People have three urgent needs, regardless of ancient and modern times, regardless of defecation. If they are too eager to go to the toilet, that is the first urgent need. At home, it is easy to say that if you work outside, if you don't have a public toilet, then any jokes will be banned. In order to solve these human problems, many public toilets have been built in cities today. How did ancient China people solve this problem? Speaking of it, public toilets in China have a history of more than 3,000 years.
The picture shows the toilet unearthed from Liang Xiaowang's tomb in the Western Han Dynasty.
There are so many names in the toilet.
Before there was no toilet, where was the convenience of human beings? From Europe before16th century, we can see that they picked up chamber pot and fell on the street. In China, a civilized country, complete toilets were used at least 3000 years ago. According to records, "the imperial secretary was responsible for repairing Wang Zhi's six bedrooms and his well, except that he didn't refuse to pay and get rid of his stench". Among them, the toilet is called "well". "Yan" means "Yan". In fact, there are nearly 30 toilet names. Such as "Qing, Fu, Cook, Yan, Flat Toilet, Du Toilet, Jane, Ge, Shehou, Dressing Room, Public Toilet, Official Toilet, Road Toilet, Civilian Toilet, Screen Toilet, Toilet, Manure Toilet, Hut, House Toilet and Fan", it can be seen that toilets have also formed a culture in China.
"Mozi Banner" reads: "What was the public toilet like in the pre-Qin period? It's a screen outside the pottery, and it takes thirty steps to make it look like a square nail in a round hole. " . For people, this wall is over 12 feet high. The word "Fu Min" refers to the toilet, and the word "Fu" refers to the toilet next to the pigsty, so at least in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the toilets in China were connected with the pigsty. Decades ago, this kind of toilet was widely used in rural areas of China. The mixture of human manure and pig manure has been popular as fertilizer in China for more than 3000 years. The toilets in the pre-Qin period were very deep, and modern scholars still think that the toilets in the Zhou period are "very similar to foreign toilets today" after textual research. It can be seen that the toilets in ancient China are advanced. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Duke Jing of Jin fell into the toilet and drowned. From another aspect of historical records, it shows that China had advanced toilets in the Spring and Autumn Period.
lavatory
China is a geomantic country. Toilets are usually built in the west or south. So the name of the toilet is also called "Xijian" and "Xige". Because the toilet is usually built at the back of the house, it is also called "the back of the house". As for why it is called "going to the toilet" instead of "going to the toilet", it is because the toilets in ancient times were all connected with the pigsty and built on the platform of the pigsty. People have to go to the toilet on the platform, so this is called "going to the toilet". According to the unearthed cultural relics, these are four steps. There were toilets in ancient times, but they were not called toilets at that time. The toilet for defecation is called "Xingqing" and the toilet for urination is called "Tiger". Why "nothing" is said to have something to do with North Korean general Li Guang. The general was drunk once and shot stones like a tiger, shooting arrows into hard stones. After returning home, he made a crouching tiger, hidden dragon toilet, which he called "tiger" to urinate. One is to commemorate, and the other is to show contempt for tigers. Later, people called urinals "tigers". However, in the Tang Dynasty, the grandfather of the founding emperor Li Yuan was named Li Hu. In order to avoid taboos, he changed his nihilistic name to Beast or Ma Zi, and gradually changed Ma Zi's name to Toilet. In fact, this is what most people call a "potty".
As for toilet paper, that was in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Before paper was invented, people wiped their bottoms with tiles or sticks and bamboo pieces. The word "toilet" appeared in the late Han and Three Kingdoms periods. In fact, it means "stirring the stool" and is used to "scrape the anus" after defecation. Although paper was invented in the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is an expensive product and people don't want to wipe their bottoms with it. In addition, the ancients thought that wiping dirty with printed paper should be punished. It was not until the Yuan Dynasty unified China that this concept changed and toilet paper appeared.
It's incredible that ancient toilets were so luxurious.
For the poor, the toilet is to dig a hole in the ground to solve the internal emergency, and the excrement is used to return to the ground. But for the rich in ancient times, the toilet was also a tool to show off their wealth. Modern people are shocked by the luxury of ancient toilets.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the emperor established the special status of "serving the emperor". One of the duties of serving the emperor is to serve the emperor at any time to relieve boredom. To put it bluntly, this is the emperor's urinal. Han Shi was injured and naked, and he became a man with nothing. The urinal is divided into two parts: Meng Chang, the fifth monarch of Houshu, and Yan Shifan, the son of the Ming Dynasty traitor Yan Song. The urinal for two is made of seven treasures inlaid with gold and covered with pearl agate. It is said that after Shu was pacified, I don't know what "nothing" means. When he likes it, he almost drinks with it. Meng Changjun's aunt, Huarui's family, knew about it and smiled angrily. Zhao Kuangyin tore "nothing" to pieces and thought it was a matter of national subjugation.
