The Shen family was blessed with a baby boy. Three days later, it was the baby’s third birthday, and many relatives and friends came with gifts to congratulate.
The third-day bath, the full moon, the one-year-old birthday, etc. are all rituals that take place when a child reaches a certain age. Because the child mortality rate was high in the old days, it was inevitable to add some superstitious blessings to such celebrations.
From the royal family to the common people, everyone had to bathe their baby.
On this day, relatives and friends gather together, and the host will use herbs to boil fragrant water to bathe the child, and the guests will put money in the basin, which is called "adding basin". There are also various complicated etiquettes, all of which have beautiful meanings, including how to wash the child, which have complete procedures.
This custom matured in the Tang Dynasty, when Buddhism was once prevalent. Bathing in fragrant water was in line with Buddhist rituals, and was the same as the current practice of bathing the Buddha in fragrant water on the Buddha Bathing Day. In fact, some families would simply ask for Buddha Bathing Water in the temple to bathe their children if it happened to be a good day.
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