As the old saying goes: there are always three major emergencies in life!No matter who you are, this inevitable part of life - solving internal emergencies will make you do it every second.
So, in ancient times when there were no paper towels, how did people cope with this real challenge?
Let's start with the cleaning tools after going to the toilet. In the fantasy drama "Xun Qin", the actor Xiang Shaolong came to the ancient Warring States Period, and the first problem he faced was how to clean itAfter asking the locals for advice, they gave him a piece of bamboo, which really scared our modern friends!
In reality, however, this type of toilet chip, which was called "toilet chip" in ancient times, was made of wood or bamboo. Behind the primitiveness, there is a hidden awe of the ancients for everyday objects, and they carefully polished each piece of bamboo so that the situation of rubbing against the butt completely disappeared.
In addition, this toilet chip can also be used many times, washed and dried, which is quite environmentally friendly.
The toilet chips used by different classes of people also have their own characteristics, with the poor choosing bamboo or wood, while the wealthy families prefer more advanced gold, silver and jade.
It is not known exactly when toilet chips first appeared, but in some parts of China and Japan, they were still used until the last century. One has to admire the wisdom of the ancients, even without much modern equipment, they were able to think of such an economical and practical alternative.
When going to the toilet outdoors, the tools of the ancients were varied. Leaves, stones, tiles, and grasses are used everywhere to become tools for cleaning, and they are forgotten when they are used up.
Naturally, the aristocrats did not want to grieve themselves, and they would choose soft and comfortable linen cloth or even expensive silk to clean their intimate parts.
Later, in the Western Han Dynasty, China finally invented papermaking, although it could only make coarse hemp fiber paper, but it was also a breakthrough. Until the first year of Yuanxing in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Lun improved this technology, using raw materials such as bark, hemp, rotten cloth, fish nets, etc., after multiple process improvements, the finished product effect is remarkable, and it is roughly popularized, and the first product is also reduced.
However, according to research, it was not until the late Tang Dynasty that toilet paper appeared in the real sense, and the written record of toilet paper can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty "Pavilion Records" as stated: "The toilet board should not be dirty, and the clean paper should not be messy". With the improvement of economic and labor productivity in the Tang and Song dynasties, specialized toilet paper making institutions came into being.
After the Yuan Dynasty, toilet paper gradually replaced toilet chips and became a widely used sanitary product in the whole society. At the beginning of the 14th century, Zhejiang's annual paper production was as high as 10 million bales, with 1,000 to 10,000 sheets per package, and ordinary people could also enjoy this convenience.
In ancient times, there were no flush toilets as advanced as we do now, and there were no drains that flushed the stool without a trace. The toilet at that time was really sad!
In ancient times, the toilet was extremely simple, as if the expression of animal instinct, there was no shelter, it was just an open pit, people squatted on it to defecate, and the new pit was full of dirt and then dug again. Some people even died by falling into the pit, which has to be said to be a huge hidden danger in life at that time.
Later, the progress of human civilization accelerated, and they began to have a sense of shame, and they built huts for the dung pits to cover their shame. However, some historical texts record that huts may have been built to escape the high winds on the top of the pits, but there have been tragic cases of people slipping into the pits and dying.
There is also the toilet of the Han Dynasty, which was built at the back of their house, high above it, and needed people to go up and down with the help of ladders. Connected to the pigsty, the human feces are fed directly to the pigs. This design is a bit disgusting.
Ordinary people, on the other hand, had to use these unclean facilities, known as "toilets" or "toilets", where diseases were rampant. At this moment, the toilets of the powerful have been upgraded to indoors. However, this method of going to the toilet still requires hiring a worker to carry and clean the bucket, which is another expense.
When it comes to enjoyment, no one can compare to the Empress Dowager Cixi. This ruler of the late Qing Dynasty enjoyed life to the extreme, which was jaw-dropping. Cixi went to the toilet and called it "the official room". The so-called "official room" is actually a portable toilet.
Why don't you just set up a bathroom nearby?It's not as easy as using a portable toilet. Moreover, if it was located next to the bed, the ancients could not use the exhaust system as we do today, and if it was not cleaned in time, the whole yard would be filled with a foul smell.
Cixi's toilet process is complicated and rigorous: first tell the cool lady in charge of her body to prepare for the toilet;Then the maidservant informed the eunuch;The eunuch put the toilet on his head and entered the dormitory;The maidservant spreads a tarpaulin at the bottom of the toilet;When it was over, it was held out by the little eunuch. After that, the eunuchs would cover the dung residue with fragrant wood chips, and the disposal would be completed.
Hundreds of help programs Even, dredging filth needs to be carried out by special personnel. The toilet paper used by Cixi is even more luxurious, with customized specifications and extremely smooth, just like modern "wet toilet paper".
First, tear the paper evenly and stick it to the water droplets, like a mist of water. At this point, each paper is ironed dry with a copper iron so that all the paper is flat, like the closest to modern "wet toilet paper". After the end of Cixi, the eunuchs who wiped PP needed to practice their skills hard to adapt to this work. An Dehai and Li Lianying are both dedicated wiping eunuchs, although it is rumored that An Dehai's skills are better.