It is difficult to use the toilet in the Grand View Garden

Text / Yan Han

Published in the 942th issue of China News Weekly in 2020.4.6

Looking at "Dream of Red Mansions", I found that there is a serious problem with the youth and poetry of the Grand View Garden where young boys and girls are placed. There seems to be no toilet in it, because everyone urinates everywhere. Jia Baoyu came out from the banquet and walked over the stone to stand in his clothes. "Muyue Qiuwen stood with his back on his face and smiled in his mouth: 'Squat down and untie the coat, and the wind blows the stomach carefully. The girl knew that it was a small solution, so she went out to the tea house and prepared to go first. "It can be seen that this is commonplace.

The girl did not caress about the festival, and the mother maid of Mandarin Jia went to Daguanyuan the next night, and suddenly wanted a small solution on the road. "Because I went down the Yonglu Road, I looked for the grass, and walked to a lake and stone. The laurel tree fell down." Found the couple of Si Yuan and Pan Youan in private clubs.

Only grandma Liu went to the public toilet. When Grandma Liu entered the Rongguo Palace to visit the Grand View Garden, he drank too much and drank a few sips of tea because he drank too much alcohol and ate many greasy diets. His stomach burst into chaos, and he asked for two papers in front of the provincial villa to undress. Everyone hurriedly stopped and asked her to take her to the toilet. At this time, we realized that there are toilets in the Grand View Garden, but the garden is large and there are few toilets. Perhaps the designer thinks that there are more toilets that are unsightly. Grandma Liu couldn't find the way after convenience. He was drunk lying in Yihongyuan. It seems that the toilet in the Grand View Garden is not far from Yihongyuan. Perhaps it was shared by the next generation, Bao Yu and the girls disliked it, and would rather settle after the trees and the rocks.

As for the characters like Xiang Dai and Dai Miao, Cao Xueqin must not be able to write about the toilet, otherwise it would be too embarrassing. In "Jin Ping Mei", there are more fireworks, and there is a scene where the protagonist Pan Jinlian goes to the cave in the garden to release his hand (or lies). It seems normal for large households to drown anywhere. After a long day of irrigation, how bad should the smell be in the garden and the cave? In the era when there was no toilet, noble places would also be troubled by the toilet problem.

The nobles at the Palace of Versailles in France used the "recessed chair" for convenience-a seat inlaid with a night pot, and similar appliances were used by Heshen in "Prince Liu Luoguo". The number of public toilets is too small to meet the needs of many courtiers and servants. Some people solve it in the corridors, stairs and courtyards. When they go out, they always encounter the soldiers on guard. In order to improve the sanitary conditions, the Palace of Versailles had planned to build public toilets in the garden. Eventually, it was worried that the garden would be too dirty.

The Indian movie "Hero Toilet" speaks of an incredible tradition. Most Indians do not have a toilet because they feel unclean and blasphemous. Women in the village must go to a distant place to solve the problem when it is not dawn. Not only is this troublesome, but sometimes rogues are encountered. Men are urinating and defecating everywhere. The actor intends to build a toilet for his newlywed wife, but he is opposed by his father and the whole village. This "clean" concept is difficult to understand.

Fortunately, there is now a flush toilet, which improves the quality of life. The cousin of the relative's family found an American husband. The most common thing I heard from other people before I went to China was that the toilet was terrible. After I arrived, I found that it was not the case—most people used toilets. The only rural relative to visit was using the original dry toilet. In the end, relatives in the countryside thought for a while and thought that it was a matter of national image, so that they would not pass it for the time being.

However, there are still many differences on the issue of toileting. I saw a female returnee doctor complaining on Weibo that she found that many people have a special hatred for toilets. She does not understand how some people do n’t care about eating roadside stalls. Ditch oil, can't bear sitting on the toilet?

China News Weekly, Issue 12, 2020

Statement: The publication of the "China News Weekly" manuscript is subject to written authorization