What sanitary napkins did women use in ancient times?

Speaking of sanitary napkins, I believe most of our modern women are very familiar with them, because they generally need to use sanitary napkins in their daily lives. The so-called sanitary napkins are used by adult women during menstruation to absorb menstrual blood. They not only protect the health of us women, but also are beneficial to our hygiene. But in ancient China, what kind of sanitary napkins did women use during menstruation?

Most people actually don’t understand the above question, because it is something that only people who are very familiar with history would know. Women's bodies generally do not change due to ancient reasons. In ancient times, women also had menstruation. So what kind of sanitary napkins did women in ancient times usually use during their menstruation? Let’s talk about it in detail below.

According to research, in the era when there were no sanitary napkins, women went through a long process of evolution in physiological hygiene.

In primitive society, women had no way to deal with their menstruation. They would just use hay or leaves to wipe the blood and call it a day.

During the transition to the slave society, humans gradually developed civilization. Women at this time used tree bark or animal skins to sew underwear to cover their bodies. When menstruation came, they put some dry things on the underwear to absorb the dirty blood, and learned to wash the vulva with clean water.

In feudal society, human beings gradually invented silk and cloth, and gradually abandoned primitive things such as animal skins and tree barks. Clothes became the biggest symbol of civilization. At that time, before papermaking was invented, women put wood ash into small strips of cloth and tied the two ends around their waists with thin threads, which became the so-called sanitary belts. The number of replacements is determined by wealth. After replacing the sanitary belt, pour out the dirt inside and wash it with clean water and soap. Let it air dry before use. If in urgent need, dry it over fire. This is basically done in private.

Some wealthy families would prepare clean cotton and other items for women as materials for making sanitary belts. However, since new cotton does not absorb water easily, many women are more likely to accept wood ash.

After humans invented papermaking, things that easily absorb moisture, such as straw paper, came in handy. Some people use straw paper directly or put it in a sanitary belt. Some wealthy families use white paper used for sacrificial ceremonies to make sanitary belts, because this kind of white paper is not only tough, but also relatively white and hygienic. However, due to the high price of this paper, not all families can afford it.

In the past, only relatively wealthy families paid attention to women's physiological hygiene. Women have always been in a relatively low position in social life. In many ordinary families, girls have to find ways to solve the difficulties of menstruation by themselves. Some girls use cotton or other items as plugs and insert them into the vagina in an attempt to prevent the outflow of dirty blood, while some girls never use sanitary belts in their entire lives.

Through the detailed introduction in the above article, we also know the above problems. In fact, women in ancient times generally did not use sanitary napkins, and there were no sanitary napkins at that time. Since women had a relatively low status at that time, girls from ordinary families would use anything to block their menstrual blood during their periods, and only girls from wealthy families would use sanitary belts.