In ancient my country, there are records of using bamboo boards to wipe the buttocks: the bamboo was cut with a knife to be more than a foot long, two fingers wide, and the end was relatively rounded like a tongue, so it would not cause pain when wiping the PP. Wealthy people will also carve flowers, birds, fish and insects on the handle (calligraphers who have inscribed them are even better, and they are popular in the cultural market. Counterfeiting is a skill...) After use, rinse them in a basin and put them away. In a bamboo tube.
The toilets in farmhouses in Shandong Kerali, Guangdong, are made by squatting on the ground on a wooden shelf more than half a meter high. After using the toilet, you fold a few bamboo blanks. The most common one is for weaving garbage shovels. The scraps of bamboo blanks are thinner than those of the ancients. You need to be careful when using them. After cleaning them, shovel some plant ash into the bucket in the corner to cover them. If there is not so much plant ash, you can just use dry soil [it is fertilizer anyway]. Cover it up, look. Once you see if there is any clue, leave.
Producing hemp rope [brown rope? ], the content of life in this place seems simpler and more interesting: there are two wooden stakes erected on the ground in the toilet, and hemp ropes are tied at both ends. After defecating, they step on the ropes and rub it all over [so they take off their pants before going to bed] ], each family member has his own piece of rope. It is said that there is still such a folk custom in modern Korea, and when a piece of rope becomes too smooth and loses its effectiveness, the family will save it and take it out during festivals and put it in the ancestor's house. Burn on the incense table.
Although Guangdong is far away from the Central Plains, it has preserved more folk heritage than the birthplace of Chinese civilization. What is the reason for this? What did the ancient Chinese use to wipe away dirt after going out? The Hong Kong TV series "Looking for Qin" raises this question. There is a plot in the play: Hong Kong special policeman Xiang Shaolong was sent to Zhao State in the Warring States Period by a time shuttle. He stayed overnight in a resident's house and needed to go to the toilet. Xiang Shaolong asked the old man for "toilet paper". The old man was confused and didn't know where he was. Things, Xiang said: "How to wipe your butt"? The old man picked up a piece of bamboo from the side of the latrine and said, "This is it! Please use it as you like." Seeing this makes people laugh. Yes, what did the ancients use to wipe their butts? This article traces the history of the ancient customs of eradicating filth from recent times to distant times.
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Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties - the rough paper era:
People in the Qing Dynasty used paper to wipe dirt. There are many documents to prove it. Here are just a few. An example. "Dream of Red Mansions" contains a passage about Grandma Liu having diarrhea: "Grandma Liu felt a rumbling noise in her abdomen, and she hurriedly pulled a little girl, asked for two pieces of paper, and then undressed. Everyone laughed and shouted at him: "Here is the use?" No! I asked a woman to take Dongbei up." This description shows that during Cao Xueqin's life, people in both the Grand View Garden and the countryside were already using toilet paper to wipe away their filth.
The imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty had an organization specifically responsible for logistics, called the "Four Divisions". "The Secretary of Cherishing the Firewood is responsible for the fuel used; the Secretary of Bells and Drums is responsible for the bells and drums of the imperial court, as well as internal music, legends, brocades, rice beating and other miscellaneous performances; the Secretary of Baochao is responsible for making thick and fine papyrus; the Secretary of Huntang is responsible for bathing." . Among them, the Baochao Department is the department in charge of toilet paper.
So, what kind of paper did people use at that time? So we also need to understand the types of paper in ancient China. "Tiangong Kaiwu" written by Song Yingxing during the Ming and Qing Dynasties recorded: "Any paper made of Pu tree bark, mulberry leaves, hibiscus membrane and other materials is called leather paper. Those made of bamboo and hemp are called bamboo paper. The fine ones are extremely white, and are used for writing, sealing, and printing. The coarse ones are used for burning paper and wrapping paper." It is also recorded: "Seventeen of this paper (fire paper) is for burning in the dark, and thirteen is for daily use." It can be seen that paper is divided into "hide paper" and "bamboo paper" due to different raw materials. However, no matter what kind of paper, it can be divided into "fine" and "coarse". Among them, the fine ones are used for writing, and the coarse ones are 100% Seventy percent is used to burn sacrifices to ghosts and gods, and 30% is used for daily necessities.
