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Dao people's bath medicine
Posted date 22/08/2018
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Posted date 22/08/2018
4.692 view
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Many of us have probably heard that ethnic women often bathe in water boiled from herbs to help their bodies recover quickly. Just a few days after giving birth, the mother can go to the fields to work, sometimes even carrying her newborn baby along.
Dr. Tran Cong Khanh - Center for Pharmaceutical Industry Research
Many of us have probably heard that ethnic minority women are often bathed in a water boiled from herbs to help their bodies recover quickly. Just a few days after giving birth, the mother can go to the fields to work, sometimes even carrying her newborn baby along. For women in the lowlands, this is beyond imagination. Is it thanks to the medicinal bath that ethnic minority women can recover their health so quickly?
In many ethnic communities in the mountains, in addition to the common traditional forms of medicine such as decoctions, medicinal wine, medicinal extracts for drinking, medicine for broken bones, etc., there is also the Dao people's bath medicine. This is a typical form of using herbs as medicine for health care and treatment that has existed since ancient times, a beautiful traditional medical culture in the ethnic communities in Vietnam. Bath medicine (called Dia dao xin in Dao language) is not only of the Red Dao people in Sa Pa but also a form of medicine of other Dao groups in Vietnam. In the Dao community, most members of each household know the medicinal plants for bathing. However, Dao women often know more, know where they grow and how to sustainably exploit the resources for long-term use.
In many ethnic communities in the mountains, in addition to the common traditional forms of medicine such as decoctions, medicinal wine, medicinal extracts for drinking, medicine for broken bones, etc., there is also the Dao people's bath medicine. This is a typical form of using herbs as medicine for health care and treatment that has existed since ancient times, a beautiful traditional medical culture in the ethnic communities in Vietnam. Bath medicine (called Dia dao xin in Dao language) is not only of the Red Dao people in Sa Pa but also a form of medicine of other Dao groups in Vietnam. In the Dao community, most members of each household know the medicinal plants for bathing. However, Dao women often know more, know where they grow and how to sustainably exploit the resources for long-term use.
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H1. Dao people go to get medicine
The Red Dao bath medicine in Sa Pa includes more types of plants than the bath medicine of other Dao groups. This may be because their experience in using herbs is richer and the nature in their habitat also has more types of medicinal plants. The number of medicinal plants in a bath medicine is often very large, ranging from 10 to 120 species, belonging to many different plant families and life forms. Of these, about 5-10 medicinal plants are considered the most important.
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H2. 78-year-old Pan Su May, a Red Dao ethnic group (Ta Phin commune, Sa Pa district) is cutting down Dia Gian trees to make medicinal baths (photo: Tran Cong Khanh, November 2015)
The following statistics show the number of species in the plant families commonly used by the Red Dao people in Sa Pa as bath medicine: Actinidiaceae (1 species), Annonaceae (2), Araceae (2), Araliaceae (1), Aristolochiaceae (1), Asteraceae (2), Capparidaceae (1), Convallariaceae (1), Cucurbitaceae (1), Equisetaceae (1), Euphorbiaceae (1), Fabaceae (2), Gesneriaceae (1), Hernandiaceae (3), Lamiaceae (2), Lardizabalaceae (1), Moraceae (3), Oleaceae (1), Ranunculaceae (5), Rubiaceae (3), Rutaceae (1), Schisandraceae (1), Zingiberaceae (2). A total of 39 species (According to Tran Van On, bath medicine investigation program, 2004).
The bath medicine is based on some basic medicinal plants and adjusted depending on the purpose of use. This makes the Dao people's bath medicine very diverse. Plants used to boil bath water are often used fresh or dried. If used on-site for family needs or for guests to bathe at home as was recently organized in Ta Van and Ta Phin communes (Sa Pa), fresh plants are used. For some rare plants that need to be stored for year-round use, people have to dry them (usually bundled into small bundles and placed on the kitchen loft). Nowadays, some households go to get medicinal plants to sell to hotels or guests to bring back to the lowlands, the plants must be cut into pieces or chopped and dried.
The bath medicine is based on some basic medicinal plants and adjusted depending on the purpose of use. This makes the Dao people's bath medicine very diverse. Plants used to boil bath water are often used fresh or dried. If used on-site for family needs or for guests to bathe at home as was recently organized in Ta Van and Ta Phin communes (Sa Pa), fresh plants are used. For some rare plants that need to be stored for year-round use, people have to dry them (usually bundled into small bundles and placed on the kitchen loft). Nowadays, some households go to get medicinal plants to sell to hotels or guests to bring back to the lowlands, the plants must be cut into pieces or chopped and dried.
After collecting enough ingredients, the medicinal herbs are put into a large pan or pot with a capacity of about 50 liters, boiled in water for about 20 minutes. The medicinal water is poured into a wooden barrel large enough for one person to sit in (now some places replace it with a plastic barrel). Let the temperature drop to about 50 degrees Celsius (or you can add cold water to the concentrated juice). The bather soaks in the medicinal water for about 15-30 minutes, when he or she feels sweaty, has a strong heartbeat and breathes quickly, then stop.
