How did the ancients "pay attention to hygiene"?

Recently, Chinese tourists have been criticized for their uncivilized behavior when traveling. In addition to making loud noises in public places, littering, Chinese mothers letting their children pee in the street and other unhygienic phenomena. It has also been criticized. Now, it is the cherry blossom viewing season in Japan. Ueno Park in Tokyo even wants to translate "Five Tips for Cherry Blossom Viewing" into Chinese and distribute it to Chinese tourists? In fact, these uncivilized behaviors not only make foreigners shameless, but also if our ancestors have knowledge underground, Will you be deeply ashamed? China is a "state of etiquette". As early as the pre-Qin period, paying attention to hygiene, not urinating in the open, not spitting, etc. have become people's behavioral norms?

Pre-Qin period? It has become a code of conduct not to defecate anywhere.

The toilet at home is called "Qing" or "媊". The roadside or outdoor public toilet is called "匽"

In ancient China, there was no need to defecate anywhere. There is often zero tolerance for waiting. "Zuo Zhuan? The Third Year of Dinggong" records such an incident: On February 29th in the third year of Dinggong (507 BC), Zhuang Gong, the monarch of the Zhu Kingdom, noticed from a distance that the gatekeeper was washing the courtyard with water. He was very angry and ordered Ask what's going on. "Yi Shegu Xuan Yan", the gatekeeper's answer made Duke Zhuzhuang angry, "Xuan" was just peeing, Yi Shegu urinated in his own courtyard, that's okay! So, Zhu Zhuang Gong sent people to arrest Yi Shegu. Shooting Gu, but not caught. Duke Zhuang was so angry that he jumped out of bed and accidentally fell on the charcoal fire in the furnace. As a result, his skin was burned and ulcerated. Duke Zhuang finally died of the ulcer. This is said to be a special case of someone who sacrificed his life in ancient times to fight against open urination. Duke Zhuang's strong reaction to Yi Shegu's "very rude" and disrespectful behavior not only reflects how clear the attitude of the people at that time was against open excretion, but also goes hand in hand with the ancients' emphasis on environmental sanitation and hygiene in their homes. It doesn’t matter if you pay attention to it.

In fact, judging from the fact that China invented the toilet a long time ago, it is an indisputable historical fact that China has been opposed to open defecation since ancient times. In the pre-Qin period, people called toilets "Qing (Qing)" or "圊", and they were mostly located at home. Another word, "彽", is also a kind of toilet, which is mostly located on the roadside or outdoors for people's convenience. This is the origin of modern public toilets.

Judging from historical data, ancient people were more concerned about hygiene inside and outside their homes than people today. The word "invasion" in the often mentioned word "invasion" refers to the ancient people's cleaning behavior: "invasion" is the combination of "person" + "broom", which means a person holding a broom in his hand, step by step sweep the floor.

This kind of sweeping is gradual, why do we need to sweep slowly? Although the ancients did not know what PM2.5 was, they knew the dangers of dust and were afraid of raising dust when sweeping the floor and polluting the environment again. So scan slowly. In order to reduce dust, the ancients often sprinkled water before sweeping the floor, so the ancients often called sweeping the floor "sprinkling".

An easy-to-carry copper spit pot from the Qing Dynasty

Spitting is considered immoral and disrespectful.

"Book of Rites" Internal Rules "It is stipulated that you cannot spit or blow your nose in the place of your parents, aunts and uncles

Do not spit anywhere, which is also advocated and actively implemented by the ancients. "The Book of Rites" stipulates: "In the home of parents, uncles and aunts, one should not dare to gnaw, sneeze, cough, stretch, lean, look, or spit." The word "dare not spit" here means not to spit anywhere, and "spit" refers to phlegm and nasal mucus.

In the "Book of Rites", "not spitting" is required in accordance with ethical and moral standards, but ancient doctors had a different understanding. Sun Simiao, a medical scientist in the Tang Dynasty, had a point of view in "Baosheng Ming": "Every time you remove the hair in the nose, you should always make a habit of not spitting", which means that you should remove nose hair frequently and develop the habit of not spitting. Although Sun's so-called "frequent habits do not spit" was first proposed for the needs of health and health care, it is objectively beneficial to environmental sanitation and reduces the infection of germs.

Just as the emergence of toilets can prove that ancient people opposed open defecation, the invention of the spittoon is an important physical evidence that ancient people did not spit everywhere. Spittoons, also known as "phlegm pots" by the ancients, are made of various materials such as porcelain, jade, and metal. They have been an essential household appliance as late as the Han Dynasty. According to "Xijing Miscellanies", King Liu of Guangchuan went to steal King Xiang of Wei. When visiting the tomb, a "jade saliva pot" was stolen. By the Qing Dynasty, the phlegm pot had become a "standard accessory" for the royal family.

The spitpots commonly used by the ancients are obviously different from the spittoons common today. Some of them are not placed on the ground. Most of the people who have the conditions can use it at any time by servants. Kong Anguo, a descendant of Confucius, once held a spittoon. According to the "Han Guan Yi" record: During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Kong Anguo was the servant. As a Confucian, he was specially responsible for controlling the saliva pot. ?If necessary, the ancients could hide the spit pot in their long sleeves and take it with them when going out or going to some important occasions.

In ancient times, there were corresponding management methods for spitting on important occasions. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, there was a special "supervisor". Generally, people such as logistics guards and ceremonial supervisors served as "supervisors". "Da Ming Huidian" records: Supervisors will immediately correct those who cough and spit. The "Manuscript of the Ministry of Rites" written by Yao and Yu of the Ming Dynasty also recorded: Officials are not allowed to spit after entering the Meridian Gate. If they come to serve in front of the emperor, those who are sick and coughing are allowed to leave their duties. ?If you are caught spitting, you will be punished.

For example, when the emperor was worshiping heaven at the Temple of Heaven, spitting was even more taboo: Anyone who drinks alcohol, eats meat, or follows the attendants into the altar and spits on the ground is a sin. ?

Spitting everywhere is not only unhygienic and uncivilized, but also very impolite. If you spit in front of the emperor, it is even more "disrespectful" and may even cause your head to fall off. According to the Biography of Li Li in the Book of Wei, during the reign of Tuoba Gui, Taizu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, General Li Li of the left often spat in front of Tuoba Gui, but Tuoba Gui found a reason to kill him.