In the past, when a woman’s virginity was often seen as a criterion for her worth, various methods were devised to test a girl’s purity—some were gruesome, while others were shrouded in mystery.
During the feudal era, particularly in Asia and especially in China, the value of a virtuous woman was greatly emphasized. Apart from being gentle and skilled in domestic tasks such as sewing, chastity was a crucial factor in determining whether a woman was considered completely pure and worthy of being a “well-bred daughter.” Have you ever wondered how people in those times, when medical science was not as advanced as it is today, tested a woman’s virginity? The answers below may surprise you.
1. The Midwife’s “Body Inspection”
In ancient times, midwives not only assisted women in childbirth but also took on the role of conducting “body inspections” to verify a woman’s purity if requested. Since midwives were familiar with women’s bodies and had regular contact with their intimate areas, it was not surprising that they could determine whether a girl was still a virgin through examination. Sometimes, this “body inspection” duty was also assigned to matchmakers.
The book “Jinshiwen” recorded that the first person to perform this “body inspection” in Chinese history was the author of “Tay Yu Bi Xin.” It describes how the Empress of Emperor Huan of Han, Liang Ying, had to undergo a body inspection before being officially promoted to ensure that any future pregnancy would be guaranteed to produce the emperor’s offspring.
Reading Physical Features
Reading physical features has always been a popular method for predicting a person’s future or fate based on their appearance. The origins of this practice can be traced back to ancient China. However, in ancient times, reading features was not only used for fortune-telling but also to assess a girl’s purity through her physical characteristics.
Specifically, the outer corners of a woman’s eyes were believed to reflect her virginity. Experts in physical features from ancient times suggested that if a girl was still a virgin, the outer corners of her eyes would have a pink or slightly red hue—this being a natural color, not enhanced by makeup. Conversely, if a woman had lost her virginity, the outer corners of her eyes would appear black.
The correlation between physical appearance and a woman’s chastity is even recorded in many ancient texts. For instance, in “Gu Jin Tu Shu Ji Xing,” it states: “A straightforward spirit without allure, knowing to smile with closed lips, shoulders raised like a turtle, undoubtedly a virgin. In contrast, a person with insincere gestures and seductive demeanor must be a fallen woman.”
Another historical source suggests: “A woman or girl leaning against a door, glancing at an approaching person, rubbing her cheek while biting her finger, adjusting her clothes for no reason, or shaking her thigh while sitting… must have engaged in illicit affairs.”
2. The Red Mark
The red mark is essentially just a dot on a woman’s hand.
This method of testing a woman’s virginity has caused controversy since ancient times in China, as the so-called “red mark” is merely a dot made on a woman’s hand from the crushed body of a lizard after it has been fed red lead. Of course, none of this has anything to do with whether a woman is a virgin or not.
However, historical records state that when the red mark is applied to a girl’s body, if she is a virgin, the red mark will never fade. In contrast, if she has lost her virginity, the red mark will quickly lose its color and disappear.
Similar to the red mark, the book “Fang Shu Xuan Yi Zhong Yu” mentions another type of substance used to test virginity, which Emperor Qin Shi Huang trusted to monitor the behavior of his concubines, preventing them from being “disloyal” behind his back. The ingredients of this substance included “beetle honey,” “cinnabar,” and “red lead.” After being ground and mixed with bat’s blood, it would be applied to the concubines. If anyone engaged in illicit behavior, the mark would immediately fade.
3. Blood Pearl of the Virgin
This method is even “more absurd” than the red mark.
This method is equally controversial, if not more “absurd” than the red mark. According to this belief, in ancient times, to test a woman’s virginity, a few drops of her blood would be taken and dropped into water. If the blood did not dissolve and remained as droplets resembling pearls, the woman was deemed a virgin. Conversely, if the blood dissolved quickly, it indicated that she had lost her chastity.
