It is an indisputable fact that the ancient people in China have long been aware of contraception. On the one hand, it is recorded in China's oldest geographical work Shan Hai Jing ·Xi· Shan Jing, which is often interpreted as a myth.
At that time, there was a plant called Kuirong, which grew on the mountain in Gui Zhong, the source of Hanshui River. It looks like grass. If a woman eats sunflower seeds by mistake, she will lose her fertility. This is the so-called "food makes people childless". If people didn't have the concept of contraception at that time, they wouldn't have such an experience.
In ancient China, there were many contraceptive methods commonly used by the people, the most important of which was to take a contraceptive measure similar to taking Tanrong for sterilization.
There are many records of this kind of prescription in ancient Chinese medicine books. For example, the "silkworm old paper contraceptive method" is one of the contraceptive methods that most ancient people believe in. Silkworm moth eggs are burnt to ashes after hatching, which can be used for contraception.
Old silkworm paper has many names, such as "old silkworm cloth" and "old silkworm paper return". This method of contraception was first seen in Chen's Essays on Women's Door in the Southern Dynasties, in which "a woman wants to terminate her childbirth" means using old silkworm paper: "So spread it one foot square, burn its crumbs, and take it with wine for life."
"Silkworm paper contraception" has been highly praised by doctors in past dynasties, and Chinese medicine has been used in clinic until modern times, and it has been tried and tested repeatedly. For example, the late modern Chinese medicine expert Feng mentioned that his father used this prescription when he was practicing medicine.
At that time, a woman in her thirties in Daxian County, Sichuan Province almost died because of continuous dystocia and decided not to give birth. So she asked Feng's father for contraceptive methods, and Feng's father prescribed this prescription. After taking it, the woman did not give birth again for seven or eight years.
After the Tang and Song Dynasties, there were many birth control pills. Contraceptive prescriptions are listed in ancient Chinese medicine books, such as Wang Dao's Secret Recipe of Foreign Taiwan, Sun Simiao's Thousand Women, and Chen's Good Recipe for Women in the Southern Song Dynasty.
In ancient China, many children were believed, and contraception was not advocated or even prohibited. But there is a group of people who should try not to get pregnant, that is, prostitutes as the saying goes. In fact, prostitutes rarely got pregnant in the past, because they started contraception at the beginning of their careers, and many people were sterilized for life. Of course, most of them are "contraception".
There are many contraceptives used by prostitutes, such as "Wudu Decoction". Because of its great toxicity, it may cause lifelong infertility after taking it, which is called "poison". Many of these soups contain mercury. "Qian Jin Fang Fu Fang" (Volume III) records the method of using mercury for contraception-
"Don't worry about frying mercury for a day and eating a jujube on an empty stomach. It will never hurt anyone. "
Mercury is highly toxic and may lose its fertility forever, but the statement that it is harmless is not true. Modern medicine has proved that mercury can not only prevent pregnancy, but also lead to abortion. If it is taken in excess, it will kill you. According to legend, in order not to arouse the instinctive resistance of prostitutes, most pimps in ancient brothels secretly mixed mercury into their tea, which made prostitutes lose their fertility unconsciously.
In addition to taking conventional contraceptives, ancient brothel women often used folk remedies for contraception, and "tadpole contraception" was one of them. This contraceptive method is very simple, that is, eating live tadpoles, until modern times. For example, in Zhenjiang brothels during the Republic of China, every year when tadpoles were born in early spring, pimps sent people to catch live tadpoles and forced prostitutes to swallow them. It is said that if swallowed, it will stop menstruation and achieve the purpose of contraception.
However, the pharmacology of tadpole contraception has not been recognized by modern medicine. Similarly, letting prostitutes swallow leeches (leeches) and grubs for contraception may be the legendary "cold medicine" contraception.
Actually, it's not bad to give contraceptives to prostitutes. Some pimps don't want to spend money on medicine, so they simply force prostitutes to stop menstruation and contraception by forcing them to sit in a cold water basin and drink cold salt water during menstruation.