2/kloc-What is the difference between the life of people in the 20th century and that of people in ancient China?
Did ancient women shave their bodies?
Compared with their high IQ of keeping pace with the times, China women have not evolved much in shaving their body hair. In fact, a long time ago, ancient women advocated shaving off their eyebrows and then painting them with black pigment ... Yes, women in Kurosawa's movie Chaos like to make their eyebrows a little bit, which is the result of learning from China's ancestors ... In addition, ancient women are also popular in "pulling their faces", that is, pulling out the fine hairs on their faces with thread ... It is said that only men love face, but it seems that this is not the case.
There were 3000 people in the harem of the ancient emperor. Are there really so many?
3000? This is just a conservative figure. The ancient emperors' pursuit of womanhood can be described as tireless. Yang Di, a famous bad king, once wrote to collect beautiful women from all over the world, and even selected 3,000 virgins to enter the palace for his "recreation". Emperor Yang Di is still a piece of cake, and the ranking champion is Tang Xuanzong. Although the love between him and Yang Guifei is described as earth-shattering in ancient books, the number of his lovers is as high as 40 thousand ... Well, it takes more than 65,438+000 years to use up one every day.
The ancients often said that learning to be rich in five cars, how many books can five cars hold?
It should be pointed out that this "car" is a carriage and an ox cart, not a big truck. This word describes how diligent and studious Shi Hui was during the Warring States Period. Every time he goes out, he takes five cars of bamboo slips to read on the road. I wonder if he can feel the rough road. Anyway, this style is enough. There are very few books in these five-car bamboo slips, and probably even the hardcover version of "The View of Ancient Chinese Literature" can't fit. According to this algorithm, any one of us is a rich man with dozens or hundreds of cars.
How often did the ancients usually take a bath? What do they use to wash their hair?
The ancients were much more hygienic than we thought. As early as the pre-Qin period, the ancients "washed their hair for three days and bathed for five days". There was also "taking a rest" in the Han Dynasty, which meant that officials could take a day off to take a bath after working for five days. How can civil servants be treated like this now? Some people even write books because they like to take a bath. This is Xiao Gang, Emperor Jianwen of the Southern Dynasties, and his Bath Sutra. The ancients washed their hair frequently, and often used clean water and natural detergent "Sapindus mukoraiensis" to wash their hair.
The ancients didn't have toilet paper, so what should they use to wipe their ass after going to the toilet?
The ancients probably practiced ninja magic. Before the invention of paper, the ancients used small pieces of wood and bamboo to "scrape" their buttocks, not afraid of scraping hemorrhoids. Even if paper was invented, the ancients would continue to be "ninjas", because China has a tradition of "respecting and cherishing Chinese characters" and paper is expensive, so wiping one's ass with paper is a luxury that does not respect people. Until the Yuan Dynasty, no matter what paper you cherish, Mongolian people treated their ass "gently" from now on.
The ancients didn't have a refrigerator. How could they preserve food?
Who said the ancients didn't have a refrigerator? A "bronze ice guide", the earliest refrigerator found in the world, was unearthed from the Chu Tomb in Ceng Houyi, Suixian County, Hubei Province. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, slaves carved ice cubes in winter and stored them for nobles to drink in summer. Simply put, the ancient "refrigerator" is a box, in which ice cubes are placed, and then food is placed in the middle of the ice cubes to achieve the effect of preservation. However, the previous "refrigerator" was simple and had a single function. Unlike now, refrigerators can even become containers for murderers in thrillers.
How did the ancients predict the weather?
In Shang dynasty, it was a great skill to observe the celestial phenomena by using sensory systems such as eyes and ears, and it was not a problem to mix a higher vocational position in the government. By the Zhou Dynasty, people had learned to predict the weather through the behavior of animals. During the Qin and Han dynasties, the ancients completed the formulation of the twenty-four solar terms. Later, the advent of the lunar calendar was the crystallization of the wisdom of ancestors. The ancients predicted the weather, although there were no sophisticated instruments, but in many cases it was much more reliable than the so-called "weather forecaster" now.
How did ancient women make up?
