The so-called all diseases start from the cold, and the cold starts from the feet. Empress Dowager Cixi admired this very much.
Empress Dowager Cixi, as the ruler of the late Qing Dynasty, had a great desire for power, which was also the reason why she was afraid of losing power. At the same time, Empress Dowager Cixi took great care of her body, and the maintenance of her appearance and health was staggering.
In order to keep healthy, Empress Dowager Cixi attached great importance to washing and soaking feet, not only almost every day, but also very luxurious.
The Queen Mother needs a special silver footbath to wash and soak her feet.
Empress Dowager Cixi used to soak her feet once a day before going to bed. The footbath she used was not a golden one, but a silver basin with all kinds of decorations and words painted on it, like Flo Xi Shou.
The ancients believed that there are two kinds of natural treasures in nature, one is jade and the other is silver. "Jade raises people and silver cures diseases." The ancients believed that silver scraps can calm the five internal organs, calm the nerves and prevent and treat various diseases.
Another important function of the silver footbath is antivirus.
In fact, the poisons that the ancients could use were very limited, among which the most important was arsenic with very low purity, and once silver came into contact with arsenic, it would turn black, so the ancients thought that silver could effectively detect poisons.
Empress Dowager Cixi, as a helmsman in the late Qing Dynasty, also made many enemies. In order to prevent anyone from hurting her, Empress Dowager Cixi took very strict precautions, not only when eating, but also when washing her feet, using a silver footbath to check.
In the silver footbath of Empress Dowager Cixi, there are two special wooden fetuses.
In the eyes of the ancients, the theory of yin-yang and five elements was very popular. The silver footbath belongs to gold, the water belongs to water, the water temperature still belongs to fire, and the wooden tire belongs to wood, but the wood is gone.
Empress Dowager Cixi paid attention to all the five elements, believing that only in this way can the five internal organs be supplemented and the balance of yin and yang in the body be adjusted. Therefore, she believes that only by using wooden tires to attract the "rustic" on the ground can real health be achieved. This method is called "grounding gas".
Empress Dowager Cixi used different herbs and flowers as foot washing water according to different seasons.
Empress dowager cixi usually exchanges two pots of water for washing her feet, one pot of clear water and one pot of potions, which are soaked in potions and then washed with clear water.
Empress dowager cixi used different potions in different periods according to the prescription of the doctor too much, such as fine chrysanthemums produced in Huizhou and Hangzhou in dog days, papaya soup in dog days, and so on.
Although Empress Dowager Cixi washed her feet easily, the maids who served her were very nervous.
Empress Dowager Cixi needs someone to massage her when she washes her feet. These jobs are all done by special ladies-in-waiting. Everyone needs to be trained in advance and know how to press acupoints. It's a kind of pedicure, but washing the feet of Empress Dowager Cixi can't splash water and make a lot of noise.
After washing, the maid-in-waiting will gently trim the nails for Empress Dowager Cixi and clean the keratin on her feet. There are also various tools for pedicure of Empress Dowager Cixi, which are specially made and usually kept by special personnel.
It can be said that Empress Dowager Cixi attached great importance to foot washing at that time.