About the problem of people bathing and washing their hair in ancient times

In chronological order, the bath products used in ancient China are:

Rice water---Qin and Han Dynasties (plant ash used for laundry, containing alkali)

Saponaria Hebaodou---Wei and Jin Dynasties

Zhuling---a little later

Yizi----Ming and Qing Dynasties

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The following are various supplies Introduction:

Polyporus: It is used by wealthy people. Some spices are added to Polyporus, which will give it a stronger aroma after use.

Saponaria: Ordinary people use saponin to wash their hair.

After checking the information, I found that ancient people were much more hygienic than we imagined. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, they had formed the habit of washing their hair once every three days and bathing once every five days. So much so that the one day off given by the government every five days is also called "holiday". "Hai Lu Suishi Shishi Officials and Bureaucrats" records that "Han Law stipulates that people are given a break to bathe every five days, and they can return to bathing and go out to pay homage."

Bath beans: Before the Song Dynasty, when washing the face, cleansing hands, and bathing the body , there is no lump of "soap", but "bath beans" are used. Bath beans are precisely ground into fine powder as the main ingredient.

"A Thousand Gold Prescriptions" by Sun Simiao of the Tang Dynasty introduced a number of "bath bean" manufacturing recipes for "washing noodles", most of which used "white bean noodles", "big bean noodles" and "soybean powder". "Waiting for various bean noodles. It can be seen from these formulas that the production of "bath beans" is extremely particular. In addition to minced beans, pig pancreas, saponins, etc. are also used to enhance the effectiveness of removing oil and scale. In addition, precious spices are indispensable. few. After processing these various raw materials, dry them, pound them into powder, and blend them together carefully to get the finished product.

Yizi:

Based on the process of making "bath beans", sugar is added during the grinding process of pig pancreas, and soda ash is used instead of soybean powder, and then melted After the lard and spices are evenly mixed, press them into balls or blocks, and it's ready. Its chemical composition is similar to today's soap. In North my country and Northeast China, pancreatic juice is mainly used. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 70 pancake shops in Beijing. It was only after the rise of the new soap industry that soap gradually replaced soap. Until the 1950s, there were still old snack shops such as Hexianglou and Huahanchong outside the Qianmen of Beijing. Among them, Hexianglou was opened in the fourth year of Chongzhen in the Ming Dynasty (1631 AD). In addition, "soap" made from saponin solution, etc. is also customarily called "pancreas". Chapter 37 of "The Heroic Biography of Sons and Daughters": "Tell the little girl to scoop up a basin of cold water and pour it on his hands first on the left and on the right... and also made some osmanthus soap and rose soap. . ”

The pancreas in the Tang Dynasty also functions as chilblain ointment. The higher-end ones are called "facial medicine" and "mouth grease", which are used to coat the face and mouth. The palace will issue it to officials in winter. Du Fu's "La Ri" said, "The fat in the mouth and the medicine in the mouth follow the grace, and the green tubes and silver poppies fly down to the sky." This is what is said. Winter labor protection supplies were also developed in ancient times.

Rice water:

As early as the pre-Qin to Qin and Han dynasties, people already knew how to "use local materials" and obtain "cleaning liquid" for facial cleansing and washing without spending extra money. Used. "Book of Rites·NeiZe" says: "Mu is used for millet and horseshoe crab." Kong Yingda of the Tang Dynasty said: "Mu is for washing hair; horseshoe crab is for washing face. Take Jiliang for Panhan." It turns out that the ancients simply used the "Pan juice" of grains to wash their face and hair. The so-called "Pan juice" is actually nothing special, but the rice water we commonly use today. According to records in "Historical Records: A Family of Wife and Relatives", when Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty's Queen Dou was young, her younger brother Dou Anguo was bought by a human trafficker because of her poor family. When they were separated, Dou once begged for rice pan (rice water) from others. Wash your brother's hair. To this day, many people still believe that rice water is effective in cleaning the skin. Next time you cook rice, you may want to consider whether you should let the rice water drain away gently?

Soapwood:

Soapwood, also called honey locust, is the fruit of the leguminous plant, the honey locust tree. The "Shen Nong's Materia Medica" of the Han Dynasty has already listed this very common plant as medicinal. Saponin contains saponin, and its aqueous solution can generate foam and has decontamination properties. At that time, there were already shops selling honey locust in the society, which shows that it was widely adopted by people at that time. Among various types of soap locust, "pig tooth soap locust" is of the lowest quality, with weak decontamination ability and no moisture at all; "soap locust" has strong decontamination ability and has a strong smell. Later, people further pounded the honey locusts with the seeds removed and made them into balls, as big as oranges, for face and body washing, commonly known as "soap balls." Its preparation method is also recorded in Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" in the Ming Dynasty: "Pick the pods in October, boil and mash them, mix them with white flour and various incense to make pills, bathe the body and face to remove dirt and make them greasy and moisturizing, which is better than honey locust." Compared with today's soaps, they are quite similar in shape.

There are also some other bath products that began to be used around the early Ming Dynasty

Alkali: Alkali is sodium carbonate crystal (still in use today during the Ming and Qing Dynasties)

< p>Tea bran (commonly known as tea seed cake): Tea bran is a by-product of rapeseed oil extraction. The juice extracted by mashing it and leaching it with water contains saponin, which also has a good descaling effect.