In fact, what the ancients used to wipe * * * was called "toilet bowl". To put it bluntly, it is a thick stick. The hand is wrapped in cloth and silk. After the other end of the stick is scraped clean, it is washed with water for the convenience of people behind it. Until modern times, there are still some remote places that maintain this special way of going to the toilet.
This method has a long history, but there are not many related records in history books. The earliest clear record is that in the late Three Kingdoms, there was a military commander in the Western Jin Dynasty who had just been recruited as the princess's husband. When you get married, you have diarrhea, so you naturally have to go to the bathroom. The princess's toilet is not only extremely luxurious, but also contains a basin of dried dates, which makes him quite puzzled, thinking that the princess has a quirk of eating while pulling. In order to accommodate the princess, he also grabbed a handful of dried dates and chewed them. Then there was a maid reception outside, and they brought the man a glass bowl with bath beans. He picked up the bowl and gulped it down, and all the maids hid their faces and smiled. The military commander looked puzzled. Why did he laugh at him? It turns out that the dried dates in the toilet are actually used to block the nose and relieve the sense of smell, while the bath beans are made of beans and ground into powder, which is equivalent to the current soap and is specially used for washing hands.
There was also a rich man in the Western Jin Dynasty. The toilet in his house is built according to the size of the palace. Every time he goes to the toilet, there are a dozen maids waiting outside. After he came out, he washed, changed clothes and sprinkled with fragrant juice and powder, which was similar to the luxury of modern sauna.
So when did everyone start to wipe * * with paper? We know that paper only appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but when it was used to wipe * * * is unknown, because everyone used it to write at first, so we paid special attention to paper. In addition, the person in charge of recording historical facts also believes that except for some historical events, others are not qualified to be recorded, especially the "common thing" of going to the toilet.
In the Tang dynasty, it was forbidden to use toilets on written paper. On the one hand, it shows that people attach importance to writing and paper, on the other hand, it can also prove that paper has the function of wiping. This system is deeply rooted in the minds of people, especially literati. Even in the last century, some old pedants kept this habit. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was customary to wipe * * with paper, but writing paper was still forbidden. This idea was mainly put forward by the literati in the imperial court. They think that these words on paper, with valuable Confucian experience, are very noble and sacred and cannot be used to do such dirty things.
Speaking of this, it is necessary to mention that although paper appeared in China only in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the period of wiping * * * with paper may be later, the western countries will be about 1000 years later than this period. Because papermaking/kloc-spread to Europe in the 0/2nd century, and/kloc-spread to America in the 0/7th century, how did they solve this problem? According to relevant records, the toilet in the French palace used a thick hemp rope hanging from the roof. After finishing, pull back and forth in the lower body like sawing wood, and remove the dirt by friction. This is not the point, because this rope is not for my own use. Kings, queens, ministers, ladies-in-waiting and eunuchs all share this rope to show the unity of monarch and minister.
Russia is more extravagant. Its king uses the long neck of a goose to solve this problem, so whenever he goes to the toilet, he has to kill a goose first to wipe it for him. What the Japanese use is even more special. Cicada wings are used by the royal family, because their wings are transparent, so once there is any disease, it can be found at the first time. This is the advantage of rubbing * * with cicada wings.
It can be seen that although rubbing * * * is common to people nowadays, it was very troublesome and uncomfortable in ancient times. Later, China pioneered the way of wiping * * * with paper, which made other countries very envious. In fact, this is how we feel when we use high-tech products such as mobile phones. Countless years later, the world will look at us from the present perspective, and probably look at the ancients using toilets with our eyes.