Dao people and the treasure of medicinal herbs in the northern mountainous region

In the vast mountains of the North, where clouds cover the whole year and streams flow endlessly, the Dao community still preserves for itself an invaluable heritage: folk medicine knowledge. It is not only the way to cure diseases with forest plants, but also a system of traditional knowledge, summarized through many generations, about how to live in harmony with nature, take care of health with herbs, steam, bathe, drink, soak - all of which create a unique indigenous medicine treasure of the Northern mountains.

The Red Dao people in Ta Phin ( Lao Cai ) prepare a traditional medicinal bath from more than 100 types of forest plants.

A treasure trove of knowledge passed down through generations in the great wilderness

For generations, the Dao people have known how to distinguish hundreds of medicinal plants around their habitat. Each plant and each leaf has its own uses, from treating colds and joint pain to treating digestive, dermatological, gynecological or postpartum diseases. In many villages, the elderly often pass on to their children how to identify medicinal herbs by their scent, color, and even the bitter-sweet taste when tasted.

The precious thing is that knowledge does not only exist in books but also in every daily routine. When a child has a cold, the grandmother will boil a pot of leaves for steaming; when a woman gives birth, the mother will boil medicinal bath water to help the body recover... In the Dao people's mind, nature is the greatest doctor, and each person is a part of the cycle of heaven and earth.

Medicinal bath – cultural and medical symbol of the Dao people

When it comes to Dao folk medicine, we cannot ignore the medicinal bath – a famous treatment method passed down from generation to generation. The medicinal bath usually consists of 10 to more than 100 types of forest plants, combined according to each family’s own secret recipe.

The Red Dao people in Sa Pa, Ta Phin or Hoang Su Phi still maintain the medicinal bath ritual every day after work. The bath water has a distinctive aroma, helping to relieve muscle pain, relax, improve blood circulation and restore health after giving birth. Today, the Dao medicinal bath has gone beyond the village, becoming a therapeutic tourism product loved by domestic and foreign tourists, contributing to bringing new livelihoods to the community.

Rich medicinal treasure of the northern mountains and forests

The northern mountainous region is blessed with hundreds of precious medicinal plants. The highland districts such as Bac Ha, Hoang Su Phi, Ba Be and Na Hang alone have recorded hundreds of medicinal plants used by the Dao people in their daily lives. Familiar names such as thousand-year-old ginseng, Phellodendron amurense, Platycodon grandiflorum, Mugwort, Ligusticum wallichii, Polyscias fruticosa, Morinda officinalis… are not only medicinal ingredients but also symbols of the connection between people and the mountains and forests.

Medicinal plants are harvested in season, dried in the shade, and stored in bamboo tubes or cloth bags to preserve their medicinal properties. Some valuable remedies are prepared by soaking in alcohol or boiling many times, combined with traditional prayers and rituals, expressing a deep belief in the harmony between matter and spirit in the healing process.

Dao herbalists pick medicinal leaves deep in the forest, preserving traditional medical knowledge for many generations.

Scientizing traditional knowledge is an inevitable direction.

The Dao people’s folk medicine knowledge is a great treasure, but many remedies still exist only in oral form. To promote this value, scientists and traditional medicine doctors are gradually researching and determining the active ingredients, uses and safety of medicinal plants.

Some establishments have begun to build medicinal herb conservation gardens, propagate precious plants, and standardize the collection, preparation, and testing processes. The "scientificization" of folk knowledge not only helps ensure the safety of users but also creates conditions for traditional medicines to become legal commercial products, contributing to the development of the local economy.

Challenges and opportunities for sustainable development

In every Dao village, the image of the traditional healer is always respected. They are not only healers but also keepers and teachers of traditional medical knowledge. Many traditional healers are able to recognize hundreds of medicinal herbs, memorize bathing, soaking and decoction recipes based on experience and intuition accumulated over many generations.

However, the reality is that the next generation is becoming less and less, as many young people leave their villages to study or work far away. Without policies to preserve and encourage teaching, some of this valuable knowledge may disappear over time.

Besides the great value of traditional medicine, the Dao people are facing many challenges. Forests are being overexploited, causing many precious medicinal herbs to gradually become depleted. Uncontrolled commercialization can easily lead to massive harvesting, causing ecological imbalance. In addition, some medicinal recipes are passed down by word of mouth incorrectly, causing misunderstanding or abuse, affecting public health.

Sustainable solutions need to start from the community. Many models of medicinal cooperatives and medical tourism are being formed, helping people to preserve knowledge and increase income. At the same time, there needs to be policies to protect the ownership of traditional knowledge and share benefits fairly between knowledge holders, businesses and researchers.

Traditional medicine in general and Dao folk medicine in particular are not opposed to modern medicine, but complement each other. In remote mountainous areas, where medical conditions are limited, indigenous knowledge helps people take effective primary health care. In the modern context, when people turn to nature to balance body, mind and spirit, traditional therapies such as herbal baths, herbal steaming, and herbal compresses become even more valuable.

The Dao people’s traditional medical knowledge is not only a method of treatment, but also a symbol of the harmonious relationship between humans and nature. In the era of industrialization, this value is even more valuable. The preservation, research and development of indigenous knowledge should be considered as part of a sustainable healthcare strategy and green economic development in the mountains. While the Dao people still retain the “medicinal soul” of the forest, the mountains and forests of Viet Bac still have a living heritage – crystallized from wisdom, faith and love for nature.

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Source: https://baolaocai.vn/nguoi-dao-va-kho-bau-duoc-lieu-vung-nui-phia-bac-post885340.html