After the Song Dynasty, bedpans, pottery, bronzes and porcelain appeared.
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Shi Chong and Wang Kai competed for wealth. The toilets in Shi Chong are spectacular. A dozen beautiful women are waiting for them with fried noodles, aloe juice and new clothes. They have to change clothes when they go to the toilet, which is also called "changing clothes". Maybe it belongs to their family. Because the toilet is too luxurious, the guests are embarrassed to go to the toilet conveniently, thinking that they are coming to the living room.
Wang Dun, another general in the Western Jin Dynasty, even made a joke when he went to the luxurious toilet. Although he is a general, he is not as rich as the royal family. Wang Dun married Princess Wuyang and used the princess's toilet for the first time. When he saw the dried dates in it, he thought it was food and ate them all. He saw the "bath beans" again. He soaked it in water and drank it, which made the maids cover their mouths and laugh. It was not until later that he learned that dried dates were used to vomit and deodorize, while bath beans were used to wash hands.
The toilets used by Empress Dowager Cixi in Qing Dynasty are also very noble. Official toilets are called "official rooms". The office in Cixi is made of sandalwood. When traveling, the sedan chair is equipped with a "Ruyi bucket", which is actually a mobile toilet. The mobile toilets in Cixi are very luxurious. Yellow sand is stored at the bottom of the barrel, and silver is poured on the barrel. The shit pulled out will fall into the mercury, leaving no trace and no smell. The outside of the "mobile toilet" is decorated with satin and silk and made into an embroidered pier, which has been served by maids and eunuchs. Luxury to the extreme.
Toilet management, from professional to commercial.
Since the Zhou Dynasty more than 3000 years ago, many people have come to look after the toilets. In addition to not paying money, the imperial secretary will also remove the smell from the well. In other words, the government has full-time sanitation workers. The urban toilets in Han Dynasty were also called "Du toilets". Wang Wensheng means that the toilets in the city are managed by special personnel. The legendary fairy Liu An was exiled to the Beijing toilet for three years. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the cleaner who specialized in cleaning feces was called "dumping feet", which actually means "dumping toilets". What's the use of feces? Chen Zhan, a writer in the Song Dynasty, wrote a book called "Tianguan in Zhou Li", which introduced the use of excrement in detail. In fact, it is to mix clean soil, rice bran, dried leaves and feces into fertilizer and put it back in the ground. Decades ago, in rural areas, this method was still used to increase soil fertility. As the saying goes, "you don't need manure to grow crops, people just toss around." This is a fact.
You know, there was no fertilizer in ancient times, so manure is the only way to improve soil fertility. So some people see business opportunities and specialize in the feces business. In order to compete for business, the "tiptoes" of the Song Dynasty did not hesitate to sue the government. Due to the fierce competition between "toes", the streets in Song Dynasty were cleaned up, which was called "flower path". However, there were some problems in the management of public toilets in Ming and Qing dynasties, which had a great impact on the urban environment. There is a saying: "The streets and alleys of Beijing Tower are full of people. Whenever they feel uncomfortable, they will take their clothes away. It is not difficult to enjoy a feast anywhere. According to reports, there is no place to live. " Another poem wrote: "It was hard for you to open your eyes on Tuying Street near the dung wall that day. The toilet is repaired and you can pee. The doorbell rings and the dirty car is coming. "
There is a special person in charge of cleaning the toilet.
In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, there was a novel called Chen Zhan Agricultural Books. It describes a man named Mu Taigong. Because the problem of public toilets has become a big problem that affects the appearance of the city, and he saw business opportunities from it, so he specialized in toilet business. He not only built a very clean toilet, but also provided free toilet paper for people to wipe their bottoms and even attracted men and women to his convenient toilet. Learning from Lei Feng, is it a good thing to provide people with toilets for free? No, he wants feces. These droppings can be exchanged for silver. At that time, farmers came to his house to buy, and every dollar was replaced by daily necessities.
Ironically, some people in the Qing Dynasty saw the business opportunities of toilets and invented pay toilets. However, people are too poor to go to the toilet, and they would rather suffer moral condemnation and urinate everywhere. Pay toilets also seem to increase with the development of economy. And moral civilization does not exist in an era of insufficient food. There are not many saints like Yan Hui.