Make-up is a hobby that women have never changed since ancient times. The three magic weapons most commonly used by ancient women are: Dai Fen, makeup powder and rouge. Dai is a black mineral, which can be ground into powder and then mixed with water for thrush. Cosmetic powder is the present powder cake. Rouge is an ancient lipstick. The raw material is a kind of flower called "red and blue", and it can also be used as blush when mixed with makeup powder. Nowadays, a wide variety of cosmetics give women more choices, and the technology of "mask" is better than that of the ancients.
The ancients had no condoms and no condoms. How can they use contraception?
If the ancient emperor didn't want his concubine to get pregnant, he would order eunuchs to hang women upside down and wash their nakedness with saffron. In the past, prostitutes also took "cold medicine" containing musk to prevent pregnancy. However, the effect is not 100%. Eighty percent of Wei Xiaobao jumped out because his mother didn't do a good job of contraception, and some people even drank poisonous mercury. Of course, most ancient people did not deliberately use contraception.
How did you deal with garbage in ancient times?
The ancients were much more environmentally friendly than modern people. Such uncivilized things as littering are rare. As early as 8,000 years ago, the ancients concentrated garbage and used natural or excavated pits to pile it up. The quickest way to solve the garbage is to burn it directly, and bury what can't be burned. Most of the remains of ancient garbage dumps are broken porcelain and lacquerware. You can't say that you can repair an antique. So those who want to get rich can rummage through the garbage of the ancients.
Did the ancients drink water raw or boiled before drinking?
Only modern people will be troubled by this problem. In ancient times, there was no environmental pollution. Whether it is river water, spring water, well water or even rainwater, you can drink it directly without worrying about diarrhea. Only when it was cold did the ancients boil the water to drink. Although water can be taken anytime and anywhere, the ancients still have to guard against water pollution, because the prevalence of ancient plagues was mostly related to drinking water. The villains in martial arts movies often use the dirty trick of poisoning in the water to bring people's lives out of the shadows.
Were there any maps in ancient times? So how is it made?
Legend has it that when Dayu was controlling water, there was a map. The oldest existing maps in China are three ancient maps of the Han Dynasty more than 2,000 years ago. Fei Xiu, a geographer in the Western Jin Dynasty, founded six mapping agencies to make the map more accurate. Ancient maps are basically measured step by step, so the brothers who make maps must first be ascetic monks like Tang Priest. Because it often takes more than 10 years to make a national map, it is a huge and boring project.
How to correct the mistakes written by the ancients?
It is the easiest way to wipe it off directly with a brush. This is how Wang Xizhi and Yan Zhenqing handled typos. Therefore, Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Lanting Pavilion and Yan Zhenqing's Sacrifice to My Nephew can be regarded as "graffiti works" by two great calligraphers. The most common method is to add some dots with a brush next to the typo (usually on the upper right) and keep the original word to continue writing. Another way is to paint a mineral called "orpiment" on the typo, which is somewhat similar to the current "correction fluid" ... that's how the loose orpiment came from.
In the era without pesticides, how did the ancients kill pests?
There are many kinds of drugs to control pests in ancient times, including plants such as fine grass and weeds, animals such as ash and fishy water, and minerals such as salt, sulfur, lime and arsenic. The methods used include mixed seed collection, sowing with seeds, soaking or boiling juice spraying, igniting smoke, smearing moth-eaten holes and so on. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the government even set up officials to control pests. Every time pests are rampant, there will be a spectacular scene of "all people catching insects"
When did the ancients go to work? Do you punch in?
Don't think that punching in to work is an invention of modern perverts. Look at the records of the ancients who went to work, and you will feel that it is much more humane now. Civil servants in ancient yamen went to work in spring and summer and signed in at six in the morning; In summer and autumn, you must sign in at 5: 30 in the morning. Anyone who dares to be absent from work or late for no reason is not as simple as deducting some money. Depending on the number of days and the severity of the case, he can be punished by flogging or imprisonment. Therefore, being late for work may suffer the pain of flesh and blood, which is not easy to mix.
Did ancient students have winter and summer vacations or weekends off?
Nowadays, students often shout that holidays are too short. If this kind of complaint happened in ancient times, it is estimated that teachers or parents would have knocked off their palms long ago. In ancient times, students had no special festivals. Except New Year's Day and Dragon Boat Festival, students' daily task is to study hard at the cold window. Before the exam, they have to hang their heads, or steal some light and sprint for the exam. In ancient times, only officials could take vacations. Therefore, after trying to become famous, they can take a vacation with justification.
