Life back then
- Hygiene was huge in ancient China as body odor was associated with barbarism. Wealthy women would wear scented bags around their waists, and nobles would need to suck on cloves to combat bad breath before speaking with the emperor. Because these were costly options, the poor had to resort to other methods, like washing your armpits with urine.
- The practice of foot binding began in the 900’s by female Chinese entertainers. Tightly wrapped bandages gradually break the foot’s arch, forcing the heel and toes to grow inward toward each other. This also caused the leg muscles to atrophy and become very thin, but it was seen as highly sexual.
- Eunuchs were powerful political players in ancient Chinese government. Originating as trusted slaves in the royal household they were ambitious to use their favoured position to gain political power. Advising the emperor from within the palace and blocking the access of officials to their ruler, the eunuchs were eventually able to acquire noble titles themselves, form a bureaucracy to rival the state’s and even select and remove emperors of their choosing. Their influence on government would result in the falling of dynasties and last right up to the 17th century CE.
- Eunuchs, or ‘non-men’ as they could be known, first appeared in the royal courts of ancient pre-imperial Chinese states where they were employed as servants in the inner chambers of the palace. They were more or less slaves and were usually acquired as children from border territories, especially those to the south. Castrated and brought to serve the royal household, they had no real means of altering their lives. Eunuchs were regarded as the most trustworthy of servants because they could neither seduce women of the household or father children which might form a dynasty to rival that of the sitting emperor’s.
- Silk is thought to have been invented in the 4th millenium BC, when the goddess Leizu, wife of the supreme god Shangti, was having tea and a cocoon fell into her cup. As the cocoon unraveled, she saw it was all one thread and so planted mulberry trees for silkworms to spin their webs in to make silk. The nobles and royalty were the only people who could wear silk. Those who processed the silk into clothing, and even the merchants who sold it, were not allowed to wear it. Most of the population of China wore clothing made of hemp.
- Chinese women would sew an image of a tiger onto the clothing of their children as a sign of protection. The tiger was thought to be the king of the beasts and its image would ward off evil. Sometimes mothers sewed images of toads or snakes onto clothing along with the tiger to add more protection against danger.
- The art of tattooing has been known in China for thousands of years. Tattooing in China is called Ci Shen (Or Wen Shen), a term that means literally ‘puncture the body’. Throughout Chinese history tattooing has been seen as a defamation of the body, something undesirable.
- The most famous tattoo in Chinese history comes from the legend of the Chinese general Yueh Fei, who served the Song Dynasty. During battle with northern enemies the Field Marshall under whom Yueh Fei served, betrayed the Song and went over to the enemy. In protest Yueh Fei resigned and returned home. His mother grew angry with him, telling him that his duty was first and foremost to his country, no matter what. To remind him of this fact she tattooed four characters on his back with her sewing needle. These characters, jin zhong bao guo, are difficult to translate but mean something like ‘Serve his country with ultimate loyalty’.
- At some points in Chinese history Chinese tattoos were also used to mark criminals. Criminals convicted of a severe crime would be ordered to have a tattoo printed on their face and exiled into a faraway land. Even should the criminal ever return the tattoo would mark them forever as a criminal.
