Why ‘dung collector’ was a highly lucrative profession in ancient China

In ancient China, the profession of “dung collector” was highly lucrative, with fierce competition to gather “night soil.” Photo: SCMP composite/Baidu/Sohu In ancient China, a highly lucrative and fiercely competitive profession known as the “dung collector” brought its exponents significant profits.

These people were responsible for gathering human waste, otherwise known as night soil, from residents’ chamber pots.

Due to a lack of modern toilets and flush systems, people stored human waste in chamber pots and were not allowed to dispose of it freely.

This Tang dynasty painting shows how vibrant and varied life was at that time.

Photo: Getty Images Waste from each household was collected by specialised workers known as “dung collectors”.

At fixed times each day, these workers went door-to-door, collecting waste and transporting it to rural areas for sale.

Because China was largely an agricultural society, this waste was highly valued by farmers as fertiliser, allowing dung collectors to earn considerable profits.

Therefore, people would even compete for collection territories.

By the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), competition had become particularly intense, with collectors sometimes even taking territorial disputes to court.

A so-called dung collector pictured in ancient China.

His job was highly lucrative.

Photo: baijiahao.baidu.com During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, the system became more organised.

Collected waste was transported to designated “fertiliser yards” outside cities, where it was processed, dried and sold to farmers for profit.

The value of the waste varied depending on the social status and the areas of the household.

Waste from wealthier households, due to better diets, was considered higher quality and could be sold at a higher price.

To prevent monopolies and unhealthy competition, dung collectors even established their own rules.

Another “dung collector” inspects his haul of human waste.

Photo: baijiahao.baidu.com They divided territories among themselves, formalised agreements with signatures, similar to modern contracts and strictly prohibited crossing into others’ designated collection areas.

Among these dung collectors, the most famous was Luo Hui, a native of Chang’an during the Tang dynasty (618–907), who was dubbed the “Toilet King”.

He rose from being an unemployed vagrant in the capital to cleaning toilets for wealthy households.

During the Tang dynasty, when the population of C

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