10 Secret Methods of Identifying Virgins in Ancient Times

In ancient society, it was often more important for a woman to maintain her chastity than to preserve her life. The so-called maintaining chastity means that a woman either does not have sexual intercourse with a man throughout her life, or only has sexual intercourse with her legal partner (her only husband). Otherwise, she is considered "unchaste."

(a) Seeing the redness

The ancients had an unparalleled preference for virgins, which is often reflected in literary and artistic works. The inspection of the hymen is also very strict. A piece of white cloth is placed on the couch of the bride and groom. After the intercourse on the wedding night, the white cloth must show blood to prove that the bride is a virgin. If no blood is seen, it will be a big trouble. The bride will face the fate of being tortured, or even unable to turn over a new leaf in her life. If the bride really had sex before marriage, that would be fine, but if not, it would be a lifelong injustice.

Wang Shifu's "Romance of the West Chamber" has this description: After Zhang Sheng and Cui Yingying had sex for the first time, looking at the handkerchief stained with red, he sang with satisfaction: "Spring silk is originally white, and the red fragrance has already dotted the tender color." He has obtained the right to possess the virginity of a virgin, so he is proud of himself and shows off. At this time, Cui Yingying also expressed her recognition of men's preference for virgins, and regarded her virginity as her entire value. She said: "My body, which is worth thousands of gold, is gone. I will entrust it to you. Please don't abandon me one day, or I will regret it when I am old."

When a man gets married, he will see blood on the wedding night. The hymen will rupture and bleed. This becomes the most concerning thing for everyone the next morning. Everyone puts the entire issue of chastity on that "membrane" of the genitals. If the bride has her period on her first night, the next day the groom's family will send someone to deliver a wedding invitation with a divination message saying "there is a river in the boudoir, and the lady is admirable" to announce the good news to the bride's family. The bride's family will be overjoyed and will brag to their neighbors.

In addition, Wu Meicun's "My heart is timid, who will see... The traces of clouds and rain remain, and a bed of petals has fallen." Also, in The West Chamber, Zhang Sheng, after the cloud and rain in Wushan, held a handkerchief stained with Cui Yingying's fallen petals, and was complacent. He watched and sang: "The spring fireflies are white, and the red fragrance can be seen early in the morning." The so-called bed of petals and red fragrance here are also metaphors for "fallen petals."

This method of identifying by bleeding also has its disadvantages. First, the absence of bleeding does not necessarily mean infidelity. Because the hymen can be ruptured by other violent movements, not just sexual intercourse. Secondly, bleeding does not necessarily mean chastity.

Because now many hospitals can perform hymenoplasty on women, turning non-virgins back into virgins. In ancient times when hymenoplasty had not yet been invented, a bride who had lost her virginity could prepare a white handkerchief stained with the blood of a cock's comb in advance, and then have sex in the dark. Some people even pour chicken blood into the fish belly bubble in advance and tie it up with thread. Various methods are used, such as stuffing it in before entering the bridal chamber (the method of "disguising a virgin" is discussed below), which makes the bleeding meaningless.

(2) Summoning the midwife

In Ming Dynasty writer Feng Menglong's "Stories to Awaken the World", it is recorded: "He told his attendants to call an honest midwife to go to the boat to test whether Gao was a virgin and come back with information quickly..." The woman in charge of this work is called a midwife. A midwife is a midwife. Sometimes the job is entrusted to the man's female relative or matchmaker. The first nude inspection in China recorded in writing was in the book "Miscellaneous Secrets" written by an anonymous author. It records how Empress Liang (Liang Ying) was selected naked and enthroned as empress during the reign of Emperor He of Han. When the emperor chose a queen, how did he check whether she was a virgin? In order to ensure the quality of the "dragon seed", Emperor He of Han specially sent "Wu Ju" to check.

A midwife is a woman who gives birth to babies. She is usually called "old lady". According to Volume 2 of Jiang Yikui's "Chang'an Kehua", the midwives needed by the palace had to be pre-selected from among the midwives in the folk, and then the names of the pre-selected midwives had to be registered in a book for use when needed. In addition to delivering babies and selecting wet nurses to observe the thickness of milk and the presence of hidden diseases, the midwives selected into the inner court also played an important role in the palace beauty pageant. Not only did they have to participate in distinguishing beauty from ugliness, but they also had to perform naked examinations of women, such as skin, breasts, and genitals. In the Ming Dynasty, when the concept of chastity was very popular, the women selected into the palace would also be checked to see if they were virgins.