This method was recorded in the book “Zhong Ming Man Lu” by scholar Tai Chengzi during the Qing Dynasty through a short story. It tells of a girl who was initially suspected of having an affair with a neighbor. The groom’s family wanted to test their bride’s virginity by getting her drunk and then taking blood from her hand to drop into water. Strangely, the blood did not dissolve and instead formed droplets like pearls. They then believed their daughter-in-law had been wronged.
4. “The Red Stain”
“The Red Stain” is simply understood as the blood of a woman who remains a virgin after her wedding night. In ancient times, after the wedding night, the groom and his family would check the white cloth placed on the bed beforehand; if the cloth was stained with red blood, it indicated that the bride had remained pure before marriage. If not, it suggested that she had given her body to another man long ago.
Perhaps “the red stain” was the simplest method to check a woman’s virginity, but it also had its downsides, causing many troubles for women. If there was no “red stain” after the wedding night, the bride and her family would face severe criticism. Meanwhile, whether or not there was bleeding after the wedding night sometimes had nothing to do with a woman’s chastity.
Firstly, a woman not bleeding during her first sexual encounter does not necessarily mean she is “not a virgin.” The hymen can break for various reasons. Secondly, bleeding on the first night does not conclusively indicate that the girl has never engaged in sexual activity.
5. “The Sneezing Wind”
“The Sneezing Wind” refers to testing a woman’s virginity based on the gust produced from her “sensitive area” when she sneezes. This may be the most bizarre method of virginity testing in ancient China.
In this method, the girl being tested would need to stand in front of a basin of coal without wearing any underwear. Someone would then light paper or blow smoke up her nose, using pepper or any substance that can induce sneezing. During the sneeze, the “sensitive area” of the girl would release a gust of wind.
If the gust was strong enough to cause the coal basin to glow and ash to rise, she would be considered not a virgin. Conversely, if the gust was weak and did not provoke a strong reaction from the ash, she would be confirmed as a virgin.
The validity of these virginity testing methods remains a topic of debate. However, one undeniable truth is that they reflect the stringent attitudes towards women’s evaluations in ancient times, heavily influenced by male perspectives. Alongside these testing methods, the horrific punishments for women who happened to lose their virginity, were humiliated (raped), or committed adultery in earlier eras illustrate the pain and misfortune of women in those days.
6. Administering Diuretics
Medieval medical texts noted a belief that virgins were endowed with a magical strength, capable of taming wild animals, holding water in their hands, and controlling their urge to urinate.
Therefore, to determine whether a young woman was still “pure,” ancient medical texts recorded that a girl would be given a large dose of diuretics. If she could hold her urine for a long time, it indicated she was a virgin; if she couldn’t endure it, it suggested she had engaged in sexual relations.
Modern medical experts assert that a woman’s virginity has no correlation with her ability to hold in urine. They even warn against the dangers of prolonged urination retention, which can lead to urinary tract infections, a high risk of kidney stones, bladder inflammation, and even cancer.
7. Breast Examination
In the book “The Untouched History” by Hanne Blank, one of the methods considered the best for determining a woman’s “purity” was breast examination. Small breasts, tiny nipples, and a pink hue indicated a girl was still a virgin.
This belief was also prevalent in ancient China, where it was thought that the breasts of a pure woman were firm and had good elasticity, while those of a married woman or one who had engaged in relations were soft and sagging.
The reason behind this belief is that, according to ancient observations, women tend to have larger breasts during pregnancy, leading to the conclusion that a girl who has never engaged in sexual intercourse would have smaller breasts. This belief is further reinforced by the theory that sperm, upon entering a woman’s vagina, travels through her body to the breasts, causing them to enlarge and sag.
However, assessing virginity by examining the nipples or breasts is not necessarily accurate, as the size and color of a woman’s nipples depend on her skin pigmentation. In reality, it is only when a woman is pregnant or taking hormonal contraceptives that hormonal changes occur, leading to alterations in the color of the nipples and areolas, rather than changes resulting from sexual activity.
