Changes

Societies in east Asia, particularly China, Korea, and Japan, developed a floor-based culture for many activities, including eating and sleeping. One main reason has to do with cooling and heating for different months. Heating, for instance, was done underneath floors, which meant that sleeping on the floor more directly, with only a thin mattress, would be more practical, as it greater heat would be felt. Furthermore, the floor was seen as where sitting would take place in, thus the bed became the primary social space in eastern Asian societies. Beds such as the <i>kang</i> became the spaces that many social activities revolved around, but they were practical as it allowed easy heating of this space without having to create smoky rooms for heating such as found in many ancient and medieval homes in Europe.