The story in "Secret Stories of the Han Dynasty" about Liang Ying being examined naked by Wu Zhen before being selected as queen is a relatively famous example.

The midwife also had a certain influence on the political situation and the power of the harem, but her role was mainly during the selection of girls to enter the palace and during the delivery of babies. These opportunities were relatively short, and when things were over, everything was over.

At that time, midwives were indispensable not only in the palace but also in government offices. For example, when investigating a case and examining a female corpse, a midwife would often appear to examine her private parts; if a woman was raped, a midwife would also perform the examination.

Five senses inspection

First, an overall review is conducted. There is nothing wrong with the actions and behaviors of "Juhe Xiangfa". The morning sunlight shone through the window onto Liang Ying's face , "like the morning glow and snow, so beautiful that I couldn't look directly at it." Next, check the facial features. "The eyes are clear and bright, the eyebrows are smooth and curled, the mouth is red and the teeth are white, the ears are long and the nose is high, the chin is bright and the position is just right." The facial features are correct and just right, without any problems such as crooked mouth and protruding nose.

Virginity Check

Then, Wu Ju took off Liang Ying's clothes. I could only smell the fragrant aroma, and when I touched it, I felt the texture was smooth and clean. Check along the way. The breasts are as big as beans, about half an inch in diameter, and the private parts are raised. Then spread the two buttocks, the vulva will be red and the fire will be about to burst out. Even the breasts and genitals must be examined in detail. The examination of the female body mainly focuses on a comprehensive and detailed inspection of the reproductive organs to see whether the hymen is intact in order to determine whether she is a virgin. They had the knowledge to identify virginity from the appearance of the genitals. Even today's obstetricians and gynecologists know this, so it's nothing special.

(III) Body shape and appearance

Although bleeding is not enough to prove it, ancient Chinese could still tell whether a girl had sexual experience by looking at her body shape. Modern people believe that women who have had sexual experience have thicker and fatter necks and buttocks. The ancients had a different view.

posture

In The West Chamber by Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty, after Yingying and Zhang Sheng had an affair, the old lady immediately noticed that Yingying's body shape was different from before: "In the past few days, I have seen Yingying's speech being dazed, her mind being doubled, and the posture of her waist and body being different." The so-called difference is probably the so-called mature charm. But the word "charm" is a bit abstract. So later the Chinese came up with

The method of "face reading" is used to determine whether a woman is chaste or not.

Eye wrinkles

When it comes to Virgo physiognomy, one should pay special attention to the crow's tail at the corner of the eye. That is to say, use the color of this part to make the judgment. If the tail of the eye is pink with a slight red color, it means that you have recently lost your virginity. If it is black, it is evidence of long-term loss of virginity. However, this can only be used for young women. It is of no use to middle-aged women with dark circles and wrinkles at the corners of their eyes.

Although bleeding is not reliable, the ancient Chinese could still tell whether a girl had sexual experience from her body shape . It can be said that every man desires to have sex with a young woman like a virgin. Therefore, using the tail of the eye to judge women is a good method.

Skin discoloration

Also, beautiful women with fair skin will have a pink face or body after they lose their virginity. This may be because when they were virgins, their blood would rise more violently. In addition, as Volume 3 of "Ma Yi's Complete Book of Face Reading" says: "Eyes like water indicate that both men and women are lustful" and "Thick hair, heavy sideburns and squinting eyes indicate lustful."

The 641st volume of the Art Collection of Ancient and Modern Books quotes "Song of Women in Valley Lanes" as saying: "She has majesty without eyebrows, and her spirit is upright. She walks without dust, and smiles with her teeth hidden. She has no shoulders but a back, and stands like a turtle. This is the chaste body of a woman. She is charming but not powerful, and her behavior is frivolous. This person will eventually fall into the dust. Even if she is not a prostitute, she will be a man behind the screen.

"Autumn Pond Moon Talks about Women" says: "A woman sits with her knees swaying, her waist is like a bee, her mouth is wide and drooping. She is poorly dressed and well fed, but it is wrong for her to betray her husband. A woman with peach blossom eyes must be guarded against willow leaf eyebrows. She gets married without a matchmaker and makes an appointment with someone under the moon. When she sees someone and smiles, she covers her mouth and strokes her eyebrows with her hands. She steals a glance at people and must take advantage of the guests."

