July 26, 2000

1:05 PM

Farewell, Thomas Crapper, we hardly knew ye- Turns out the Chinese invented the toilet too! Next thing we'll find out they invented spaghetti, or toilet paper, or whatever.
posted by chicobangs (8 comments total)

They did invent spaghetti. So the legend goes, it took Marco Polo to bring it back to Europe.

I most enjoyed that headline, chicobangs....
posted by EssenDreck at 1:12 PM on July 26, 2000

"The toilet, discovered in a stone tomb of a King of the West Han Dynasty (206 BC to 24 AD), is about two sq. meters and is part of the underground palace of its wealthy owner who believed that his soul would need to enjoy the human life after death." (emphasis mine)

I find it highly amusing that the oldest one found isn't in the actual palace of the "wealthy owner" but in his tomb.

Given the choice though, I'd rather have a toilet in the eternal afterlife than in the 80-someodd years I'll be on the earth. <grin>
posted by cCranium at 1:18 PM on July 26, 2000

Feh. Thomas Crapper is the alleged inventor of the flush toilet, not "the toilet"! The Romans had toilets with running water (i.e. a gutter instead of a bucket) around the same time.
posted by dhartung at 2:55 PM on July 26, 2000

"This top-grade stool is the earliest of its kind ever discovered..."

heheheheheh... stool.
posted by Nyarlathotep at 2:58 PM on July 26, 2000

Come on, dhartung ... you sit, you shit, the water flushes the awful offal away, everything else is just ... engineering.

Also, this predates the Romans by a few centuries anyways.

And armrests are a cool idea, I think. Maybe even a potty ottoman!
posted by chicobangs at 3:06 PM on July 26, 2000

I'm crying, please stop! "awful offal." Oh, it hurts!!!
posted by Dean_Paxton at 4:46 PM on July 26, 2000

They did invent toilet paper, or at least paper.

Damned hard to buy in China but it's the least of your troubles when you try and take a crap there (from personal experience).

Often no cubicles, "who need privacy in China"?

The "toilet" is a slot in the floor with a 30 foot drop into the abyss. Don't look down.

Sorry, more detail that you needed, probably...

posted by lagado at 9:07 PM on July 27, 2000