After distinguishing the types of paper, we also need to know that China has a long tradition of respecting calligraphy paper. Folklore says that wiping dirt with printed paper will result in retribution. During the Qing Dynasty, a large number of "The Rules of Cherishing Characters" were circulated in society as the sacred laws of heaven formulated by Emperor Wenchang. Today we can still see "The Rules of Cherishing Characters", "The New Edition of Cherishing Characters", and "The Rules of Cherishing Characters" "Zhengchalu", "The Rules of Emperor Wenchang Cherishing Characters", "The Rules of Wenchang Cherishing Characters", etc. Officials even explicitly prohibited printing on paper that might be used to wipe dirt.
"On March 14, 1873, "Shenbao" published news that a woman wiped dirty paper with calligraphy paper and threw it into the toilet. She was struck by lightning and fell to her knees. On December 3 of the same year, Li Zongxi, the governor of Liangjiang, issued an order to all paper shops: No items such as straw paper are allowed. The edge of the paper must be stamped with a font size, and scrapped books and old accounts must not be transformed into resurrection paper to avoid obscenity.”
The earliest records of using toilet paper can be found in the Yuan Dynasty. Before the Tang and Song Dynasties, people used a kind of wood or bamboo chips called "toilet chips". This was probably because the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty were culturally backward and did not have the Han nationality " The consciousness of “respecting the writing paper”. According to historical records, when the "Holy Queen of Emperor Huizong Renyu" Bolan Yeqiechi was the crown prince, she was very filial to her mother-in-law, the "Holy Queen Zhao Ruishun". She wanted to test the softness of the toilet paper on her own face before her mother-in-law wiped the dirt. Degree: "The queen was filial and conscientious in nature, and she did good deeds in the palace. The ancestors always called her a virtuous daughter-in-law. She served the Holy Queen Zhaorui and never left her side. She used paper in the toilet and wiped it with her face to make her soft and smooth."
In summary, it can be seen that during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, people began to wipe away dirt with paper. Most of this paper was "rough" paper without writing. As for whether the toilet paper used in the palace is coarse paper or fine paper, it cannot be determined in detail. I think the princess will not use rough paper to rub her delicate face.
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Tang and Song Dynasties - the era when toilet chips and rough paper were used together:
Toilet chips are also called toilet slips. Simply put, they are used after defecation. Wipe dirty wood or bamboo strips. This type of toilet seat was still used in parts of China and Japan last century.
Recently, Japanese archeology has discovered many ancient toilets. In 1992, during the excavation of the Fujiwara Kyo ruins in Kodono Town, Nara Prefecture, the remains of what is called "Japan's oldest toilet" were discovered. The toilet ruins date back to the late 7th century. "More than 150 pieces of wood were unearthed from the toilet pit" outside the architectural ruins of Shichijo-ichibo in Ukyo, Fujiwara. Similar toilet chips were also found in the Korokan toilet ruins excavated in Fukuoka City from about 720 to 730 AD. A large number of toilet chips were also unearthed from the Yanagi Imperial Palace site in Hiraizumi Town, Iwate Prefecture during the 11th and 12th centuries. Their specifications are "average length 24, width 0.5-0.8, and thickness 0.5 cm." During the Tang and Song Dynasties, China and Japan had close exchanges, and the Chinese lifestyle had a profound impact on Japan. Therefore, these archaeological discoveries in Japan are of great reference value in inferring the wiping tools of the Chinese during the Tang and Song Dynasties. In addition to archaeological evidence, records of the use of toilet chips during the Tang and Song Dynasties are also found in historical records, such as the story of Li Yu in the Southern Tang Dynasty: "The queen and the queen of the Zhou Dynasty wore monk hats and cassocks, recited Buddhist scriptures in class, knelt down and bowed, until they became tumors. "I personally cut off the monk's toilet slips and tried it on my cheeks. If there are few scratches, I will repair them again." "Zizhi Tongjian" records that Han Huang was appointed as the governor of Zhenhai and transported a large amount of materials to Guanzhong, including toilet chips: "The materials and utensils have been filled into the boat, down to the toilet chips, Huang has written them all in hand, everything is meticulous "
The daily rules of monks in the Tang Dynasty also recorded the daily norms of monks. Among them, the law of going to the toilet requires monks to "always have a toilet bag and not to miss it." It also clearly stipulates: "No words may be used to make excuses. Paper". This record proves that monks in the Tang Dynasty used toilet chips to wipe dirt. At the same time, it is very interesting that it is prohibited to use "old writing paper" to wipe dirt. Since it is prohibited, then there must be people doing this in real life, otherwise why is there a ban?