Beautiful women with fair skin will have their face or body turn pink right after they lose their virginity . The Song of Adulterous Women says (also see: Ancient and Modern Books Collection, Volume 641, Songs of Ten Slutty Women) "She stands leaning against the door, and when people come, she follows them with her eyes. She holds her chin and bites her fingers. She straightens her clothes for no reason, and shakes her legs when she sits or stands. She sings a low song when no one is around. She opens the window and pushes the door open. When she stops sewing and remains silent, she wants to laugh before she speaks. She must be having sex with someone." The above is a sure thing. We can also see from this the standards by which Chinese people judge women’s chastity.

(IV) Eyebrows and Breasts

The ancients also used her eyebrows and breasts to determine whether a woman was a virgin.

In Romance of the West Chamber, after Zhang Sheng and Yingying's first night together, Zhang Sheng sang "Zhuan Sha" ( meaning to gain something), "Spring feels deep in her breasts, and spring is reflected in her brows. But the cheap man asks about marriage and silk, and her apricot-shaped and rosy cheeks are illuminated by the moonlight, making her look even more rosy and white." Jin Shengtan, a scholar in the early Qing Dynasty, commented on the first two sentences: "Look at her chest, look at her eyebrows, these two looks are extremely poisonous, and are exactly the way to look at a girl who has just lost her virginity ."

It is said that the eyebrows of a non-virgin stand up from the skin, while those of a virgin are close to the skin of the brow bone. The breasts are firm, elastic and upright like a virgin's. If you are not a virgin, your vagina will become soft and sagging.

The above statement is very popular in China. Ji Xiaolan, a writer in the early Qing Dynasty, recorded in Volume 23 of "Youwei Thatched Cottage Notes" "Luanyang Xulu": "... seeing the two people still smiling, he said angrily: This is adultery. According to the law, those who rape their fiancée should be beaten with a stick, and then they called for a stick. People said that it was just children playing, and there was actually no sexual contact, as evidenced by their eyebrows and breasts..." Everyone agrees that checking her eyebrows and breasts can prove whether she is a virgin, which shows that this statement is not just the fantasy or fabrication of one person.

The ancients also used the eyebrows and breasts of women to determine whether she was a virgin . In addition, in the early Republic of China Li Jinfa's "Lingdong Luan Ge", there is a line that goes: "The pomegranate flowers are blooming bright red, look at the girl who has never been opened, you can tell from the sealed door that her body is too flat and her breasts are too medium." The so-called "body is too flat and breasts are too medium" is also an example of identifying a virgin by looking at her breasts.

(V) Shougongsha

In Jin Yong's martial arts novel "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", the female disciple of Master Miejue of the Emei Sect was abducted by Yang Xiao, the Left Protector of the Ming Cult, and gave birth to a daughter, Yang Buhui. In order to understand whether his disciple's virginity had been taken away, Master Miejue looked at the "Shou Gong Sha" on the female disciple's arm...

In fact, according to historical records, the practice of checking the chastity of women had already been carried out as early as the Han Dynasty in China (the "Health Preservation Prescriptions" unearthed from the Han Tomb of Mawangdui in Changsha), which is the recipe for the so-called "Shougongsha": "The lizard, also known as the dragonfly, is kept in a container and fed with cinnabar, and its body turns red. It eats seven pounds of cinnabar. It is pounded with a pestle ten thousand times and applied to women's limbs. The chastity will not go away all year round, but will be reduced after sexual intercourse, so it is called Shougong ." The above is the same as what is recorded in "Bowuzhi" by Zhang Hua of the Jin Dynasty . In short, place a gecko (a kind of lizard) in a new jar, put some vermilion cinnabar in it and let the gecko eat it, and its body will turn red. Wait until the gecko dies, dry it and grind it into medicinal powder. The method of use is: apply the prepared powder on the arm or other parts of the virgin. Once the virgin has sexual intercourse, the brightly colored "Shougongsha" will immediately fade.

Whether in ancient novels or in the palace, the method of using Shougongsha to check the chastity of a girl is said to have been used by emperors of all dynasties to deal with the three thousand beauties in the harem that they could not handle. In addition, another prescription with the same effect as Shougongsha is recorded in "The Mysterious Art of Fang" by Chen Xiyi of the Song Dynasty. It is called: "Qin Shi Huang recognized the moral principles of Concubine Qi". The ingredients are equal parts of honeysuckle, dry rouge, and cinnabar. Mix them together into a fine powder, then add bat blood. After applying it on a virgin, the effect is that if she has sexual intercourse, the color will fade immediately.

(Six) Blood test

In ancient China, blood tests were also used to determine whether a young girl had sexual experience.

