Posted 2018/11/13
By chance, Ban took one of the Yao medicinal baths. Her complexion then became soft and white as snow and her physique also greatly improved.
The word spread in the royal palace about her beauty and Emperor Cheng was also attracted by her charm. When he learned that Ban had benefited from a medicinal bath, Emperor Cheng was very happy and said, "All the people, from the emperor to ordinary people, should enjoy medicinal baths."
Since then, the medicinal bath has become a favorite beauty and fitness regimen.
Health Care Effects
The medicinal bath permeates the entire lives of the Yao ethnic group. It's a common practice to take a medicinal bath before dinner, for they believe that one can't eat well without eliminating fatigue from a day's work.
Thanks to the medicinal bath, the Yao people, old and young, seldom fall ill.
During pregnancy, Yao women stick to taking a medicinal bath made from six anti-abortion herbal medicines every day until the lying-in.
Nowadays, doctors usually suggest lying-in women take showers rather than hip baths so as to avoid bacterial infection.
Nevertheless, about 20 minutes after lying-in, the Yao women take a hip bath in a barrel of medicinal water made from 15 herbal medicines to protect the maternal reproductive system and quicken uterine contraction. After 10 days with daily bathing, the lying-in women are able to do non-strenuous work.
Even more amazingly, the Yao women usually give birth at home with the help of a midwife, but they seldom have any sort of gynecological disease, a miracle in medically-advanced modern society.
The new-born babies are also given a bath with medicinal water made from four to five herbal medicines to prevent them from contracting common childhood diseases. Yao children usually bathe once or twice daily in their childhood.
The Yao people also use a kind of medicinal water to cleanse bodies of the deceased.
Etiquette
The Yao people usually treat a guest from far away with local tea and a medicinal bath, regarded as the highest form of their etiquette for guests.
Yao women put fresh herbal medicines into a boiler and heat up the medicinal water. After boiling them for about half an hour, a strong herbal fragrance spreads to every corner of the house.
The hospitable Yao women pour the hot medicinal water into a large bathing barrel, about 70 centimeters in height and 60 centimeters in diameter, and then mix the medicinal water with cold water.
Soon, the guest can take a medicinal bath. After more than 10 minutes, herbal extracts slowly seep into capillaries all over the body and one feels limp and numb, similar to being slightly drunk.
After a bath, one feels fresh and relaxed in high spirits.
