहीं। देखेउंकरिविचारमनमाहीं॥ That's why you also became Raghuvar, after listening tothis argument of Tulsidas, Hanumanji should be enlightened. It is often saidand heard in the world that a person should not be too straight and simple,everyone takes advantage of a straight and simple person, it is also a proverbthat no one even touches a crooked tree, only a straight tree is cut. . In fact, the worldruns away from crooked people, while the straight ones are harassed. But dounderstand this thing that whatever creation has been done in the world, it hasnot been done by crooked people but by straight people only. If a straight treeis cut, then the wood is also useful in building construction or buildingdecoration. Even in the temple,the rock from which the form of the Lord appears, is not a crooked rock, it isa straight rock. The flute whosemelodious sound we enjoy listening to is also made from a straight bamboo tree.Straight people are dear to Govind!🙏🏻 Hail Lord Sitaram 🙏 Q3 In the course of human history,what inventions appeared remarkably early, and which inventions oddly late? A3 Silk Road,12h Surprisingly Early You might thinkthat some of these things were invented in the modern era, but you'd be wrong. They actually goway back to ancient times or the Middle Ages. The Mechanical Clock The firstmechanical clocks were invented in China around the 8th century CE, and thenspread to Europe by the 13th century CE. These clocks werepowered by water or weights, and used escapements to regulate their movements. They were not veryaccurate, but they were still impressive feats of engineering for their time. The Printing Press You might thinkthat this was invented by Gutenberg in the 15th century CE, but he was actuallynot the first one to come up with the idea of using movable type to printbooks. The Chinese had already inventedmovable type printing in the 11th century CE, using clayor wood blocks with carved characters. They also inventedpaper and ink, which made printing possible in the first place. But, becauseChinese writing has thousands of characters, movable type printing was not verypractical or widespread in China. Gutenberg'sinnovation was to use metal type and a screw press, which made printing fasterand cheaper in Europe. Oddly Late You might thinkthat some of these things were invented long ago, but you'd be wrong again. They actually cameabout relatively recently. The Bicycle The first bicyclewas invented in Germany in 1817 by Karl Drais, and it was called a draisine ora velocipede. It had no pedals or chain, and you had to push it withyour feet on the ground. It was not verycomfortable or efficient, but it was still a novelty that attracted attention. The Zipper The first zipperwas invented in the United States in 1893 by Whitcomb Judson, and it was calleda clasp locker or an automatic continuous clothing closure. It had metal teeth that interlocked when pulled by aslider, but it was not very reliable or easy to use. It took severaldecades of improvements by other inventors before the zipper became popular andwidely used.. Q4 What are some interesting life hacks? A4 Avadhesh Khanna,Studied Electrical andElectronics Engineering (Graduated 2010)2y She is my mother. Sheis a graduate in Sanskrit literature. She doesn’t give ashit about the situation in which we are. Yesterday my sister shared below picture. In case if youmissed the important details in the above picture because of poor quality. My mother in allher glorified genius-ness: Boiled the water inpressure cooker. Replaced the whistlewith the half-cut-water-bottle (big one). Enjoying thepure steam in the most unique way possible. She is the motherof all inventions in our home.Don’t let her devil smile mislead you, she knowshow to pose for a camera. Q5 What is still a big secret in the humanbody? A5 Gaurav Gupta,5h THE PINEAL GLAND The pineal gland isone of the biggest secrets that are hidden from us. The secret is not the existence of the gland, butits functioning. The pineal gland orepiphysis is a chronobiotic agent. This means that it synchronizes our internal clock withthe light-dark cycle. In the absence of light, this small brainorgan of just 120 milligrams produces the hormone that takes us to the world ofdreams: melatonin. In some animals (fish, reptiles and amphibians), thisgland is located under the skin and is able to receive light informationdirectly. For this reason, it is also known asthe "third eye". However, in the human species, as in most vertebrates, thispineapple-shaped and pea-sized organ is located inside the skull.Therefore, more complex ways are needed to know whether it is day or night. Q5A Do animals know that humans aremore intelligent than they are? Do animals respect humans? A5A Thomas Cayne, Storyteller.Anthropologist. Naturalist. Madman. 17h I once read about acase (I think it was on Quora, but I have read similar cases before), about aman called Rick who had a pet octopus (who I will call Albert for personalreasons). Albert understood that his boss gave him food,nurtured him, talked to him and was basically also his friend, and so he wasvery nice to this larger being that respected him all the way.And then therewas Jenna (his best friend’s girlfriend). Jenna petted Albert without love, and in a way he reallydidn’t like (without meaning it), and Albert totally understoodthat she hated him, and that she was a hypocrite. So whenever she was aroundand approached the aquarium, he would throw small stones and water at her, andsplash her all wet, and then hid under a stone. But when Rick was there, Albert played games with Rick,watched TV together (this is not a joke), and caressedhim as the best friend he was. Unless Jenna wasaround, of course. All the above QA are from Quora websiteon 09-07-2023. Quora answers neednot be 100% correct answers. Compiled and posted by R. Gopala Krishnan, 79, on 09-07-2023. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/990176477.1076842.1688918175063%40mail.yahoo.com.
