CHINA - 2,400-Year-Old Flush Toilet
Broken parts of the 2,400-year-old lavatory, as well as a bent flush pipe, were unearthed last summer by a research team among ancient palace ruins in the Yueyang archaeological site in the central city of Xi’an, according to Chinese state media.
Liu Rui, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who was part of the excavation team, told state media the toilet would have likely been reserved for high-ranking officials during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and the later Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). He added that servants would likely have poured water into the toilet bowl every time it was used.
“The flush toilet is concrete proof of the importance the ancient Chinese attached to sanitation,” Liu said, adding that there were very few records of indoor toilets in ancient times.
Prior to the newly announced discovery, the invention of the first flush toilet was widely credited to English courtier John Harington, who supposedly installed one for Queen Elizabeth in the 16th century.
The ruins from Yueyang, the former capital of Qin State and later the first capital of the Han Dynasty, were discovered in the 1980s. The recent find is part of a broader effort to understand ancient Chinese dynasties, including how people lived and how their cities were constructed, the Institute said in a statement announcing the discoveries.
-www.cnn.com, 21 February 2023
Arno's Commentary
It seems unpopular to say or publish anything positive about China. Readers sometimes take offense at such reports. Why? Quite obviously, it is the sources they prefer to enlist in their arguments. What is our interest? It is not geopolitical, for we, as children of God, are in this world but not of this world. It makes no difference in which country we live or to which political philosophy we adhere; the bottom line is still: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).
From prophetic perspectives, we see China as a rising power in opposition to the Western-dominated powers. The result? The East having equal powers to the West, thus preparing the way for true globalism. Incidentally, globalism has already been functioning for several decades on an economic level. The West depends on the East as much as the East depends on the West. Yet in the end, what is written in Revelation 17:13 shall be fulfilled: “These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