Between the Tang and Song dynasties, paper was not only used for writing, but also for daily use and burning to worship ghosts and gods. The Song Dynasty's "Ai Rizhai Congchao" records that "the deposed emperor of the Southern Qi Dynasty was fond of ghosts and gods, and often cut paper for money, and used it to bundle silk, and there was paper money."; "Tang Shu" Wang Yu's biography: "Since the Han Dynasty, all those buried have money. The use of paper money to pray to gods began in Wangyu." After the Tang Dynasty, records of burning paper money began to appear frequently in historical materials. "Tiangong Kaiwu" records: "In the prosperous Tang Dynasty, when ghosts and gods were busy, paper money was used instead of burning silk. In the north, the cut paper was called cardboard paper. Therefore, the person who made it was called fire paper... This paper is seventeen It is used for burning in the dark, and thirteen for daily use. The thickest and thickest one is called wrapping paper, and the bamboo and hemp and Sutian late rice manuscripts are also used." Since paper for daily use has appeared, it is logical that people use it to wipe away dirt.
Before the Tang Dynasty, there were records of the use of toilet chips, but there is no evidence of using paper to wipe dirt. For example: Emperor Gao Yang of the Northern Qi Dynasty "Although he made Yang Min the prime minister, when he went to the toilet to raise money, he whipped his back with a riding whip, causing blood to stain his robe."
Another example is that Liu Shi, a famous scholar in the Southern Dynasty, "went to Shi Chong to go to the toilet. He saw a big bed with a crimson gauze curtain and beautiful flowers. Two maids were holding brocade sachets. Shi Chong suddenly walked away. He said to Chong: "I accidentally entered the Qing's room. Chong said: "This is the toilet ear. When I go to the toilet, I will go to the maid who is guarding the toilet. I will put the tips in the bag and prepare it."
The Tang Dynasty Buddhist work "Fayuan Zhulin" records: "In the Wu Dynasty, when I was building the back garden of Ye, I got a golden statue. Let's talk about its origin. It is said that it was built by King Yu in the early Zhou Dynasty. It was also built in Jiangfu. How come it is known that since the Qin, Han and Wei dynasties, there has been no such thing as a statue buried in the ground?” If it is true, it is clear evidence that toilet chips were used during the Three Kingdoms period.
The method of using toilet chips was introduced to China with Buddhism. In the early Buddhist scriptures, it is recorded that Sakyamuni instructs monks to use toilet straw: "At that time, the World-Honored One was in the city of Rajagaha. There was a bhikkhu of the Brahmin caste. There was a lot of filth in the toilet. When he went to the toilet, he scraped the toilet with straw. If you keep scraping it, it will break, and the skin will look unpleasant. The bhikkhus asked: "Why are you so haggard and suffering from pain?" , that’s why I’m unhappy’”. In response to this situation, Sakyamuni Buddha said: "When you have started and finished, use a scraper to clean it. If you don't have a scraper, you can't wipe it on the wall, you can't wipe it on the toilet board and beams, you can't use stones, you can't use it. Green grass, clods of earth, soft wood, soft leaves, and exotic trees are not allowed to be used; those used are made of wood, bamboo, and reeds, and the measuring method is: one stick for extremely long ones, and four fingers for short ones. This is the method of using the toilet bag when going to the toilet."
Sakyamuni Buddha lived in the sixth or seventh century BC, and these precepts were written more than a hundred years after his death. Judging from the current literature, the history of using toilet chips in India is much earlier than that in China. Buddhism began to be introduced to China during the Eastern Han Dynasty. At first, only some "Sutras" were introduced, while the "Laws" that made clear requirements for believers' daily life began in the Three Kingdoms. The earliest record of Chinese people using toilet chips also dates from the Three Kingdoms. Since then, the theory that toilet chips were introduced from India is still tenable.