Editing Bong (section)

==History==
Excavations of a [[kurgan]] in Russia in 2013 revealed that [[Scythian]] tribal chiefs used gold vessels 2400 years ago to smoke cannabis and opium. The kurgan was discovered when construction workers were clearing land for the construction of a power line.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/150522-scythians-marijuana-bastard-wars-kurgan-archaeology|title=Gold Artifacts Tell Tale of Drug-Fueled Rituals and "Bastard Wars"|last=National Geographic|website=[[National Geographic Society]]|date=22 May 2015|access-date=2022-05-10|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510210649/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/150522-scythians-marijuana-bastard-wars-kurgan-archaeology|url-status=dead}}</ref>
 
During the reign of [[Akbar|Emperor Akbar]], physician Hakim Abul Fath invented the waterpipe in [[India]], and discovered tobacco. Abul suggested that tobacco "smoke should be first passed through a small receptacle of water so that it would be rendered harmless".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Waterpipe Overview – WHO FCTC Secretariat's Knowledge Hub on waterpipes|url=https://untobaccocontrol.org/kh/waterpipes/waterpipe-overview/|access-date=2022-01-15|language=en-US|archive-date=2022-01-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220115112743/https://untobaccocontrol.org/kh/waterpipes/waterpipe-overview/|url-status=usurped}}</ref> Other sources also show evidence of the invention of the waterpipe in [[China]] during the late [[Ming dynasty]] (16th century), along with tobacco, through Persia and the [[Silk Road]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}} By the [[Qing dynasty]], it became the most popular method to smoke tobacco, but became less popular since the Republic era. While typically employed by commoners, the water pipe is known to have been preferred by [[Empress Dowager Cixi]] over snuff bottles or other methods of intake. According to the [[Imperial Household Department]], she was buried with at least three water pipes; some of her collections can be seen in the [[Palace Museum]].

The water pipe employed since the Qing dynasty can be divided into two types: the homemade bamboo bong commonly made and used by country people, and a more elegant metal version employed by Chinese merchants, urbanites, and nobility. Metal utensils are typically made out of bronze or brass, the nobility version of silver and decorated with jewels. Typically, the metal version is made out of the following components:
*The water pipe itself, a single-piece construct consisting of the bowl-stem, the water container, and a drawtube at least 3&nbsp;inches, but some can be up to 12&nbsp;inches in length. Some are straight with a "Joint" (Sandblasted top part of stem, usually about 1&nbsp;inch long, and all the way around, tapered or cone shaped, so the tapered, or "cone shaped" bowl will fit in)some are bent to resemble a [[crane (bird)|crane]]. The size of the bowl is similar to that of a [[One-hitter (smoking)|one-hitter]], typically the width of a thumbnail or smaller.
*The tobacco container with a lid.
*A pipe rack small enough to be held by one hand, and consisting of two large holes for the tobacco container and the water pipe. It may have smaller holes to hold various pipe tools.
During a smoking session, the user may keep all equipment inside the rack and just hold the entire assembly (rack, pipe, and container) in one hand, lighting the bowl with a slow-burning paper wick (纸煤) lit over a coal stove.
Unlike in North America and the Southern Hemisphere, the water pipe is typically employed by older generations.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}