Request: The origin of the toilet! History and fun facts!

History sometimes stinks. --[US] "An Alternative History of Western Civilization" by Richard Zacks

A long time ago, wealthy people had to change clothes when going to the toilet. The toilets of Shi Chong's family, the richest man in the Southern Dynasties, were magnificently built, and there were usually more than a dozen maids in colorful clothes ready to wait at the door, ready with fried rice powder, agarwood juice, new clothes, etc.

When guests came to the house, they were too embarrassed to go when they saw this scene. Regardless of all this, General Wang took off his clothes and went into the toilet. After defecating, he came out wearing new clothes prepared by his maid, his expression full of pride. It is not difficult to see from this detail why the ancients called going to the toilet "changing clothes".

Of course, in more poor families, they do not have the conditions to "change clothes", but regardless of whether they change clothes or not, the pleasant feeling people feel when defecating is irreplaceable. This dirty but pleasant journey will not be recorded in any textbooks. It seems that only Ouyang Xiu's "go to the toilet immediately" reading method is worthy of promotion, which really undermines our civilization. Take a look at the following stories with a bit of historical odor. Maybe you will feel that this is a good supplement to the history of "laughing".

There are no toilets in the capital

When it comes to the city of Beijing, in the eyes of the world, it has been the imperial capital of several dynasties, with a kingly appearance. Literati in recent hundreds of years have been eager to use all their good words about this city to express their happiness and gratitude for "living in the capital".

However, what I introduce to you today is a filthy and smelly city of Beijing. It is best not to read the following history after a meal. In Beijing from the 16th to the 19th century, that is, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, behind the prosperity of commerce was the lack of public facilities and disorderly management. In the huge city of Beijing, there are only a few public toilets, so much so that there is a saying that “there are no toilets in the capital”. Wang Siren of the Ming Dynasty directly stated the current ills in "Wenfan Xiaoxiao" and compared the capital to a huge toilet. Isn't this a bit sensational?

In fact, the situation is much more serious than this. Since there are only a few public toilets that charge a fee, unless it is out of dignity or other concerns, usually no one will walk in after searching for a long time. "Old friends defecate in the street." Not only ordinary people do this, but some officials also take the lead in doing so. Not only men are so casual, but even women empty their toilets directly on the street. Naturally, feces is mixed with urine, and human feces is mixed with cow and horse urine. Beijing is not only a huge public toilet, but also a huge garbage station. It is true that "heavy filth and filth can be heard everywhere" (according to the anonymous "Yanjing Miscellaneous Notes" of the Qing Dynasty).

It was not until the end of the Qing Dynasty that this situation changed. Toilets are being built in every street in Beijing, and open defecation is prohibited. Moreover, a dung truck appeared, with a bell as its signal.

The stinking city of Beijing is slowly getting cleaner...

Royal Weather

According to "Zuo Zhuan": One day at noon in 581 BC After tasting the new wheat, Ji Jinggong of Jin Dynasty felt abdominal distension, so he went to the toilet to defecate, and accidentally fell into the cesspit and died. Ji Yan was probably the first monarch in history to be martyred in the toilet in written records, which exposed the simplicity of the palace toilets in the pre-Qin Dynasty. This painful price made later generations more cautious about things like pooping.

Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, ranks at the top of the "History of Chinese Gangsters", and his actions are truly worthy of his status. He was anxious in front of the ministers. In order to save time for the meeting and at the same time to avoid falling into the toilet, he asked a civil servant to hand him his hat. He turned his back and turned the hat upside down. After a while, half of the hat was steaming. The urine appeared in front of everyone.

The descendant of this rogue emperor, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che, was even more ingenious and actually received senior officials while defecating. This is revealed in the "Book of Han: The Biography of Ji An": "The general (Wei) Qing served in the toilet, and he went to the toilet to watch." The historian did not record Wei Qing's emotions, but it is certain that Wei Qing served as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In his eyes, he was a first-class important minister. Perhaps it was for this reason that he got the opportunity to be received when the emperor was having a bowel movement.

About the unusual features of the royal toilet, "Shishuoxinyu" has revealed. General Wang Dun of the Western Jin Dynasty was recruited by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty to be the consort of Princess Wuyang. On his wedding night, he used the princess's toilet for the first time.

When I first saw it, I thought it was magnificent and much better than private houses. When I entered, I realized that it also smelled bad, and I felt a little calmer. Not long after, I saw a lacquer box in the toilet containing dried dates. I thought they were "dengkeng food" and ate them all. After finishing, the maid brought a plate of water and a bowl containing "bath beans". In a glass bowl, Wang Dun poured these "bath beans" into the water and drank them all in one gulp, causing "the maidservants to hide their mouths and laugh." It turns out that dried dates were used to plug the nose to prevent odor when climbing into the pit, while "bath beans" were equivalent to soap in modern times.

