Is it true that China invented toilet paper 500 years before Western Europe?

What did
people in Western Europe use before toilet paper was introduced to them?

Andrew Tanner
, History enthusiast
Answered August 4 · Author has 1.2K answers and 3.9M answer views

Is it true that China invented toilet paper 500 years before Western Europe? What
did people in Western Europe use before toilet paper was introduced to them?

More than 500 years before, actually. The earliest known use of toilet paper in China
was in 589 AD, whilst our earliest records of it in Europe are from the 16th century AD.

A print from England in 1723, mocking the plays in the theatre as being fit only to be
used as toilet paper.

Paper was fairly valuable until relatively recently in history. As I mentioned earlier, we
have records of it being used as toilet paper in Europe by the 16th century, but it doesn’t
seem to have become widespread until the 18th century - which is, not coincidentally,
when we see a massive rise in newspaper printing.

(I know little of China during this period, but I suspect that the use of toilet paper had to
be pretty much restricted to relatively wealthy individuals until the 18th century for the
same reason - limited supply. Perhaps someone with more knowledge can comment.)

Prior to that point, there were a number of alternatives used around the world. Common
alternatives include cloth of various materials (wool, linen, hemp, etc.), old rags, wood
chips (ouch!), grass, moss, other plants and, of course, water.

Some of these alternatives are still used regularly - not all cultures prefer toilet paper it
seems.

Poor people around the world often did not have access to such things all the time, and
were recorded as relieving themselves into rivers and then cleaning themselves with
their hands - which is about as hygienic as it sounds.

https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-China-invented-toilet-paper-500-years-before-
Western-Europe-What-did-people-in-Western-Europe-use-before-toilet-paper-was-
introduced-to-them
Licor amaretto

por Patricia Copello Brandsen

Un licor muy rico que remite al gusto de las almendras. Hecho con semillas de nísperos.
Si te gustan los nísperos, comelos...más

Ingredientes
4 litros

1. 200 g semillas de níspero

2. 2 frascos medio litro
3. 1 litro alcohol
4. 3 litros almíbar (3 l. de agua y 1 kilo y medio azúcar)

Pasos
1. Colocar 100 gramos de semillas en cada frasco y agregar medio litro de alcohol
en cada uno. Tapar bien y dejar macerar en lugar fresco y seco y protegido de la
luz. Las semillas tienen que estar bien limpias y secas. Yo lo dejé dos meses.
Puede ser más.

2. Para que salga un licor con una graduación al 25% por cada parte de macerado
se deben preparar 3 partes de almíbar y el almíbar se prepara con 500 g de
azúcar por cada litro de agua. O sea que yo lo preparé con 3 litros de agua y 1
kilo y medio de azúcar. Dejar hervir 5 minutos y dejar enfriar.
3. Mezclar el almíbar con el macerado al que le colamos las semillas. Envasar.