"The little lord is overjoyed, and the emperor gave the nobles a bath in the Tangquan Palace. ”
There is such a clip in "The Legend of Zhen Huan", Zhen Huan took a bath in Tangquan Palace, and the emperor came in after a while, at that time, Zhen Huan had no palace maids around to serve, and there was no shower gel and soap on the side of Tangquan, what did Zhen Huan use to bathe? What should ordinary people do if they don't have a soup spring at home?
Inventory of the bathing utensils of the ancients
As early as ancient times, human beings have had the behavior of bathing, perhaps derived from animal instinct, when the body is stained with filth, primitive people on the edge of rivers and lakes to wash their bodies, if they encounter a pond with small water flow, maybe they will jump directly into the bath.
Gradually, primitive man discovered that mud had a cleansing effect, and the places on the body stained with mud were washed more cleanly, although the principle was not known, but the wise primitive man retained this habit.
Later, trona and plant ash replaced the position of soil, especially plant ash, which was easier to rinse and more convenient to take than soil, in addition to bathing, the ancients also used plant ash to wash clothes.
"Zuo Biography": "Pan Mu who leaves the disease behind", the "Pan" here is the rice water, in the Spring and Autumn Period, people found that the rice water also has a good cleaning ability, after the rice water is heated, the ancients often used it to wash their hair and face, until now, there are still people using rice water to remove dirt.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, the fruit of the honey locust tree was discovered, that is, the soap horn, the soap horn was collected and dried, and the juice of the soap horn was mixed into the water to wash the hair, of course, if you rub it directly by hand, it will also produce foam, and the ancients used these foams to clean the body.
Sun Simiao: "Use your hands to wash your face, ten days like snow, thirty days like clotted fat", wash your hands and wash your face with it, ten days will be as white as snow, and the skin will become white and delicate after 30 days, Sun Simiao described another cleaning invention of the ancients: bath beans, bath beans are not naturally formed by soaphorn, bath beans are made by the ancients using bean powder and medicinal materials, so they are expensive and cannot be used by non-rich people.
During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the famous pig pancreas was born, the raw material came from the pancreas of pigs, mixed with plant ash, because pigs were not welcomed in ancient times, so compared with bath beans, the price of pig pancreas was lower, and the common people could also afford it.
In the Song Dynasty, when the commodity economy was developed, Zhejiang appeared "fat beads", also called "soap", but this soap is not the same as the soap processed and manufactured by modern processing, and the soap used by the Song people is still made from natural honey locusts, and traditional Chinese medicine and spices.
Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica": "In October, the pods are picked, cooked and mashed, and the white flour and incense are used as pills, bathing the body, removing dirt and greasy, which is better than honey locusts." ”
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, soap that is better than soap appeared, according to Li Shizhen's records, there are many people who try it and sell it for profit, because of pig pancreas, some people also call soap fragrant pancreas, but because the production cost is somewhat high, ordinary people really can't afford it.
After taking a shower, in modern times we will apply creams and body lotions to take care of the skin, which were naturally not available in ancient times, but rich and noble families have their own cosmetics.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, "nail decoction powder, Shen Xiang juice" was often used to wipe hands and paint faces, and was generally made by mixing the powder of seasonal flowers burned into ashes with Chinese medicinal materials and wax, which could be used as lipstick.
In the Tang Dynasty, there was also facial oil, which could be applied after washing the face to protect the skin from freezing and cracking.
Compared with winter, it is easier to sweat in the hot weather in summer, the ancients would rub a talcum powder called "English powder" after taking a bath, which can cover the smell of sweat and make the skin slippery, the raw materials are talcum powder, traditional Chinese medicine, spices, and many literati have also recorded the powder.
Tang Dynasty Han Hao's "Day and Sleep" cloud: "The powder adds more fragrance and smoothness, and the clothes are only red when you undress." ”
Song Dynasty He Zhu "Little Heavy Mountain" words: "Thin evening Gu Lan soup, snow skin English powder greasy, more fragrant." ”
During the Yuan and Ming dynasties, the ancients invented "rose dew", which is similar to today's flower water, which was applied to the body after bathing, and the fragrance of rose flowers exuded all over the body.
Where did the ancients bathe?
In costume dramas, if there is a bathing scene, then the protagonist generally has the following three choices: bathtub, bath, and river.
Let's talk about the river first, this situation is suitable for the situation that you can't find a place to stay during the march, escape in the wilderness or go out to travel, especially on the way to the march, the soldiers must sweat a lot every day in training, thousands or tens of thousands of people take a bath together, if they are all boiled with hot water, they generally go to the nearby river to wash.
In addition to these circumstances, the general people are washed with a bathtub, as early as the Shang and Zhou dynasties, there was already a special bathtub for bathing, at that time the prevalent bronze utensils, even the bathtub is bronze, the first monarch of the Shang Dynasty into the soup with the bronze bathtub is called "soup plate", on the soup plate, into the soup specially engraved with a famous saying: "Gou day new, day by day, day by day, and day by day."
Chengtang engraved it on the bathtub, there are two meanings, the first is the superficial meaning: if you can take a bath every day, then every day is clean, to ensure the habit of bathing every day, and the second layer is the deep meaning: to constantly remind yourself to reflect in time and continue to innovate.
