Bathing culture occupies a place in China's cultural tradition. According to historical records, as early as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, it was stipulated in the Code of the Supreme Ruler that people should fast for three days, bathe and change clothes, and "officials should rest for five days" in major activities such as enthronement, succession, mourning and Kaiyuan, which shows the importance of bathing to the official gfd and the people's respect for heaven and earth.
Since then, every dynasty has been like this. By the Han and Tang dynasties, bathing culture had been formed, and there were more and more bathing methods, such as steam bath, hot spring bath, cold bath and medicinal bath, which were very popular in the upper class. Not only that, bathing also draws on and absorbs the methods and concepts of fitness and health preservation in China traditional medicine, such as hot boiling, foot soaking, fumigation and massage, which all add new elements to the formation of bathing cultural characteristics in China.
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The Western Zhou Dynasty treated "bathing" most devoutly, and also added many new important functions to bathing. For example, before offering sacrifices and meeting the emperor, one must "bathe and purify the body" to show inner purity and piety.
According to historical records, in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were two fasts before every major sacrifice: thirteen days before the sacrifice, called "fasting", and three days before the sacrifice, called "lodging", all of which were presided over by full-time officials. In addition to taking a bath and changing clothes, all activities should also hold their breath to prevent "loss of righteousness" and "distraction".
Of course, "abstinence" also includes abstaining from eating spicy things such as leeks and garlic, so as to thoroughly purify the body and prevent malodor from spewing out of the mouth. You can't be careless when you appear in front of the emperor. It was stipulated in the Western Zhou Dynasty that the princes went to Beijing to appear before the emperor, and the emperor wanted to give him a fief to fast and bathe, which was called "Tang Muyi". Specially designated for bathing, it can be seen how sacred bathing was at that time.
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