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Story 146: Tibetan Bathing Festival

Tibetan Bathing Festival

Author: Anonymous

Every night in late summer and early autumn, a very bright star appears in the sky southeast of Lhasa. At this time, the Tibetan people begin the annual Bathing Festival. Legend has it that the star only appears for seven nights. Why do people set the seven nights when the star appears as the Bathing Festival? A long time ago, there was a very famous doctor on the grassland. His name was Yutuo Yundan Gongbu. His medical skills were very advanced and he could cure any difficult and complicated diseases. Therefore, the Tibetan King Trisong Detsen asked him to be a royal physician to treat the Tibetan king and his concubines.

However, after Yutuo entered the palace, he still couldn’t forget the people on the grassland. He often used the time when he went out to collect herbs to treat the people. One year, a terrible plague broke out, and many herdsmen were bedridden, and some were killed.

At this time, Yutuo ran on the vast grassland to treat sick herdsmen one by one. He collected various medicines from the snow-capped mountains and old forests, and whoever took the medicine would get better. I don’t know how many patients who were on the verge of death have recovered. Doctor Yutuo’s name was praised everywhere on the grassland, and people called him the King of Medicine.

Unfortunately, Doctor Yutuo died. After his death, the grassland was hit by another terrible plague, which was more serious than the previous one, and many people died. The herdsmen who were dying had to kneel on the ground and pray to the sky, hoping that the heaven would bless them. Coincidentally, one day, a woman who was tortured by the disease and almost died suddenly had a dream.

In the dream, Doctor Yutuo said to her: “Tomorrow night, when a bright star appears in the southeast sky, you can go down to the Jiqu River to take a bath, and your illness will get better after taking a bath.” Sure enough, after the woman took a bath in the Jiqu River, her illness was immediately eliminated. A yellow and thin patient turned into a healthy person with a rosy face after taking a bath. After this novelty spread, all the patients came to the river to take a bath. All the patients who took a bath eliminated their diseases and recovered their health. People said that this strange star was transformed by Doctor Yutuo.

Doctor Yutuo saw that the people of the grassland were attacked by plague again in heaven. He could not come to the human world to treat the people, so he turned himself into a star and used the starlight to turn the river water into medicine, so that people could bathe in the river to get rid of the disease. Because the emperor of heaven only gave Yutuo seven days, the star only appeared for seven days.

From then on, the Tibetan people designated these seven days as the Bathing Festival. Herdsmen from all over the country would bathe in the nearby river at this time every year. It is said that after bathing, people will be healthy and happy and will not get sick.