Chinese Pillow History | Hacker News Reader

Chinese Pillow History

wellcomecollection.org

60 pointsbenbreen12 comments

One of the things I like about the Chinese culture is how deep they go into finding a meaning.

yet money is the always the strongest msg

Worth talking about!

But none of us will think it acceptable to sleep with such a pillow from ancient china after seeing a real thing in museum.

I don't know... I'm willing to try it. I was surprised when I first tried a bean pillow in Japan. The next surprise was a pillow that is soft on one side and rocks on the other. I was really surprised that I liked the rocks the best. Eventually I ended up with a buckwheat pillow, but unbelievably I occasionally like to swap it for a bag full of rocks (especially in the summer). If you don't try it, you don't know!

I have not tried rocks, but I like buckwheat pillows way more than any feather or memory foam pillows.

I have a buckwheat pillow too. Now I'm in the unfortunate position of having to take my pillow with me when I travel.

I've never slept on a bag full of rocks, but have fallen asleep on a rock beach before, because it was incredibly comfortable. Figured it was just position i got into, but I guess there's something to it.

Yes, count me in as a buckwheat pillow adherent. Best thing I ever did to improve sleep. Prevents a hot and sweaty head. Plies into desired thickness or contour well. Apparently, they're also less likely to foster mites or other pillow dwellers. No concern about foam off-gassing.

I have one cased with cotton on one side and wool on the other. The wool side is less crunchy but warmer so I prefer the thin cotton-on-buckweat feel by far.

A king-sized buckwheat pillow is luxurious but weighs a ton. For travel or camping I take a very small version, also useful as a meditation zafu.

Plastic versions of buckwheat filling I've slept on in Japan probably make extra sense in a commercial setting because I assume the whole thing is easily washed and dried. Slightly soft tiny hollow tube cuttings is the best description I can give.

Your rock pillow is interesting. Polished little stones in a thin sack?

Yep. River stones -- just want them to be relatively small and not to have to many jagged edges.

When I go camping, I use a standard 1L Nalgene bottle as a pillow. Sometimes I'll put it inside the sleeve of a fleece but it's actually fine on its own. Maybe it's just because I'm usually tired, but I find it fine to sleep that way. Then again, I think a lot of people historically would have been pretty tired at the end of the day so maybe it was easier to fall asleep then than it is now.

This was fascinating. Thanks for sharing it.

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