睡滿八小時在歷史上並不常見？

文／應惠蕙

Studies have shown we don’t get enough quality sleep. It is not surprising really. Our lives are stressful and we modern people often stay up too late. Contrary to the common notion that people in the past led hard but more balanced lives, historically people didn’t really sleep much better than we do now.

The earliest known beds were made around 8000 B.C. The so-called beds were simply grass and soft flora stuffed in small hollows along the walls of caves. Actually, these beds were only big enough for people to sleep in the fetal position. They were certainly not the type you find in 5-star accommodation.

As civilization advanced, things didn’t get much better sleep-wise. The Romans treated the necessity for sleep with a kind of contempt, as it took up time that could have been devoted to more productive activities, like building roads or bridges. The Romans preferred to sleep on small wooden-framed
beds with mattresses stuffed with straw in humble plain rooms, waking up long before dawn.

Sleep quality seems to have gotten worse in the Middle Ages. Most notably, it was the smell that was almost intolerable. Back then, people lacked proper sewage systems, lived in unsanitary conditions, and
constantly had fires burning. The smell of feces, sweat, and smoke must have been foul indeed. In addition, families tended to sleep huddled together to keep warm, so there was very little privacy.

The Renaissance is when people’s quality of sleep started to improve. People of this period stretched ropes across bed frames to support mattresses and make beds less rigid. At the same time in China, during the Ming dynasty, large decorative bed frames were crafted. These pretty beds were not only for sleeping in, but also for entertaining guests during the daytime.

The invention of artificial light in the Industrial Revolution dramatically changed the way people slept. Before the Industrial Revolution, people would wake up in the middle of the night after about four hours of sleep to do chores and then go back to bed for another four hours. With the invention of the light bulb, people didn’t need to go to sleep right after sunset. Instead, they began to stay up late and hang out with friends. It was not until the 1920s that people adopted an uninterrupted 8-hour sleeping pattern. In recent years, sleep researchers have recommended eight hours of sleep for the sake of our health.

Even though we don’t have the healthiest sleeping habits, at least most of us still have a roof over our heads, and a warm comfortable bed to sleep in at night.

本文摘自《英文閱讀GO, GO, GO!》，原篇名為〈How We Used to Sleep〉，立即前往試讀►►►