Medicinal baths are used to treat muscle, bone, and joint pain, flu, itching, constipation, boils; or to strengthen the body after illness, or women after giving birth. People who do heavy labor and are tired, after bathing with medicinal leaves, feel their body light, their spirit refreshed, and their health restored. Depending on the person, if you soak in the medicinal bath for too long, you may become intoxicated and sleepy. In this case, just lie down and rest or sleep for a while and it will go away.
Recently, the Dao people's medicinal baths are no longer limited to the community but have begun to be commercialized outside the community, at motels, hotels, and hospitals in Sa Pa and Hanoi. Customers are domestic and foreign tourists. The price for each bath in the community (in Ta Van and Ta Phin communes) is about 30,000 VND. In Sa Pa, guesthouses and hotels are selling medicinal baths at a price of 30,000-50,000 VND each time. This business model has used about 10 tons of fresh medicinal herbs each year.
Bathing medicine is also sold as raw materials. Some hotels buy individual medicinal plants from Ta Phin, Ta Van, then process them into dry powder, packaged as dips, each 200g package sells for 20,000 VND. There are about 10 drug stalls at Sa Pa market also participating in the bath medicine business. In this case, the dry bath medicine packages have fewer medicinal plant ingredients, about 5-6 (-9) types, with prices from 20,000-30,000 VND/package (about 1kg). This business uses about 12-15 tons of fresh medicinal herbs each year. Some Dao households organize baths at home and collect medicinal plants to sell to customers as raw materials, and can earn about 3 million VND a year.
The medicinal baths have been consumed in some motels and traditional medicine treatment facilities in Hanoi. In Hanoi, there are at least 3 sources of medicinal baths from the Red Dao people, consuming about 40-70 tons of fresh medicinal herbs/year.
The medicinal baths of the Dao people in general and the Red Dao people in Sa Pa in particular have great potential for development. Due to the rapidly increasing demand for medicinal baths (including on-site use for domestic and foreign tourists and in Hanoi), the commercialization of medicinal baths of the Red Dao people has been developed spontaneously by many individuals, organizations and in many different ways. The amount of medicinal herbs used in all ways is hundreds of tons of fresh materials every year. In which, the people who provide knowledge on the use of herbs only earn a small amount of money from collecting medicinal herbs for sale. The majority of the profits are enjoyed by traders and businesses outside the community. This is unreasonable and should be reorganized in the direction of sustainable conservation of indigenous medicinal plant resources and sharing benefits among related parties in a fair and reasonable manner.
Medicinal baths are used to treat muscle, bone, and joint pain, flu, itching, constipation, boils; or to strengthen the body after illness, or women after giving birth. People who do heavy labor and are tired, after bathing with medicinal leaves, feel their body light, their spirit refreshed, and their health restored. Depending on the person, if you soak in the medicinal bath for too long, you may become intoxicated and sleepy. In this case, just lie down and rest or sleep for a while and it will go away.
Recently, the Dao people's medicinal baths are no longer limited to the community but have begun to be commercialized outside the community, at motels, hotels, and hospitals in Sa Pa and Hanoi. Customers are domestic and foreign tourists. The price for each bath in the community (in Ta Van and Ta Phin communes) is about 30,000 VND. In Sa Pa, guesthouses and hotels are selling medicinal baths at a price of 30,000-50,000 VND each time. This business model has used about 10 tons of fresh medicinal herbs each year.
Bathing medicine is also sold as raw materials. Some hotels buy individual medicinal plants from Ta Phin, Ta Van, then process them into dry powder, packaged as dips, each 200g package sells for 20,000 VND. There are about 10 drug stalls at Sa Pa market also participating in the bath medicine business. In this case, the dry bath medicine packages have fewer medicinal plant ingredients, about 5-6 (-9) types, with prices from 20,000-30,000 VND/package (about 1kg). This business uses about 12-15 tons of fresh medicinal herbs each year. Some Dao households organize baths at home and collect medicinal plants to sell to customers as raw materials, and can earn about 3 million VND a year.
The medicinal baths have been consumed in some motels and traditional medicine treatment facilities in Hanoi. In Hanoi, there are at least 3 sources of medicinal baths from the Red Dao people, consuming about 40-70 tons of fresh medicinal herbs/year.
The medicinal baths of the Dao people in general and the Red Dao people in Sa Pa in particular have great potential for development. Due to the rapidly increasing demand for medicinal baths (including on-site use for domestic and foreign tourists and in Hanoi), the commercialization of medicinal baths of the Red Dao people has been developed spontaneously by many individuals, organizations and in many different ways. The amount of medicinal herbs used in all ways is hundreds of tons of fresh materials every year. In which, the people who provide knowledge on the use of herbs only earn a small amount of money from collecting medicinal herbs for sale. The majority of the profits are enjoyed by traders and businesses outside the community. This is unreasonable and should be reorganized in the direction of sustainable conservation of indigenous medicinal plant resources and sharing benefits among related parties in a fair and reasonable manner.
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H. 3: A Red Dao medicinal bath business in Sa Pa town.
(Photo: Tran Van On)
The Red Dao bath medicine is not only a health care method of the ethnic people, but also an element that constitutes the cultural identity of the Dao people in the region. This issue requires the support of the authorities to register the trademark ' Red Dao bath medicine ' for local people, helping them have more income and at the same time promote domestic tourism.
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