China was the first in the world to use
masks. In ancient times, people in the court began to cover their mouths and noses with silk scarves in order to prevent dust and breath pollution. In his book "Marco Polo's Travels", Marco Polo described his experience of living in China for seventeen years. One of them is: "In the palaces of the Yuan Dynasty, those who offered food covered their mouths and noses with silk cloths to keep their breath and not touch the food and drink." This kind of silk cloth covering the mouth and nose is also the original mask.
At the beginning of the 13th century,
masks only appeared in the Chinese court. The waiters used a mask made of silk and gold thread to prevent his breath from spreading to the emperor's food.
At the end of the 19th century,
masks began to be used in the medical field. German pathologist Leidge began to recommend that medical staff use gauze coverings to prevent bacterial infection.
At the beginning of the 20th century, masks became a must-have item in public life for the first time. The Spanish flu that swept the world killed around 50 million people, and the general population was required to use masks to ward off the virus.
In the mid-to-late 20th century, the large-scale use of masks was significantly frequent.
Masks have played an important role in preventing and blocking the spread of germs several times in the previous pandemics recorded in history.
In March 1897, the German Medici introduced a method of wrapping the mouth and nose with gauze to prevent the invasion of bacteria. Later, someone made a six-layer gauze mask, which was sewn on the collar and turned over to cover the nose and mouth when using them. However, this kind of masks has to be held down by hand, which was extremely inconvenient. Later, someone came up with a method of using a strap to tie the ears, which became a kind of
masks that people often use.
In 1910, when the Northeast plague broke out in Harbin, China, Dr. Wu Liande, the then deputy supervisor of the Beiyang Army Medical College, invented the "Wu's mask".