Did ancient babies drink goat's milk or milk? Or just breast milk?
If ancient babies could drink goat's milk or milk, there wouldn't be so many tragic cases of premature death. Ancient people usually couldn't drink animal milk until they were a certain age. Babies are still mainly breast milk containing human antibodies, because at that time, animal milk did not have the current sterilization treatment technology, and babies were not resistant to bacteria. What if mom doesn't have milk? You can only "borrow milk", and the profession of wet nurse was born. Poor families without milk can only use rice to grind into fine pulp suitable for swallowing as a substitute.
How did the ancients make a fire?
At first, when the ancients saw volcanic eruption or lightning strike, they thought they were gods and would worship. Later, Suiren saw woodpeckers rubbing wood to make smoke, and learned to drill wood for fire. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, the "positive image" was invented to make a fire, that is, using the principle of focusing sunlight, a concave bronze mirror was used to make a fire. It was very convenient to use fire before man knew how to knock stones to make fire. Therefore, flint is a necessary item for the ancient people to live at home. But be wary of putting it out of the reach of children and kittens to avoid playing with fire and setting yourself on fire.
Can an iron pestle really be ground into an embroidery needle? If not, how is the needle made?
In ancient times, everything belonging to metal was considered valuable. If the allusions are true, the grandmother who grinds the iron pestle is also a rich and idle person. However, it does take a lot of perseverance and patience to make iron needles. First, draw the red-hot iron into iron wire, then cut it into sections, sharpen one end and drill a hole at the other end. Needles for acupuncture are more complicated. First, they should be inserted into the bacon to fill the potholes with grease, and the tip should be sharpened and rounded to prevent the needle from piercing the blood vessels.
There were no tampons before, so is the menstrual cloth disposable or reusable?
In addition to hair and foot-binding cloth, the longest thing in ancient women was "menstrual cloth". Menstrual cloth is a very long cloth, which is used to tightly wrap the lower body when the "period" comes. However, because ancient women often participated in manual labor, "seeing red" is inevitable. In addition, because China has always advocated frugality, the used cloth strips will be reused after cleaning. Nowadays, women should thank the inventor of sanitary napkins and "liberate women" to some extent.
How did the ancients lose weight? Are there any remedies for breast enhancement?
Compared with all kinds of diet pills now, the ancient methods are much simpler, such as drinking tea to lose weight. But ancient people rarely had big fish and big meat, and they had to do heavy and tired work all day long. Where can they get fat? The ancient methods of breast enhancement were more natural, such as using red beans, soybeans and other supplements to achieve breast enhancement. In addition, the ancients believed that acupoint massage also contributed to chest surge. Compared with the "internal adjustment method" of the ancients, the current breast augmentation method is more dangerous, and it will become "destroying the chest" if you are not careful.
Is the night watchman who shouts in the street in the middle of the night that the sky is dry and the fire is dry a civil servant?
In ancient times, the night watchman was similar to the current community patrol and administrator, and was mainly responsible for patrolling the community at night and telling the time. Because they travel at night, they are more likely to "bump into ghosts" than ordinary people. In the zombie films of Hong Kong and Taiwan, the watchman often dies suddenly and inexplicably. Having said that, the watchman is at least a serious profession and a civil servant, because the lower-ranking soldiers in the ancient army were arranged to be watchmen, just like bodyguards and policemen. To be sure, their treatment is not as good as that of current civil servants.
How did the ancients spend their birthdays except listening to operas?
China pays attention to respecting the old and loving the young. Only the elderly can live long. When a newborn baby turns one year old, there will be a "grab week". Every year after the birthday, parents often muddle through and boil a few eggs. It's called "Little Birthday". You can't celebrate your "birthday" until you are 60 years old, which is your "big birthday". At this time, you can shine brilliantly, and friends and relatives will also send precious gifts and good wishes. Therefore, in ancient times, if you want to have a decent birthday, you have to have the ability to live long.
Will ancient heroes win a great victory if they take part in the current Olympic Games?
