The comfort and beauty of the bathroom are an indispensable part of today's space transformation, and the ancients also paid great attention to the Feng Shui considerations of the place where the grains are reincarnated.
So, compared with today's clean and tidy bathrooms, what kind of environment was the ancient toilet? Why were the toilets in ancient times so terrifying that even the king drowned in the septic tank? Why do nobles urinate and defecate anywhere?
Side evidence of human progress
China has a large population, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the world's total population. With such a large population, you can imagine the amount of excretions of people. However, today, there will never be a single excretion on the streets of China's metropolis, small counties and small villages. This is due to the wisdom of China's ancestors and a complete social system.
Thousands of years ago, people were freely excreted on the ground. After being shameful, people will dig a hole on the ground, then drain the excrement into the pit, and finally bury the excrement.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, people would build a simple house on a large pit to use as a toilet. There are wooden boards and stone slabs supported between the toilet and the large pit, and there is a large gap between the wooden boards or stone slabs to facilitate discharge of waste into the large pit.
to Han Dynasty , people built toilets diagonally above the pigpen. After people went to the toilet, the excrement above the pigpen was directly discharged into the pigpen for consumption. This not only did not waste it, but it would not cause environmental pollution to a certain extent.
However, although feces can be used as fertilizer for crops, it also contains a large amount of bacteria. After pigs eat human feces for a long time, some parasites will also parasites on pigs, causing diseases. People will also affect their health after eating pigs that are sick by eating feces.
After the long development of feudal society, people not only had outdoor toilets in their homes, but later, there was a convenient room pot for carrying.
In ancient times, the temperature difference between day and night was extremely large, and it was very cold at night. If you go outdoors to use the toilet rashly at night, you may get sick. Therefore, a chamber pot that can be placed indoors and facilitates the use of toilets at night has been invented and used.
The chamber pot has a large diameter and is convenient for people to use. There is also a certain space inside the chamber pot, which is convenient for the storage of excrement.
The ancient royal family valued rules and decentness. The toilet, a place where excrement exists, could not be built in the palace compound.
For example, People are often curious about the Forbidden City, as the former royal palace, with a population of hundreds, so why there is no toilet on the ground ? This is why.
So, how do people in the royal family go to the toilet?
In the palace, there is a royal special official room, which means the official room is used by people in the palace. In the form of a seat, with a soft cushion on the top, a large round mouth in the middle, and a toilet with a potty at the bottom. There are wood ash or various spices in the pot. After the excrement is discharged into the potty, the wood ash or various spices will immediately cover the excrement, and the spices will emit a fragrance and will not have a odor throughout the room.
This is the official room used by the emperor and concubines. The official room of the eunuchs and maids is basically a wooden barrel with a lid, and it is also covered with wood ash.
And from modern times to the present, cities are full of tall buildings, and flush toilets have emerged. After people go to the toilet, press the flush button and immediately there will be a stream of water to wash away the excrement, which is both clean and hygienic.
Decades have passed, and the flush toilet has also developed into the current smart toilet . It not only flushes quickly, but also comes with a toilet cleaning function, but also adjusts to a comfortable temperature according to changes in the body's body temperature, so that people will not feel cold when sitting on the toilet.
The changes in toilet tools, the use of toilets, from the initial function to the present, both tasteless, comfortable, beautiful and privacy, is a side proof of the progress of human civilization. The tragedy in the evolution of
Just as the level of security of the helmet is getting higher and higher, it is the experience obtained by the sacrifice of countless lives. The improvements in toilets may also be related to accidental drowning in the toilet.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, Jin State's 26th monarch - Jin Jinggong . His death was extremely ridiculous. He accidentally fell into the toilet and drowned while using the toilet.
Some people speculate that the wooden board or stone slab supporting the human body may suddenly break, and Jin Jinggong accidentally fell into the cesspool in the toilet. The feces contain a lot of unpleasant gas, which is particularly soft, and it is very easy to drown when it falls into the cesspool. Some people also speculated that it might be that Duke Jing of Jin suddenly suffered a sudden illness while using the toilet, which caused him to be unstable and accidentally fell into the toilet.
But no matter what kind of speculation it is, it proves that people have risks when going to the toilet in the relatively simple toilets in the Spring and Autumn Period.
In view of the tragic example of King Jing of Jin, the subsequent toilets paid special attention to personal safety in their design.
In ancient times, there was a tragic incident in which the king accidentally drowned in the toilet.
Later, it may be because of the lack of a complete set of sewage discharge systems. In medieval Europe, people also had urination and defecation everywhere. Because in Europe at that time, there were few public toilets on the streets, and people shuttled back and forth on the streets, and there was always time to go to the toilet.
Whenever this time, people will find a place to discharge excrement there at will. Because there are no sewer pipes on the street, people living in European towns will splash the excrement accumulated in their homes on the street at will, and most of the passers-by will suffer.
This is the situation where ordinary Europeans go to the toilet and deal with excrement.
The princes and nobles lived in a large place and were magnificent. For the sake of beauty, no toilet was built. The clothes they wore were large, and the servants would place the hand-heeled potty under their skirts so that they could go to the toilet at any time.
If the situation is urgent, the princes and nobles will also use their wide skirts to hide and find a place to urinate and defecate outdoors where they live.
After a long time later, public toilets appeared on the streets of European countries. In order to clean the inside of the toilet, people would put a bucket in front of the pit, which contained water and a brush to facilitate people to use a brush to clean the inside of the toilet after going to the toilet. However, there are always some residues of excrement inside the pit, and over time, the unpleasant taste can be imagined.
Reasonable use of manure
The ancient Chinese discovered very early that human manure and livestock manure are organic fertilizers that can be used as fertilizer in the fields. Later scientific research also showed that human feces contain three elements: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which are used as fertilizer in crop fields to improve soil fertility.
In order to collect manure, the ancient Chinese gave birth to a special profession - manure picker. The manure pickers go to cities and rural areas to collect manure and then pick it up to the manure factory. The manure factory will divide manure into high-quality manure and inferior manure according to the living standards of people.
Because people find that the rich eat much better than the poor, the excrement is oily, but the price is also high, but for the crops in the fields to have a good harvest, people rush to buy high-quality manure from the rich. Some people have also made a fortune by opening several manure factories.
In ancient times, there were people who specially cleaned the streets, so animals or human feces would not be easily seen on the streets. In the end, these cleaned feces would also be taken to the feces by the manure pickers.
Later people found that collecting feces is also an opportunity to make a fortune, so the competition for the profession of manure picking is becoming increasingly fierce. In order to improve the fierce competition for the profession of manure picking, some regulations were issued by the managers at that time.
For example, divide the area for the manure picker. The manure picker in a region can only be responsible for collecting and cleaning up the feces in the region. If collected across regions, he will be quit his job or fined. The profession of the manure picker can also take the stepfather's business and ensure that the family has a stable source of income.
Since modern times, many public toilets have been built on the streets to facilitate people's emergency response. There has also been a complete drainage system, and cities with special sewage discharge and recycling plants have been installed in all sizes, and the profession of manure picking is gradually declining.
After searching the historical materials, I was surprised to find that the development of toilets is also related to the progress of human civilization. Toilets and feces will also generate a complete circulation system, which is related to the rise and fall of a series of occupations.
People's awareness of civilization has gradually improved, toilet hygiene has gradually been valued by people, and urination and defecation are rarely occurring anywhere. With the continuous improvement of toilets, the occurrence of toilet tragedies has gradually decreased.
