Do ancient people have to wear clothes when taking a bath? Why?

People often wonder, how did you bathe and wash your hair without shower gel and shampoo in ancient times? Let's talk about how ancient people in China used toiletries and shampoo. At that time, primitive people only bathed in the river, and of course there was nothing comfortable and soft. Gradually, in the process of washing, they found that some dirt was rubbed on their hands or bodies, and then washed away with clear water, which was cleaner than before. So the soil became the earliest cleaner. When the hands are stained with oil, rub them with soil and then rinse them with clear water, and the oil can be easily removed. Even now, we rub soil to remove oil stains from gasoline, diesel oil and animals.

Subsequently, people discovered the original alkali and learned to boil it. Ancestors gradually developed the habit of bathing in their lives, which was first seen in Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jinwen in Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Take a shower? Record. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, bathing etiquette was gradually customized. Fasting and bathing has always been an important part of sacrificial ceremonies in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it is managed by full-time officials. This was recorded in Zhou Li. During the Zhou dynasty, people used rice washing water to bathe and decontaminate. It is said that it can not only decontaminate, but also has excellent health care function. This is a cheap and common early bath water. If you are interested, you can find a cloth bag, put some starch, bran and chaff under the faucet of the bathtub, then put hot water in it, and put a full bath, which can cure low back pain, cold hands and feet, rough skin and chilblain.

According to written records, during the Qin and Han Dynasties, people washed clothes and washed their hair with Gleditsia sinensis, including plant ash and Taomi water. In the Western Jin Dynasty, people began to use a kind of bath bean, which was mainly made of bean powder mixed with various drugs, which had the effect of making skin smooth and moist and preventing skin diseases. Its ingredients are all natural raw materials, which can be said to be the earliest facial cleanser.

At that time, people laughed at a person who was rustic, lacked good upbringing and didn't understand the hygiene habits of the upper class. They often said this person? I don't know how to wash beans. . For example, Wang Dun at the turn of the Jin Dynasty, because he was a minister of rebellion, made everyone disgusted, so he had a? A joke? It is widely said that when Wang Dun just married the princess and became her husband, she went to the toilet, and the maid of the princess offered bath beans in a glass bowl for him to use when washing his hands. As a result, Wang Dun mistook bath beans for fried noodles, poured them into a golden basin to wash his hands, and drank them like tea.

Although it was just a joke, it means that the bath beans at that time were. Soap? It has already appeared. ? Bath beans? It is an advanced sanitary cleaning product invented in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Before that, when people washed their hands, the only means to remove oil stains were rice soup, noodle soup and natural saponin. And this period is also in the history of China? Spice discovery? In the era, all kinds of spices from the western regions and the south arrived in the Central Plains, which made the aristocratic life look brand-new. The biggest feature of bath beans is that they are mixed with precious spices and emit elegant fragrance. It is worth noting that the emergence and development of bath beans seems to be related to the prosperity of foreign spice trade since the Han Dynasty.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was very common for the rich to use soap. For example, it is mentioned in Jin Ping Mei that people use it when washing their faces? Jasmine soap? It is also mentioned in a dream of red mansions that it is used when washing in the morning? Soap? . For the record, the ancients? Bath beans? It hasn't completely disappeared. A unique medicated soap, specifically medicated soap, also known as sandalwood soap, appeared in the court of Qing Dynasty according to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine. This kind of soap was deeply loved by Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi. It is not only fragrant, but also has the functions of descaling, beautifying, relieving itching and moistening skin. Especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the folk improved bath beans, mixing and grinding sugar, pig pancreas, lard, spices and other ingredients in proportion, heating and pressing to form. so this is it？ Pancreas? . The lard in the pancreas is partially decomposed into fatty acids by lipase, and then saponified by sodium carbonate into real fatty acid soap (the main component of modern soap), which can be said to be only one step away from modern soap.

Therefore, don't think that ancient times were backward and there was no such funny problem as bathing and dressing. They also have cosmetics.