What daily necessities were used for bathing in ancient times?

As early as three thousand years ago in the Zhou Dynasty, people discovered and used rice juice (rice washing water or sorghum rice washing water) as a bath detergent. This kind of rice washing water was also called "Xi rice water", "Pan" or "Pan juice" in ancient times. In the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, this kind of "plate" was often used.

2. "Gleditsia sinensis"

This kind of Gleditsia sinensis is sometimes called "Gleditsia sinensis". This Baidu encyclopedia is very detailed. Gleditsia sinensis was applied to medicinal materials in Han Dynasty. In Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, people began to bathe with this kind of thing, and there were even shops selling Gleditsia sinensis. This was still used in the Tang and Song Dynasties. It was also in the Song Dynasty that the ancients discovered a new vegetable and fruit detergent called "fat beads". The fruit is round and black. Soaking in water will produce more bubbles, which is a bit like soap.

I remember when I was a child, I asked my grandmother in my hometown what they used to wash clothes when there was no washing powder. My grandmother said "Gleditsia sinensis".

3. "bath beans"

About the Han Dynasty, a bathing agent called "bath bean" appeared, which was probably made by grinding pig pancreas into paste and mixing it with bean powder and spices. Because pig pancreas is not easy to extract, it is generally only used in wealthy families, and it is rare in private families. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, some people didn't know what bath beans were, so they just played around. This kind of bath bean was a specialty of the nobility in the Song Dynasty, and it is said that it can also be made into facial cleanser and the like. Technological innovation in Ming and Qing dynasties, sugar, animal fat, etc. It was added to make a block, and people began to use it, but it was renamed "pancreas".

4. "soap"

Some people invented soap in the Song Dynasty, but the main raw material was Gleditsia sinensis, which was made into the size of an orange, also called "soap ball". There is a description of jasmine soap in Jin Ping Mei, and there were shops selling soap in Ming Dynasty. However, this soap is also used by wealthy families. By the middle of the Qing Dynasty, soap gradually became popular in the society, and many names were like "pancreatic soap, jade-nourishing pancreatic soap, double soap" and so on.

This is what I recorded in the book Bathing Culture in China. You can download it from the internet if you are interested. The writer is Yin Wei Ren Mei.