The Forbidden City is spacious, but there is no toilet, how to 'solve the need'?

The Forbidden City is the largest palace complex in the world, where the kings of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived and tens of thousands of eunuchs, palace maids, and servants.

Those who have ever visited the Imperial Palace may discover that there are no toilets here. This certainly makes many people surprised and curious.

Hundreds of thousands of people live together, so how do they deal with their daily needs? The answer is extremely simple but not everyone knows.

1. The most popular "toilet" of the Forbidden City

One of the most common ways to urinate and defecate is to use a "toilet bucket". Just like a modern toilet, but the old toilet tank did not have an automatic plumbing system, just a simple wooden barrel, the mouth of the barrel was smoothed so that the occupants would not be uncomfortable or scratched. .

After going to the toilet, the eunuch will empty it. In the Forbidden City, there is an entire department of eunuchs or palace maids in charge of dumping dirt in the toilet bowl and cleaning it.

The eunuch in charge will pull the cart carrying many containers of "decontamination" substances outside the palace, there is also a person in charge of cleaning, all forming a clear process.

Gentlemen and concubines in the palace every time they go to the bathroom, they need to change a new one. The main purpose is to avoid odors and ensure hygiene.

2. Nobles, concubines and people with power in the supply deal with "needs"

A gentleman who goes to the toilet cannot be like an ordinary eunuch who sits on a simple barrel.

They design for the gentleman a real toilet. It's still the same wooden crate, but with a more sophisticated design, the top has brocade cushions embroidered with flowers, and there are two armrests on both sides for the gentlemen to "act" more comfortably, not tired.

The wooden barrel below holds a little water, sprinkles rose petals and a little fragrance so that when the Gentlemen defecate will not be annoyed by the smell of defecation. Going to the toilet but still being noble and luxurious, keeping a more graceful personality than people.

This type of specialized toilet of the privileged was of course a challenge for the palace maids and eunuchs in charge of the daily "needs" of the masters. Every bring and take away is also a kind of torture.

After the gentleman finished going to the toilet, the palace maid would bring a basin of water to the master to wash his hands, and also use other types of medicinal flower scents to make fragrance, overpowering the unpleasant smell. The nobles have a happy and luxurious life, even "dealing with needs" is not easy.

3. Other regulations on defecation in the Forbidden City

In the Forbidden City, the palace maids and eunuchs make up the majority, so the part that goes to the toilet is also the most occupied by this group of people.

The palace maids and eunuchs who go to the toilet will be divided into different areas. In general, the treatment of a palace maid will be a little better than that of an eunuch because she is a girl after all, so she must keep her dignity. Accordingly, when going to the toilet, the palace maids will use cloth covers and partitions.

Because of the large number of people, the palace maids and eunuchs who went to the toilet would drop some coal or ashes into the barrel to absorb the smell.

In the ancient Forbidden City, cleaning the tanks and toilet bowls was a kind of punishment for those who made mistakes, and even the Concubine was no exception. This job, though easy, is extremely laborious and loss of face. No one likes the fact that they have to clean up other people's feces, and tolerating this extremely stench is not an easy task.

The reason for the story that the Forbidden City gathered nearly 9,999 luxurious and splendid rooms, many palaces were designed extremely magnificently and sophisticatedly but did not have toilets because ancient science and technology were still limited. Therefore, the "technique" has not been found to deal with the odor of waste. In particular, it is impossible to build an old water and sewage system.

If thousands of people defecate in the Forbidden City, it will definitely make the space here not comfortable at all. This is not conducive to maintaining the majesty of the royal family. The Forbidden City is the residence of the "son of heaven", so the space must always be clean and fragrant.

The use of portable toilets is therefore considered an environmentally friendly solution and ensures the dignity of the emperor, the majesty of the palace where ordinary people cannot set foot.

Flocks of crows regularly fly back to the Forbidden City at midnight, signaling a creepy spiritual event. Thảo Mai15:52:10 19/01/2025The Forbidden City's inner palace has always been a subject of curiosity. Many people wonder about the flocks of crows flying from the northwest every morning, even when there is no one around.