Mobile Toilets in Ancient Imperial Palaces
Mobile toilets in ancient imperial palaces mainly relied on movable fixtures such as chamber pots, buckets, and commodes, without the modern public toilets connected to underground sewage systems. Details are as follows:
I. Mobile Toilets Used by the Emperor The emperor's mobile toilet was called a 'guanfang', similar to today's commode. The materials used were very exquisite, made of rosewood, sandalwood, or fine ceramics. The guanfang had a tray underneath with handrails on the sides for eunuchs to carry. The tray was mostly made of brass, engraved with dragon patterns, and had a smooth, seamless inner wall. When in use, a thick layer of cotton paper would be laid on the bottom of the tray. For example, the guanfang used by Empress Dowager Cixi was considered a national treasure, often carved from sandalwood and engraved with a large gecko on the outside. The gecko's four claws gripped the ground as the four legs of the guanfang's base, with faint scales on its body, a bulging belly as the guanfang's body, a curled tail forming a rear handle, the gecko's head twisted backward with its mouth slightly open to hold toilet paper, and its two eyes inlaid with rubies. The entire guanfang was slightly taller than a porcelain basin, allowing one to sit on it. Inside the gecko's belly was fine powder of fragrant wood, into which waste would immediately roll after falling, eliminating any unpleasant odors.
II. Mobile Toilets Used by Imperial Concubines The toilets of the imperial concubines were also graded. The empress's guanfang was rectangular and engraved with phoenix patterns; the imperial noble consort's guanfang was oval and engraved with intertwining peonies; lower-ranking concubines such as 'changzai' and 'daying' used smaller copper basins.
III. The Emperor's Exclusive Chamber Pot In ancient imperial palaces, there was also the 'huzi', the emperor's exclusive chamber pot. According to the 'Xijing Zaji' (Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital) from the Han Dynasty, after Li Guang hunted and shot a tiger, he had someone make a pot in the shape of the tiger's head as a memento, and 'huzi' became a euphemism for chamber pots. During the Qing Dynasty, huzi became even more exquisite, with copper bodies gilded on the outside and engraved with intertwining lotuses; those made of jade were carved with cloud patterns and equipped with silver trays underneath. When the emperor went to places like the Imperial Garden, eunuchs would carry the huzi, with the pot body wrapped in brocade.
