Tour audio Ancient China

Chinese civilization is one of the oldest civilizations in the world (2-1 thousand years BC).

In the two thousand years BC, when the Bronze Age was already in full swing in other parts of the world, the Chinese only invented bronze. The Shang dynasty put the beginning of the Metal Age. The capital of Shang was defined in the Yin area, which occupies an exceptional place among the ancient Chinese cities.

The city had both residential and industrial buildings. The main buildings stood on stone foundations, and the residential had a wooden frame with a clay filling. The houses of wealthy citizens were supplied with water flowing through wooden gutters and clay pipes. Each pipe had a diameter of 20 cm and a length of 40-50 cm. The connection was provided by ceramic elements.

The Chinese believed that the space for sleeping, eating and working should not be far from cleaning the body. Such attitude towards the toilet prompted the Chinese to create simple toilets. Usually it was a pit with several boards on top. So the tradition has developed to relieve “squatting”. A wooden box, a clay or metal container was placed in the pit, which was cleaned after filling. The Chinese believed that “squatting” was more natural. In this position, the vessels are not overwhelmed and the blood circulates freely, and it is useful for bowel movements.

The toilet in China was considered a place with negative energy, so all the toilets were outdoor, they were not even in the houses of reach Chinese. Toilets, baths and urinals were brought to the hall for the inhabitants of the imperial court, and after the trial they were immediately taken outside the building.

Excrement was widely used as a fertilizer, later as a raw material for the production of biological gas, electricity. Toilet tradition in China is a combination of a toilet and a pigsty. Even today, this tradition persists in some areas.

The Zhou dynasty (1122 - 249 BC) replaced the Shang dynasty. A characteristic feature of Zhou is the construction of drainage systems that could be used to divert water that threatened cities during heavy rains and floods.

Ceramic pipes were used in the construction of drainage channels. During the 770 years of the Zhou dynasty, Chinese society took a big step forward: tillage and irrigation techniques improved, crafts and trade, science and art developed.

A bright attraction of China is a night pot - urinal. But its shape has nothing to do with an ordinary pot. Originally it had the shape of a tiger. Why a tiger? In ancient times, people were afraid of a tiger and considered it a disgusting animal. According to the legend, a general of the Han dynasty named Li Guang and his younger brother hunted on the northern slope of Mount Yanshan. From afar they saw a tiger lying. Li Guan killed the tiger with one bow. Then they made a pot for a small need in the shape of a tiger to show their hatred and contempt for this beast. So to conquer the predator and take over him, the pots were made in the shape of a tiger.

The materials from which urinals were made were various: clay, copper, porcelain. They were so popular and loved by their owners that after death, urinals were placed in their graves. There is even the monument to the national urinal in Chinese city Hualien.

Interestingly, at the turn of the twentieth - twenty-first centuries in Beijing, the tomb of Chinese Prince Liang Xiao was found. The age of this tomb is more than 2 thousand years. This underground palace with many rooms also had a 2-square-meter toilet. On one side of the stone toilet there is a wide armrest, and behind on the wall - a device to flush water. Therefore, we can assume that the first toilet was invented in the 2nd century BC in China.