Who do you think will win PK in Spider-Man or the Monkey King? This kind of question can only cause heated debates and will never come to a conclusion. Most of the ancients were engaged in manual labor, so their endurance and endurance should be much stronger than that of modern people. However, the current Olympic Games is to train a handful of young athletes with the strength of the whole country. With the support of financial resources, manpower and technology, ancient heroes can't beat them. However, like some competitions that value endurance, such as marathon, the chances of the ancients winning are still very high.
Did the ancients have plastic surgery?
The ancients thought that "the skin of the body is influenced by parents", so the ancients would not take the initiative to move a knife on themselves like modern people. In the past wars, it was very popular to cut off the nose of prisoners of war, so the ancients developed a set of nose reconstruction surgery, which was to cut a gap in the arm, fix the arm on the injured nose, wait for the wounds on both sides to heal, and then dig a piece of nose-sized meat from the arm as a new nose. However, this is completely different from modern plastic surgery.
Did the ancients brush their teeth?
The ancients also paid great attention to oral hygiene. Our ancestors used the middle finger of the right hand as a toothbrush a long time ago. Later, the "Yang Zhi toothbrush" invented by Indians was introduced to China by monks, also known as "Fang Mu". The use method is simple: bite the soft end of the poplar and brush your teeth with medicine to make your teeth smooth. A simpler method is to "chew" the tender branches like a giraffe, and a similar effect can be achieved. When modern people "live in the wild", they forget to bring their toothbrushes, so they might as well return to the ancient methods.
What should the ancients do if they are nearsighted?
In ancient times, there was no environmental pollution problem, and there was no temptation of TV and computer, so few people were nearsighted. Usually, nearsighted people are hard-working scholars. You see, it's strange not to be nearsighted if you are always poaching and reading at night. The ancients believed that the inability to see clearly was due to inattention, so "Zhi Ding Pill" was the most commonly used prescription. Acupoint massage and acupuncture were also used to treat eyes. In the Ming Dynasty, glasses were introduced to China from the west. With glasses, everyone ruined their eyes and became more unscrupulous.
How was the eunuch castrated? Then how do I pee?
During the operation, the castrated person will be bound with white cloth strips below the abdomen, then disinfected with paralyzing pepper water, and then tied with hands and feet, and then it depends on the master's skill. It's best to cut off the penis and scrotum at the same time, otherwise the cartilage will grow back and have to be cut again. If you cut it too deeply, it will sink a hole and cause defecation. After the operation, due to the lack of "water pipes", most eunuchs urinated in a fan shape. They had to squat in order not to get their pants dirty.
Were men circumcised in ancient times?
In ancient China, there was no custom of letting men hide their skins. Men generally cherish their bodies, hair and skin, and only ethnic minorities have the tradition of circumcision. On the contrary, circumcision is more common abroad. For example, in the relief works of ancient Egypt, adult men are depicted standing for circumcision. The reason of traditional circumcision is not for hygiene, but for the worship of penis, and foreskin is considered as an appearance defect.
Ancient women wore Chinese corsets, so did they wear underwear?
The ancients said that clothes, the upper body is "clothes" and the lower body is "petticoats". A petticoat is a bit like a skirt. To put it bluntly, it is a fig leaf. Pants were not available until the Spring and Autumn Period. Later, when women menstruate, they would wear an old pair of trousers to avoid getting dirty outside. Slowly, men followed suit and gradually evolved into underwear worn today. Nowadays, not wearing underwear has become another sexy performance.
Did ancient men have a hobby of cross dressing?
"Cross-dressing men" are similar to those gay men who are feminine, handsome and like to play female roles. There are related records in the literature of the Spring and Autumn Period. This trend of liking handsome men was mainly prevalent in the aristocratic class at that time, and even was heard by the people during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Wei Mingdi's Pan An, Yanhe, Du Hongzhi and others were all famous handsome men at that time, who were good at applying vermicelli, and even women were not as good as themselves.
Were there lesbians in ancient times?
In ancient China, lesbians were often called "grinding mirrors", and both sides got some sexual satisfaction by touching each other's bodies. Because the two sides have the same body structure, it seems that there is a mirror in the middle, so it is called "grinding the mirror". There is also a woman disguised as a man, wearing a dildo around her waist and having sex with each other. Lesbians in ancient times mostly happened in the harem, because the only men the maids contacted were emperors and eunuchs. In the absence of men, ladies-in-waiting have to "digest internally" by themselves.
