2,200-year-old flush toilet found in China

The oldest toilet ever found

According to a news release distributed by the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, via Xinhua News Agency, archaeologists are now excavating two sizable palace structures in the center of Yueyang City where several ancient Chinese dynasties used the location as their capital.

Archaeologists discovered a toilet while excavating one of these structures, according to the press statement. They found a pipe leading to an outside sewage pit as well as a portion of an interior toilet seat with a hole in the toilet‘s top section.

Reconstructing the toilet revealed that it featured a water flushing system that was “deceptively advanced”, tools and design specialist Fan Mingyang explained.

According to archaeologist Liu Rui, “It is the first and only flush toilet to be ever unearthed in China”. “Everybody at the site was surprised, and then we all burst into laughter”.

According to the press release and China Daily, the flush toilet is anywhere between 2,200 and 2,400 years old.

The ruined palace buildings were used for centuries, from the middle of the Warring States Period to the start of the Han Dynasty, therefore the precise age is uncertain. According to Britannica, the Han Dynasty began in 206 B.C. and the Warring States Period in 475 B.C.

During the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), the toilet is thought to have been used by Qin Xiaogong (381-338 BC) or his father Qin Xian’gong (424-362 BC) of the Qin Kingdom or by Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). A possible use for the palace was for administrative purposes.

China Daily said that although flush toilets had previously been dated to the 16th century in England, the flush toilet is now the oldest ever discovered.

According to Rui, the toilet was a “luxury object” that was exclusively used by very high-ranking members of society. The toilet was probably filled with water after each use by the servants. Researchers are unsure whether individuals sat on the seat or squatted over it because the top is missing.

The toilet’s parts were discovered last summer and made public on February 15. Archaeologists also discovered four large semi-circular tiles, one at each corner, in the same building where the toilet was found, according to the press statement.

The Yueyang City site is situated in Xi’an City’s Yanliang neighborhood, which serves as the provincial capital of Shaanxi. Around 840 miles to the northwest of Shanghai is the district.