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

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.

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