In the "Chongming Manlu" by Cai Hengzi of the Qing Dynasty, it is recorded: "A girl from a certain family happened to chat with a boy from the neighborhood, and her uncle saw them... The uncle taught her that there are differences between men and women and that they should avoid suspicion. The next day, she went to put on makeup with her aunt in the morning, and deliberately pierced her finger with a wine bottle in front of the mirror to make it break. Blood dripped into the water, and it condensed into beads. She pretended to be surprised and asked: why doesn't the blood disperse when it enters the water. The aunt said: your body is like this. The girl laughed, probably to let go of the previous suspicion." It turns out that ancient Chinese also believed that "the blood of a virgin does not disperse when it drips into water, but condenses into beads."

(VII) Sneezing Wind

In this method, first let the woman stand in front of the brazier, of course without wearing any underwear. The burning paper and smoke are then blown into the woman's nose. At this time, the woman will sneeze due to the stimulation. If the wind from her lower abdomen can blow up the ashes in the brazier and make them fly away, then she is not a virgin. If the wind is only very light, then it is virgin.

In this method, first let the woman stand in front of the brazier, of course without wearing underwear , and then blow the burning paper and smoke into the woman's nose.

(8) Horseshoe Soil

In the early Republic of China, Wang Han's "Sea of ​​Secret Arts" contains the secret recipe of miraculous arts: "To test a woman's chastity, take some east-facing horseshoe soil and hide it under her collar. If she has an affair, she will reveal it in her words, otherwise it will not work."

However, no one knows whether this method was effective when used by the ancients. But it still has its drawbacks. Because people today live in cities, where they can neither see soil nor horses, so where can they find "Eastward Horse Hoof Soil"?

Ancient rumor: If you put the east-facing horse hoof soil inside a woman's collar, her virginity will be revealed in her words. Now that we know how to identify virgins in ancient China, how did ancient foreign countries identify whether a woman was unvirgin, and how did they prevent women from having affairs and cheating?

(IX) Chastity belt

There are many different opinions about the origin of the chastity belt . Some say it was a replica brought back from the Arab harem during the Crusades, while others say it was invented by merchants from Venice and Galgamum to prevent their wives and daughters from being unfaithful because they were away for a long time. The chastity belt is the product of a wonderful combination of the Christian creed of abstinence and the private property of citizens.

For those who adhere to the creed of abstinence and the principle of private property of citizens, their wife's genitals are no different from his money. They can only be used by themselves and cannot be possessed by others. Therefore, to be on the safe side, the wife's genitals must be locked up, just like money must be locked up.

In ancient times, people used chastity belts to lock women's lower bodies in order to prevent them from having affairs.

Chastity belts are also known as "Pergamos locks, Venetian belts, Vienna belts, and Florentine belts." Popular in Europe in the 14th century. Some are made of iron, while others are made of gold or silver with gems inlaid.

Simply put, a chastity belt is a pocket guard made of metal. The waist and the lower part below the thighs are locked in a metal grid, and barbs and sharp teeth are installed on important parts to prevent other men from crossing the line. There is only a small, narrow slit in the front (for urination) and a small, round hole in the back (for defecation). The inside of the metal grid was lined with velvet cloth to make it difficult to open, and a key was given to the husband for safekeeping. The suspicious husband can lock it up and carry it with him, and then he can travel far away without any worries. When you come back, just check the seal on the lock.

In fact, the chastity belts of the Middle Ages did not provide much protection for women's "chastity". Judging from historical records, the average person in the Middle Ages was quite indulgent and free regarding sex. Moreover, a wife who is left alone in her empty room will not be content to remain submissive like this. The traditional theme of handing over keys appeared in satirical paintings in medieval Europe. As soon as the husband left the house, the wife would throw the spare key to her lover.

In order to seek excitement, some playboys would do whatever it takes to get the key, which led to many jokes such as "surrendering the keys" later on.

The use of chastity belts was widespread and continued to have an impact in the West until the 1930s. According to records, chastity belts for men and women still appeared in surgical equipment catalogs in the 1930s. But the main purpose is to prevent masturbation. In the mid-nineteenth century, Scottish doctor Muti designed a chastity belt made of soft rubber. Muti also said: At least half of Scottish women have used artificial dildos for masturbation. At the time, such behavior was morally unacceptable. The purpose of inventing a new chastity belt is to preserve one's chastity. However, sex doctors at the end of the 20th century encouraged masturbation, believing that it could relieve sexual stress. The two are very different.

(10) Chastity Lock

In ancient Korea, a metal ring was installed on the vulva of young girls. The key is kept by the mother until the girl gets married and then given to the son-in-law. This metal ring is called a "chastity lock".