First of all, you should also know from the film and television works that there are not only imperial dining halls in the Qing Palace, but basically every palace has its own dining hall. It is often seen that concubines cook their own meals for themselves or the emperor. However, we should also know that in ancient times, people used to burn wood for cooking, so chimneys were essential. Then they are all cooking, so why are there no chimneys in the Qing palace?
It turned out that the Qing Dynasty, considering that the palaces were all made of wood, and that there had been three fires in the previous dynasty, specially ordered that cooking in the palace could only burn charcoal, not firewood. Therefore, it is natural that there are no chimneys in the Qing Palace.
We know the reason why there are no chimneys in the Qing Palace. What about the toilets? Why is there no toilet in Qing Palace? It turns out that this is mainly caused by two reasons. First, in view of the history of the prince fell into the toilet and died, it is not safe; Secondly, if toilets are built and there are so many people, it is bound to produce peculiar smell, which is not suitable for such a solemn place as the palace.
So, since there is no toilet, how do people in the Qing palace solve their physical problems? It turns out that in the Qing Dynasty, people used toilets to go to the toilet. This toilet had different names in different people's mouths. Both the emperor and the concubines called them "palace rooms", while eunuchs called them "bedpans". After use, cover it with charcoal ash accumulated by burning charcoal, and then clean it. For those courtiers who go to court, they need to take their own sedan chairs and bring their own toilets. But as a courtier, he is absolutely not allowed to go out to solve physical problems in court, otherwise he will lose his official position.
And talking about toilets is not as simple as everyone thinks. Take the palace used by Cixi as an example. The palace used by Cixi is not only made of sandalwood, but also has patterns of geckos and gems. Moreover, according to unofficial history's records, in her later years, due to her poor health, ladies-in-waiting often saw Cixi riding on the top of the palace, teasing the gecko outside with toilet paper. Of course, there is no official record of this, and it can only be used as a post-meal talk.
The Forbidden City covers a considerable area, reaching 720,000 square meters. It is the imperial palace of Ming and Qing dynasties, with more than 70 palaces and more than 9,000 houses. It is called the first of the five largest palaces in the world and occupies a high position in world architecture.
But there is no toilet in such a big building, which is really puzzling. Does the emperor's minister have to go all the way out of the Forbidden City to go to the bathroom?
It turns out that the sewage system at that time was not as developed as it is now. Ancient toilets are similar to open-air toilets now. Now some rural areas are still using this kind of toilet, and people still have a good taste after it is convenient. How can you tolerate such a thing in the palace? So there are bedpans, tribute barrels and other things. After the emperor untied his hands, he covered them with charcoal ash, so there was no smell. The place where such things are stored is called a clean room (I don't know where it is clean), which is managed by eunuchs.
Historically, the Qing dynasty handled this matter best. Looking at the Qin dynasty in a blink of an eye, the toilet in the Qin dynasty was above the pigsty, and it became pig food after it was solved. It is estimated that pork was definitely not easy to sell at that time.
There is another thing that is extremely scary. At that time, when it was convenient for people, coachmen would come to the suburbs every day to use it as fertilizer, and then the vegetables they planted would be sent back to the palace for those who contributed fertilizer.