Perhaps inspired by the Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty who used a minister's hat to urinate, most emperors in later generations used chamber pots to solve problems instead of going to the toilet themselves. "Xijing Miscellaneous Notes" says that the Han Dynasty palace made "tiger zi" from jade, which were held by the emperor's attendants for the emperor's convenience at any time. This kind of "tiger" is the specialized sanitary utensils that later generations call toilets and chamber pots - it can be seen that from that time on, the emperor did not necessarily have to deal with toilets. "Hu Zi" later changed his name to "Toilet", which is said to be related to the emperor. It is said that during the Western Han Dynasty, "Flying General" Li Guang shot a crouching tiger to death and had someone make a tiger-shaped copper drowning utensil and urinate in it to show his contempt for the tiger. This is how the name "Huzi" came from. However, when the emperor of the Tang Dynasty sat in the Dragon Court, just because one of his ancestors was named "Li Hu", he changed this disrespectful name to "Zhuzi" or "Mazi", and then it was commonly known as "Toilet". and "pee pot."

Zhao Kuangyin, Emperor Taizu of the Song Dynasty, pacified Sichuan and transported all the utensils in the Houshu Palace back to Bianjing. He found a basin inlaid with agate and jade among them. He couldn't put it down and almost used it to hold wine. Later, Mrs. Huarui, the favorite concubine of Meng Chang, the Lord of Shu, was summoned. When Mrs. Huarui saw this thing being confessed to several cases by the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, she hurriedly said, this is the urinal of the late king! Zhao Kuangyin was so shocked that he screamed: "How can using this kind of urinal prevent the country from subjugation?" He immediately smashed the basin.

It is difficult to distinguish between a urinal and a wine vessel. This is probably a joke caused by the different aesthetic tastes of the ancients. The development of toilets in the Qing Dynasty has shown extremely strong characteristics of human concern. The toilets used by emperors and concubines of the Qing Dynasty were called "guanfang" and were kept by special eunuchs. When necessary, the toilets were passed down to the "guanfang". The "official rooms" used by emperors and concubines were very particular. They were divided into two forms: rectangular and oval, and were made of wood, tin or porcelain. The wooden chamber is rectangular, with a wooden frame on the outside. There is an oval opening on the frame, which is lined with soft cushions and has a lid on the opening. The bedpan can be pulled out like a drawer. Generally, wooden bedpans are equipped with tin linings. Prevent leakage. The tin official chamber is oval in shape, with a wooden lid on the basin and a button in the middle; this kind of bedpan must be used in conjunction with a stool. The stool is relatively short and has an oval opening at the front end. The bedpan is placed underneath and aligned with the round opening. The stool had a backrest and soft lining, just like today's sofas without armrests. Sitting on it was no worse than today's toilets, except that it couldn't be flushed.

There are sporadic records of Empress Dowager Cixi's "gong" in some historical materials. The Queen Mother said that the official room was to be announced, so several palace maids went to prepare separately. One went to call the eunuch in charge of the official room, one went to get the bedding, and the other went to get toilet paper. The Queen Mother's palace is made of sandalwood, and the appearance is carved like a big gecko. The four legs of the gecko are the four legs of the palace. The gecko's bulging belly is the basin of the palace, the tail is the back handle, the lower jaw is the front handle, and the mouth is slightly open. , the toilet paper is placed in it. There is a lid in the middle of the gecko's back. After opening it, you can sit on it and "go out". There is dried rosin wood fine powder in the official room. The eunuch should carry the official chamber wrapped in a yellow cloth cover embroidered with clouds and dragons on his head and send it to the door of the Queen Mother's palace. After saying hello, he will open the yellow cloth cover, take out the official chamber, and carry it to the clean room (the clean room is usually located in the On the right side of the bed in the bedroom, there are one or two small doors on the open side. Inside is a narrow passage less than one meter wide, specially used for defecation. Then put the tissue paper into the gecko's mouth; after the queen mother was done, the maid took it out and handed it to the eunuch. The eunuch still wrapped it in a cloth cover, raised it to his head and pushed it out. After removing the dirt, scrubbed it clean and put in new dry rosin. Wood fine powder, wait for next use.

Although it can be done in the palace, it cannot be so cumbersome during the journey. It is not convenient to carry horses and carriages all the way. We don’t need to worry about this, someone has already thought about it for the Queen Mother and Lafayette. In March 1903, Cixi wanted to take a train to show her prestige in the name of paying a respectful visit to Xiling (in the west of Yixian County, Hebei Province). In the bedroom, there is a special iron bed facing the car window. The bed is equipped with bedding and pillows and is surrounded by a curtain. There is a door on one side of the bed, which opens into a bucket for defecation.

The bottom of the bucket is covered with yellow sand, and then mercury is poured into it, so that the feces falls into the bucket without leaving any trace. The outside of the barrel is covered with palace brocade and satin, making it look like an embroidered pouf.

Qing historian Meng Sen’s description is: “…the carriage is equipped with iron beds, mattresses, pillows and quilts. The original couches on the float are not used, because smoking opium smoke is not the reason for the discomfort. The bed is placed horizontally. Surround the car window with a curtain. If the bed is slightly high, cut off its feet and move the bed surface higher. Open a door on the side of the bed, which is a Ruyi bucket. It is also a toilet container at the bottom. Store yellow sand, pour mercury on it, and the feces will fall into the mercury without leaving a trace. The outside is covered with palace brocade and satin, forming an embroidered pier. The body is also covered with yellow velvet, and the inside is covered with satin. , which can be regarded as the pinnacle of high-end sanitary equipment at that time.

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^_^ Hope to adopt it, thank you. .