Before the toilet paper, what did people use to clean it?

The types of “ancient toilet paper” used by traders on the Silk Road and those traders helped spread infectious diseases in the past.

The references show that people began to use sanitary materials since the 6th century AD, mainly in the Chinese imperial and feudal aristocracy. However, toilet paper has only really been popular since the 14th century, when it spread to all of China, even in Zhejiang province alone, about 10 million packages of toilet paper were made annually.

However, the Chinese way of hygiene did not get along well with the rest of the world for a while. In the 8th century, a Muslim traveler to China wrote, “They (the Chinese) are not careful about keeping clean, they do not rinse with water after addressing the needs of yourself; just wipe yourself with paper “.

So, before the toilet paper, what did people use to clean it?

“Ancient toilet paper” first

The Silk Road is a famous network of roads, circulating top luxuries between the East and the West, across central Asia connecting China with the Mediterranean.

In the early days, during the Han dynasty, this road was mainly used to transport silk and since then has had such a symbolic name.

Rapidly growing, the Silk Road expanded shipping items to more valuable items such as gems, gold and silver, and many famous spices. The destination of this road was Egypt, then Ancient Greece, Rome and gradually all of medieval Europe.

But a study of a 2,000-year-old toilet in the desert of northeastern China has shown that the Silk Road also transports something else: an infectious disease.