my country has a long history of bathing. As early as the Yin and Shang Dynasties more than 3,000 years ago, there are records of bathing in oracle bone inscriptions. There is also a record in "The Rites of Zhou" that "there is a bathroom in the king's bedroom". By the Spring and Autumn Period, our people had begun to use special equipment to bathe. Xiao Gang, Emperor Wen of Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasty, wrote three volumes of "The Book of Bathing", which is the earliest monograph on bathing discovered in my country.
According to historical records, in 334 AD, Shi Hu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty built the "Longwen Pool" in Yecheng, which was the earliest large-scale private bath in my country. The famous hot spring bath "Huaqing Pool" in Lintong, Xi'an was built in the Tang Dynasty.
In the Song Dynasty, with the prosperity of commerce, commercial public bathrooms came into being. In the "Neng Gai Zhai Man Lu" written by Wu Zeng of the Song Dynasty, there is a record that "when the public is in the bathing place, a pot must be hung on the door", which shows that the public bathrooms in the Song Dynasty also had signs to attract customers. Not only that, at that time, there were full-time service personnel who could wipe the backs of customers, and they were very popular with bathers. By the 16th century, public bathrooms were quite common in my country.
Extended information
Bathing is closely related to the behavioral norms of people's lives. When living at home, men and women should get up early, take a shower and change clothes. According to many data from our country, it is found that ancient people were much more hygienic than we imagined. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, they had formed the habit of washing their hair once every three days and bathing once every five days. So much so that the one day off given by the government every five days is also called "holiday".
Etiquette stipulates that the younger generation should boil warm water to bathe their parents once every five days, and boil warm water to wash their parents' hair every three days. During this period, if the parents' faces are dirty, they should boil rice water to wash them; if their feet are dirty, they should wash them with warm water.
The ancients also used soap and bath beans to bathe. The pancreas of the Tang Dynasty also served as a chilblain ointment. The higher-end ones are called "facial medicine" and "mouth grease", which are used to coat the face and mouth. The palace will issue it to officials in winter.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Bathing (Chinese Vocabulary)
Baidu Encyclopedia - Bathing (Basic Meaning)