According to historical records, "medicated bath" is regarded as the enjoyment of daily life by Yao men, women and children, and it is a necessary thing for Yao people to keep healthy. It has become a cultural treasure of the Chinese nation.
The industrious Yao people, living in the depths of the mountains, have been bathed in this mysterious Chinese medicine for generations, so there are few diseases such as dermatosis, heart disease, gynecology and rheumatism. Yao's puerperal women can work in the fields three days after delivery without harming their health. After work, you should also take a medicated bath to warm the middle warmer, dispel cold, relax channels and activate collaterals, restore physical strength and prevent rheumatism. Old people also pay great attention to medicated bath, so Yao people can walk as fast as flying at the age of 90.
Since ancient times, the living conditions of the Yao people living in the depths of the mountains in the southwest are poor and their medical conditions are relatively backward. However, they love cleanliness and seldom get sick. They take a bath after work every day. Unlike other ethnic groups, they only have a basin of clean water, but they use drugs to clean it, commonly known as medicated bath, which Yao doctors call "Pang Tong medicated bath". Large wooden barrels made of Chinese fir can be seen everywhere in Yaojia, with a height of 1 m, a width of 0.6 m and a length of 0.7 m.. This is the "Pang bucket" for bathing with medicinal liquid, also called "Yellow bucket". No matter the severe winter and hot summer, the Yao people have to take a bath in the Pang Tong every night. According to the survey, Yao people living in Jinping, Congjiang, Hekou, Bama, Longsheng, Xincheng, Shanglin, Mashan and Du 'an counties in Yunnan and Huayao in Hunan all have the habit of taking medicine baths. It is this seemingly simple "Pang Tong medicated bath" that has created a strong and long-lived Yao people!
Yao medicinal bath is rich in local medicinal materials. There are dozens to hundreds of herbs used in medicated baths. The drugs used are adapted to local conditions and have various functions, such as clearing away heat and toxic materials, expelling wind and cold, relaxing muscles and tendons, activating collaterals, and invigorating qi and blood. When taking a medicated bath, we often choose different drugs according to different objects, different seasons or different diseases. Newborns and postpartum women usually choose drugs with warming and anti-inflammatory effects, such as Sargentodoxa, Finger Peach, Jiujiefeng, Duckling Wind, Cuoshi, Eucommia ulmoides and so on. It can prevent various infections of parturient and newborn, nourish qi and blood, and promote the involution of parturient uterus. This postpartum medicated bath is called "Yuezi medicated bath". Many Yao women can take part in physical labor in the mountains about ten days after giving birth through medicated bath. If you catch a cold in the rain after work, you should also take a medicated bath, which can warm the middle warmer and dispel the cold, relax muscles and tendons, restore physical strength and prevent rheumatism. Commonly used drugs are ginger, yellow wine, big divergence, small divergence, peach leaves, Artemisia annua and so on. The elderly also pay great attention to medicated bath, and generally use drugs for promoting blood circulation and warming menstruation, such as big diamonds, small diamonds, red vines, Euonymus fortunei and young vines. This undoubtedly helps to promote the metabolism of the body and maintain vigorous vitality. For those suffering from rheumatic osteodynia or traumatic sequelae, drugs such as litsea cubeba, kapok star, Jiujiefeng, Dabaipo and Xiaobaipo are often used to dispel wind and cold, promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis, and strengthen tendons and bones. Pine vine, Eucommia bark, etc. These drugs can relax muscles and collaterals and restore limb function. If you suffer from rheumatic joint pain such as scapulohumeral periarthritis, sciatica and hyperosteogeny, you often choose products that dispel wind and cold, remove dampness, promote blood circulation and relieve pain, such as big drill, small drill, eighteen diseases, tetragonal vine, Zanthoxylum nitidum and various woody and lianas with thorns.
Yao people in many areas also have the habit of taking medicine baths on festivals, such as seasonal festivals or at the end of the year. For example, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, Yao people from all over Yunnan send people to collect "hundred herbs" in the morning. The so-called "hundred herbs" means that all green herbs should be picked except those that are toxic and cause skin allergies. The more you choose, the better. You'd better choose enough. These plants have many medicinal effects, so they are called "hundred herbs". When picking "hundred herbs", you should bring a knife and hoe. Most herbs are collected from branches and leaves, and a few are collected from skin or roots. For example, neem needs bark, green grass digs roots, honeysuckle picks flowers, winter shavings need tubers, and wild yamanashi needs fruits.
After the "Hundred Herbs" are collected, the sediment is washed and dried in a ventilated place. At about 5 pm, the oldest and healthiest old man in the family cut the medicinal materials into small pieces of about three inches, put them in a large pot, add the load of clean water to boil for about 15 minutes, pick up the dregs, add little or no salt, and leave the fire until the temperature of the liquid medicine naturally drops to a level suitable for bathing. According to the traditional rules, the residue is cooked from old to young. In some places, the medicated bath is made of a large wooden barrel with a height of 70 cm and a diameter of 70 ~ 80 cm, which can hold one or two hundred Jin of liquid medicine. When taking a bath, except for the head, the whole body is soaked in the potion. The medicine of "Hundred Herbs" smells delicious. After taking a bath, you will feel relaxed, relaxed and refreshed.