It's a pity that the bathtub of Chengtang is still lost in the long river of history after all, but fortunately, the bathtub of Ji Zibai of the Zhou Dynasty still survives in the world, and it also records that its owner Ji Zibai defeated the Huns, and King Xuan commended him, which has a great reference for historical research.
After the fall of the Shang Dynasty, bronze products gradually withdrew from daily necessities, taking the bathtub as an example, the original bronze bathtub was changed to a wooden bathtub, and the conditional people also added a special bathroom, of course, the bathtub was still too small for the emperor, when Qin Shi Huang, he ordered the construction of a bath, the bath was built in the palace, the place was wide, and it was not a problem to accommodate several people to take a bath together at the same time.
Some people may wonder how to replace the hot water in the baths of the ancients, whether it is necessary to manually use buckets to transport back and forth, do not underestimate the ancients, the bottom of the bath in the Qin Dynasty already had floor drains and water pipes for drainage, and there was a heating fireplace in winter to ensure that bathing was worry-free.
In addition to the imperial palace, there is also a place to build a large-capacity bath early, that is, the temple, especially in the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the temple is numerous, and the bath is also established, according to records, there is a large bathroom in the back garden of a temple in Luoyang, which is built into a bath with huge stones, and the well is not far from the bath, that is, where the bathing water source is.
"Spring cold bath Huaqing pool, hot spring water slippery wash gelatin", the ancient baths mostly use well water, although the fireplace can be used for heating in winter, but after all, the well water needs to be heated, there are many baths in the Tang Dynasty are based on natural hot springs, and the building is covered outside, and there is no need to take a hot bath in winter.
In Bai Juyi's "Song of Long Hatred", Tang Xuanzong was infatuated with Yang Guifei in his later years, vacant the three thousand beauties in the harem for her alone, and he didn't care so much about the major affairs of the court and politics, he only knew how to have fun with Yang Guifei all day long, and Bai Juyi used hot spring bathing to show the treatment of Yang Guifei, and at the same time set off Yang Guifei's beauty.
Tang Xuanzong found that there are many natural hot springs on Lishan, so he ordered to build a lot of hot spring baths, except for the emperor's special imperial soup, the others are for the concubines to bathe, a total of more than a dozen, there are lotus soup, begonia soup, star soup, Shangshi soup, etc., different baths are different in scale, the decoration patterns are also different, there are silver building lacquer boats and white fragrant wood boats on the water, the boat oars are also decorated with pearls and jade, extremely luxurious.
In the Tang Dynasty, the construction of hot springs was very exquisite, and craftsmen placed the water connection under the bath, and whenever the water was changed, the pool water flowed, and sometimes the jewelry would flow out, and the people living downstream could improve their lives after picking it up.
The life of the emperor is often not a reference, what is really worth exploring is the life of the people, before the Song Dynasty, the people could only boil water at home at most, and in the Song Dynasty, with the development of the commodity economy, there was gradually a bath dedicated to serving the people, regardless of whether they were high or low, as long as they paid for the service.
When there are more and more public baths, special guilds are set up, called "perfume shops", generally there will be a kettle hanging in front of the door of the bath as a sign, see this kettle, the people will know that this room is a public bath, each bath is equipped with special service staff, they or rub their backs, or pedicures, or massages, of course, these services are required to add money.
Su Shi once wrote a poem that reads: "Send a message to rub people's backs, and work hard to wave elbows all day long." Light hands, light hands, lay people are innocent. ”
The commercial thinking of the people of the Song Dynasty can be seen from the extension of the bath, in addition to bathing, they also sold noodle soup, that is, hot face wash in the morning.
During the Yuan Dynasty, the public bath was diversified, in addition to hot water but also added cold water, because Mongolians lived in the steppe since childhood, hot water is rare, taking cold showers has become a habit, Mongolians think that taking cold showers is better for the body.
Other uses of bathing for the ancients
In addition to cleansing the body, the ancients also gave more connotation to bathing, and the "Zhou Li" stipulated: "There is no common well inside and outside, and there is no common bath." ”
During the Han and Tang dynasties, the state set the time for officials to rest at the time of bathing, and officials rested every five days.
Bathing was also considered a necessary procedure for major ceremonies and sacrifices, especially the ancient emperors, who were reminded by the ceremonial officials to fast and bathe as a sign of sincerity.
In order to prevent candidates from bringing cheat sheets into the examination room to cheat, the "Golden History" recorded that candidates at that time had to take off all their clothes and take a bath in a special place before entering the examination room, and then put on the clothes provided by the government after taking a bath, but this rule was later abolished.
As a result, although the ancients did not have shower gel and soap, they had cleaning utensils such as plant ash, bath beans, and pig pancreas, and although ordinary people could not use hot spring baths like the emperor, they could use bathtubs at home and spend money outside to bathe in public baths.
References:
1. National Party Media Information Public Platform 2021-08-10——"In ancient times without shower gel, how should people wash themselves?"
2. Encyclopedic knowledge 2013-06-01——"The Ancients Bathing Fun Talk"