Is it really feasible for flying pigeons to pass books?
It is impossible to verify that China used flying pigeons to pass books in ancient times. During Mongolia's Western Expedition, summoning pigeons had been widely used in military activities and made great contributions. Later, pigeons became a wonderful tool for delivering love letters and a "matchmaker" in many beautiful marriages. In ancient times, flying pigeons often bound stationery slips with red silk thread to attract the attention of the recipients. Nowadays, we use e-mail, telephone, video and so on. Although it is more convenient and quick, it lacks a trace of romance and expectation.
Did the ancients have vaults or safes? How did they hide the money?
As early as primitive times, in order to preserve the hard-earned food, the ancients would dig a hole to put the food in the hole and put a big stone to block it. Later, it evolved into wrapping valuables in animal skins, which should be regarded as the prototype of the safe. With the development of appliances and locks, people began to put money in boxes and cabinets made of different materials. However, even if the "safe box" appears, it is inevitable that a group of fugitives will be killed halfway. As a result, money houses came into being, but they also became more professional institutions for "hiding illicit money".
Should old banknotes be anti-counterfeit?
The earliest paper money in ancient times was born among the people and was freely issued by businessmen. But in doing so, it is easy to have random hair and forgery. Later, Jiaozi (the earliest paper money in China) was officially issued, with stricter anti-counterfeiting measures and two official seals on the paper money. In Song Huizong period, it was changed to "Yin Qian" with more complicated patterns, and multi-color overprinter was added, which made it more anti-counterfeiting. Since then, each dynasty has its own unique anti-counterfeiting methods. There are so many tricks that modern people haven't figured out how our ancestors prevented counterfeiting.
Did ancient people have false teeth?
As early as the Han Dynasty, Zhang Zhongjing invented the method of amalgam filling teeth. Professional doctors wearing dentures also appeared in the Song Dynasty. Ancient dentures were made of many materials, including ivory, ox bones and hard sandalwood. Dentures can not only solve the practical problems of using teeth, but also have the function of decoration and showing off. "Tooth bridge" is to tie the teeth with soft gold wire and then stick them in the mouth. No chewing function, purely decorative. This is reminiscent of Hong Kong movies in the 1980s and 1990s, when the nouveau riche opened his mouth and his gold teeth flashed.
Did all the ancient boys have long hair?
The efforts of the ancients on 3,000 hairs are unimaginable to modern people. In ancient times, both men and women had long hair, and the longer the better. They hardly cut their hair, only the side hair. Even so, they still have to look at the Gregorian calendar to choose the date. When a boy reaches the age of studying, he will tie his hair in a bun, which is called "tying his hair to study". The ancient "baldness punishment" was an unbearable punishment for the ancients, which was what Sima Qian called "shaving one's hair and being humiliated"
Did the ancients smoke?
Tobacco was first introduced into China from Luzon Island in the Ming Dynasty. At first, it was planted in Guangdong and Fujian, but not many people smoked it. As we all know, the harm caused by tobacco began in the Opium War. Small opium became the fuse to rewrite the history of China. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, British businessmen took advantage of their trade to bring cigarettes to the mainland. At first, it was free, and some people became addicted and began to sell it.
What are the ancient jade or gem ornaments carved from?
Gold is valuable, but jade is priceless. The ancients have long known the preciousness of jadeite gemstones. And "stones from other mountains can attack jade" also shows that the ancients have long known the hardness and used harder minerals to polish stone tools. When the ancients carved jade articles, they often mashed minerals with high hardness such as timely, garnet and diamond into gravel, which became "jade-solving sand". Later, the "emery" with the highest hardness appeared, that is, broken diamonds. No matter how hard the GEM is, it can also be "slaughtered".
Was there only a rooster in the ancient alarm clock?
What if the rooster used as an alarm clock is killed? Of course, the ancients didn't hang themselves from a tree. Besides blaming the sun, the ancients also invented the incense bell. It is made of a special mold, and the thickness of the coil is uniform, so that the burning time can be accurate. Then estimate the time from the scale on the coil incense left after combustion. Later, the ancients improved the incense table clock. When the incense burns to a fixed scale, the heavy objects hanging on it will fall down and hit the metal utensils under the incense tray to achieve the effect of an alarm clock.