498 replies to this topic

[snowybeagle]

I see in movies the ancient Chinese use gold and silver ingots called taels as currency.

How do they manage to lug all those heavy metal around?

[snowybeagle]

Why aren't there many popular chinese myth creatures?

The Chinese myth creatures are only beginning to emerge in the Chinese computer RPGs produced in mainland China.

They don't get good translators to English (they should hire me!) so it'll be a while before these creatures get their exposure to the global market.

[snowybeagle]

What kind of underwear (if any) do ancient Chinese men and women wear?

[Yun]

I see in movies the ancient Chinese use gold and silver ingots called taels as currency

The term 'tael' (liang in Chinese) was a unit of weight for currency, usually silver but sometimes also gold.

How do they manage to lug all those heavy metal around?

Actually, small amounts of the precious metal would have been enough for most purchases, except in periods of massive inflation. The taels could be kept in those voluminous sleeves (how they didn't drop out is a question that's been asked before on CHF, but which I still don't know the answer to), or in small bags and boxes.

Which money came first? Coins with square-shaped holes or taels?

In most periods, there was a coinage system, although this system broke down in the mid-Ming dynasty and had to be replaced by imported Spanish-American silver as a currency. A key to maintaining the viability of the coinage system was government efforts to stamp out coin counterfeiting, which was always rampant. If devalued counterfeit coins flooded the market, confidence in the coinage system would evaporate.

These coins were far easier to carry around in large numbers, because they typically had a hole in the middle so that many coins could be strung together on the same string. This gave rise to the Chinese nickname for money, 'kongfang xiong' (square-holed big brothers).

A coinage system has been around since Qin-Han times, so coins came before taels and were actually the main currency in most periods of history. The heavy reliance on taels in Ming and Qing times was rather exceptional.

Why aren't there many popular chinese myth creatures?

There are, but Chinese mythology suffered a heavy blow in the 20th century from modernizers and Communists who rejected it as outdated superstition that was impeding the advance of science. Today's Chinese mostly did not learn about their own mythology in school - those in Hong Kong and Taiwan may actually know more about it compared to the mainland.

There are signs that interest in mythical creatures is reviving in the PRC. Some of the mythical creatures that are reappearing as decorative motifs or good-luck ornaments include the long ('dragon'), feng ('phoenix'), qilin ('unicorn') and pixiu (beast of wealth and good fortune).

[Yun]

What kind of underwear (if any) do ancient Chinese men and women wear?

Men and women both wore a basic loincloth below. For women's upper-body underwear, there were several forms in different periods of history (I have a whole book about this), but the most enduring form was the dudou 'camisole'. It lasted until the introduction of the bra in the 20th century, and is now enjoying a revival as outer-wear in China!

For more, see:
http://www.chinahist...?showtopic=7887

[WangEnlai]

When was it okay for the chinese to start cutting their hair?

(Because in Confuciunism, cutting the hair is disrespect to the parents)

[Yun]

When was it okay for the chinese to start cutting their hair?

In the Qing dynasty, when every man except Daoist priests and Buddhist monks had to shave the front of his head and leave a queue or pigtail behind.

Without this change made by the Qing, the Chinese today might still see men cutting their hair as something very immoral.

However, 'barbarian' peoples like the Xianbei, Xiongnu and Khitan who settled in the Central Plains would probably have taken some time to adopt this taboo against the cutting of hair. So would the peoples of the South after northerners brought Confucianism there. These peoples all had the custom of cutting their hair and even shaving their head. I believe there would have been communities that never adopted the taboo. Unfortunately there are no records of them.

[Liang Jieming]

What sports did ancient Chinese play? Any organised sports like volleyball or basketball?

[Yun]

What sports did ancient Chinese play? Any organised sports like volleyball or basketball?

A form of football called cuju, as early as Warring States times. Later, also foreign sports like polo and hockey.

[urofpersia]

The term 'tael' (liang in Chinese) was a unit of weight for currency, usually silver but sometimes also gold.
Actually, small amounts of the precious metal would have been enough for most purchases, except in periods of massive inflation. The taels could be kept in those voluminous sleeves (how they didn't drop out is a question that's been asked before on CHF, but which I still don't know the answer to), or in small bags and boxes.

Inner pockets?

BTW Snowy, GREAT topic! Kudos!

My Dummy question of the week?

How did the ancient Chinese maintain oral hygiene, did they have toothbrush and toothpaste? They never seem to need to do that in the period dramas.

[WangEnlai]

Inner pockets?

BTW Snowy, GREAT topic! Kudos!

My Dummy question of the week?
How did the ancient Chinese maintain oral hygiene, did they have toothbrush and toothpaste? They never seem to need to do that in the period dramas. g.gif

The oldest use of toothbrushes by Chinese were aromatic twigs, you would chew one side and use that to brush you teeth & use the hard end (non-chewed) to scrap food & debris out.

In 1600 AD (Ming dynasty) the Chinese invented the bristle toothbrush made with the bristles on swine and pigs in China & Siberia. Then attaching them to bamboo or bone.

500 BC (Warring states) India & China already had their own toothpaste.

My question would be why the hell do the tang dynasty officials have 2 long flashy flaps on their hats?

My question as well, they look rather stylish.

[Inuyasha-sama]

Did the ancient Chinese ever had toilet paper?

[WangEnlai]

Oh Scheiße how could I forget that question.

Did chinese have toilet paper?

In AD 1391, Imperial Supplies produced 720,000 peices of toilet paper a year (each sheet was about 2 1/2 feet long) and was only for the Emperor. Chinese were first to invent toilet paper.

What about the general public? (Hopefully it was not the Left-hand = wipe, Right-hand = eat system they had in some parts of Africa & Middle East. )


Interesting information (no china though) pasted from: http://www.toiletpap...on/funfacts.htm

What did people use before toilet paper was invented?

*Newsprint, paper catalogue pages in early US
*Hayballs, Scraper/gompf stick kept in container by the privy in the Middle Ages
*Discarded sheep's wool in the Viking Age, England
*Frayed end of an old anchor cable was used by sailing crews from Spain and Portugal *Medieval Europe- Straw, hay, grass, gompf stick
*Corn cobs, Sears Roebuck catalog, mussel shell, newspaper, leaves, sand- United States
*Water and your left hand, India
*Pages from a book, British Lords
*Coconut shells in early Hawaii
*Lace was used by French Royalty
*Public Restrooms in Ancient Rome- A sponge soaked in salt water, on the end of a stick
*The Wealthy in Ancient Rome-Wool and Rosewater
*French Royalty-lace, hemp
*Hemp & wool were used by the elite citizens of the world
*Defecating in the river was very common internationally
*Bidet, France
*Snow and Tundra Moss were used by early Eskimos

Strangest was corncobs & scraper sticks. Even worst is defecating in rivers, which is very common worldwide. Yellow River anyone?

[Inuyasha-sama]

Wow! The Chinese invented a lot of useful things!

[snowybeagle]

I recalled an anecdote about toilet paper.

A newly appointed magistrate was en route to take up his post in the country. Outside his assigned town, he noticed a man in scholar's attire gathering some leaves to go to the bushes.

His suspicions was immediately aroused, and he ordered his runners to have the man arrested and interrogated.

True enough, the man was a hoodlum who had robbed and killed a scholar, and worn the clothes stolen from the scholar.

Two information emerged from the story.
1. Scholars have certain dress code, which non-scholars weren't allowed to imitate.

2. Scholars use something more refined than leaves when going to the bushes.