瑶族，中国最古老的民族之一。隐匿于从江县东南部的高华村，是一个瑶族聚居村落，这里村民长寿者居多，而神秘的“瑶族药浴”更是远近闻名。

The Yao ethnic group is one of China's oldest ethnic groups. Located in the southeastern part of Congjiang County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Gaohua Village is a settlement predominantly inhabited by the Yao people. The village boasts a high number of residentswith longevity, and is renowned for its mysterious Yao medicated bath.

盘山而上，瑶寨的轮廓逐渐消失在夜色中，清新的空气夹杂着阵阵药香，让鼻喉倍感舒适。赵财现家的瑶浴客栈也亮了灯，老婆赵正花开始煮药水，顺便为小儿子洗澡。

Ascending the hill, the silhouette of the Yao village gradually vanishes into the night. The fresh air is filled with the scent of medicinal herbs, providing a soothing sensation to the senses. The lights are on at Zhao Caixian's Yao medicated bath inn, where his wife, Zhao Zhenghua, is preparing medicinal decoctions while also giving their youngest son a bath.

在高华，有人人皆泡药浴的风俗。药浴疗法是以药物洗浴达到强身健体、抵御风寒、消除疲劳、防治疾病的传统养生治疗方法，是千百年来瑶族民众集体智慧的结晶。

In Gaohua Village, it is a common custom for everyone to take medicated baths. Medicated bath therapy is a traditional health treatment method that uses medicinal substances for bathing to enhance physical fitness, resist the cold, relieve fatigue, and prevent and treat diseases. It is a collective wisdom of the Yao ethnic group accumulated since ancient times.

赵有辉：我的祖先传给我瑶浴，已经是第七代人了。我6岁的时候，妈妈去劳动，我就跟着去劳动，妈妈上山采药，我就跟着去采药，妈妈回家织布，我就看她织布，“咦！好像好玩得很”。第二天妈妈又来织布，看到线断了，妈妈（说）这个肯定是老六，我是第六个儿子。后来，我打纸（造纸）比妈妈打得还好，我织布比妈妈织布还好。她看我样样都懂得，她才传给我。

Zhao Youhui: The tradition of Yao medicated bath has been passed down to me from my ancestors, and I am already the seventh generation. When I was six years old, I followed my mother to work. When she went up the mountain to collect herbs, I would go with her. When she came home to weave cloth, I would watch her and think, ''Hmm, it looks like a lot of fun.'' The next day, when my mother came to weave again and saw that the thread was broken, she would look angry and blame me, her sixth and youngest son, for the mess. As I grew older, I found that I could make paper in our traditional way better than my mother, and I could weave better than her too. When she saw that I was a fast learner, she decided to pass on the medicated bath tradition to me.

据赵有辉老人说，他还有十个兄弟姐妹，而以前村里并没有医院，瑶族妇女生产、恢复，孩子能够健康成长都离不开瑶浴。

According to Zhao Youhui, he had 10 siblings, and in the past, there was no hospital in the village. The Yao women relied on Yao medicated bath for childbirth, recovery, and ensuring the healthy growth of their children.

赵有辉：我们瑶家药浴，第一个（用处）还是女人的妇产。有孩子快落地了，奶奶（婆婆）和公公就到大山里面去采药，拿到家里挂在楼上晒干。（儿）媳妇痛肚了，公公就马上烧火，马上倒水在大桶里面，（产后）就喊孩子的妈妈（到桶里面）泡，又舀水给刚落地的孩子泡，在盆里面泡，这样孩子可以预防疾病。孩子的妈妈泡了（瑶浴），她的身体干净得很快，三天可以在家搞小生产、劳动。

Zhao Youhui: In our Yao family, the primary use of Yao medicated bath is for women during childbirth. When a woman is about to give birth, her father-in-law and mother-in-law would go to the mountains to collect herbs and bring them home to dry them by hanging them upstairs. If the woman experiences abdominal pain, the father-in-law would immediately start a fire and pour water into a large tub. After childbirth, the woman would then be called to soak in the tub, and water would be scooped to bathe the newborn in a basin. This helps prevent diseases in the child. After the woman takes a medicated bath, her body would recover quickly, and within three days, she can resume doing some household chores and certain work at home.

赵财现师从赵有辉。通过政府的帮扶，他将瑶浴客栈开办起来，平时还会继续向师傅学习认药和配药知识。瑶族因没有本族文字，“配方”只能通过口口相传，让这门技艺有了神秘色彩。

Zhao Caixian has acquired the tradition from Zhao Youhui. With the assistance of the government, he has successfully opened a Yao medicated bath inn and continues to learn about herbal identification and prescription from his master. Due to the lack of a written language in the Yao ethnic group, the medicated bath's ''formulas'' can only be passed down orally, adding a sense of mystery to this craft.

赵有辉：这里叶子又不大又不小，只能这么大，又亮亮的，又没有毛的，她（妈妈）是这么告诉我们，都一清二明。什么病该配哪种就配哪种，有些（病）只配一种药，有些配两三种，有些配五六种，七八种也有，什么病配什么药。

Zhao Youhui: The leaves used here should be neither too big nor too small. They must be just the right size, shiny, and without any fuzz. That's how my mother taught us, which is very specific. We know exactly which herb to use for each specific illness. Some diseases require only one type of herb, while others may require two or three, and there are even cases where five or six, or even seven or eight herbs are needed. We match the medicine to the illness accordingly.

一些名贵的药材因为不能晾晒储备，赵有辉年轻时经常要深入山林寻找，日落才能到家。如今，腿脚不便的他仍旧会到周边采药。

Due to the inability to air-dry and store certain valuable medicinal herbs, Zhao Youhui, when he was young, used to venture deep into the mountains to search for them, sometimes only returning home after sunset. Even now, despite his limited mobility, he still makes an effort to gather herbs in the surrounding areas.

除了发展瑶浴文旅产业，高华村已经规模化种植一些常用的药用植物。赵财现空闲时间会去合作社帮忙，配制成的药浴包销往海内外。他自己和村民又多了一份收入，让高华村走在了乡村振兴的前列。

In addition to developing the Yao medicated bath cultural and tourism industry, Gaohua Village has also scaled up the cultivation of commonly used medicinal plants. During his free time, Zhao Caixian helps out at the cooperative, where they package the herbs into medicated bath kits that are sold both domestically and internationally. This has provided additional income for himself and the villagers, putting Gaohua Village at the forefront of rural revitalization.

赵有辉：我孩子不让我干我也要干（农活），孩子喊我跟他去城市（生活），我不愿去。你看我们这里空气很好嘛。白天搞累点，回家泡药浴就轻松了，明天又一样地搞。

Zhao Youhui: Even if my children don't want me to work in the fields, I still want to do it. They ask me to move to the city to live with them, but I am not willing to leave. You can see that the air quality hereis great. I may get tired during the day, but when I come home and take a medicated bath, I feel relaxed and ready to do the work again the next day.

赵有辉老人如今依旧生活在养育他的这片山林。儿时的织布声、妈妈的“威吓声”、空气中弥漫的药香，都挥之不去……吃过早饭，赵财现夫妇又现身在田间，瑶族人的一天这样开始了。

Zhao Youhui still lives in the mountains where he was raised. The sound of weaving from his childhood, his mother's pretended intimidating gesture, and the lingering scent of herbal medicine in the air are all unforgettable. After having breakfast, Zhao Caixian and his wife reappear in the fields, which marks the beginning of another day for a Yao ethnic family.

编辑：张娟