Why is the ancient big bathhouse the origin of modern bathing culture?

In the early days of the Yuan Dynasty, as soon as our Emperor took Hangzhou, Kublai Khan invited a distinguished western guest, Italian Kyle Polo, to take a bath in Hangzhou, hoping that Mr. Ma could spread his newly conquered place abroad.

In order to help Kublai Khan publicize his achievements, Kyle Polo experienced the most fashionable at that time in Hangzhou? Cold bath hall? Although it is the Yuan Dynasty now, it is a bathing civilization left by the Song Dynasty. The bathing place is in the street of Hangzhou, which is not difficult to find. There are also waiters, and both male and female waiters are available for you to choose from. At that time, Marco Polo struggled for a long time, what kind of waiter he chose for this cold bath, and how he chose it in the end, which is not recorded in the history books. We don't know, so we can only assume that he chose a waitress.

In fact, we are also puzzled about why it was so open in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty. In fact, there was a precedent in history, and it wasn't only Japanese men's mixed baths that opened. We had an example when China was in Shang Zhouwang. His wine pool was mixed with men and women, and the degree of openness was evident. But this bathhouse in Shang Zhouwang belongs to historical dross, and we should get rid of it.

According to the traditional folk way, of course, men and women are not allowed to bathe together. There is a saying in the Book of Rites: I dare not take a bath. Legal couples are also not allowed. In ancient times, it was not polite for a wife and husband to take a bath. Even more exaggerated, you can't even enter a bathroom door, but these are feudal dross, and of course they will be abandoned in our open Song Dynasty.

In order to take a bath, people in the Song Dynasty ignored the so-called etiquette and human relations. They not only took a bath at home, but also specially built a bathhouse to serve people. This is the cold bathhouse that we just talked about. We can take a bath outside, and there are waiters, not only waiters, but also waiters and waitresses for you to choose from. No, our travel writer Kyle Poirot enjoyed it.

According to the records of Kyle Polo, customers who came to the bathhouse to bathe in the Song Dynasty, both men and women, used to take a cold bath, and it was the same all year round, and winter was no exception. The colder the water, the more people in the Song Dynasty feel that it is good for their health, and the more they wash, the healthier they are. It is said that people in Hangzhou are used to taking a bath before eating every day. This is a symbolic habit of paying attention to health, stressing civilization and hygiene in ancient times. In this era of late Song and early Yuan Dynasty, did Kublai Khan invite Kyle Polo because he wanted to attribute this good habit to his governance? Let outsiders publicize it? However, as we all know, Mongolians who rode horses since childhood did not have this good habit, and this credit should be attributed to the governance of the Song Dynasty court.

If you ask me, people should have been invited to visit in advance in the Song Dynasty. However, we traditional Song Dynasty people are still very shy, and we are still a little embarrassed to invite people to see the bathing custom. After all, it is an unsightly thing to visit others for bathing. As a traditional Chinese descendant, our bathing is still a serious matter.

There was another example before. Watching others take a bath would make you lose your head. Zhong Er, the son of the Spring and Autumn Period, once fled to Cao State. At that time, the king heard that Zhong Er had a bird wing under his armpit. In fact, there was a piece of meat under his armpit, which was attached to his body's ribs, just like a bird wing. Cao Wang was curious and went to peek. As a result, Zhong Er was furious. After he returned to China and became king, he directly destroyed Cao Guo. This shows how private bathing is.

However, the Yuan Dynasty belonged to the ethnic group beyond the Great Wall, so it was possible to invite people to visit and experience bathing. Kyle Polo, a foreigner, happened to have no taboos and was more open, which was his record. This also proves from the side that the culture of bathing really spread from the Song Dynasty. Many historians take bathing in the Song Dynasty as an example, saying that this is the precedent of modern life customs. It is true that before dawn, the custom of opening the bathroom early to welcome guests began in the Song Dynasty and continued to modern society.