The first thing we do when we emerge from the womb apart from crying is that we are washed. As soon as it leaves its mother’s body‚ the newborn baby‚ while wet and with its eyes still closed‚ is immersed in warm water and washed. That warm feeling feels as if it is still inside its mother. When we grow up we all develop our own way of bathing‚ a philosophy only known to ourselves. Some people study various kinds of baths such as mud bath‚ hot springs bath‚ shower‚ Turkish bath‚ and sauna. The methods varied yet all remained pleasurable. Some people enjoy using a variety of liquid soaps and bathing utensils. These tidbits from the lives of ordinary people have been collected in the Taiwan Digitalarchives. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period‚ Chinese people were using an object made from bronze as a washbowl‚ called a “jian.” It originally had legs‚ a wide mouth‚ deep belly and flat bottom‚ with handles‚ and was used to hold water. On the belly were cloud patterns‚ coiled dragon pattern and skein pattern. Before bronze mirrors became popular‚ it could be filled with water and be used as a water mirror. The everyday nature of bathing is reflected in the practices of the minorities of Southwest China: in Yunnan‚ the Baiyi minority of Gengma Autonomous County‚ are highly dependent on public wells. Whether cold or hot‚ the women bathe outdoors around a well totally at ease. They take off their upper garment but leave their long skirt on; they change the wet skirt when they go home. They use the opportunity provided by washing together to exchange information and gossip just like women in a neighborhood do when they go to a market. Baiyi women of Gengma Dai Autonomous County‚ Yunnan‚ washing next to a well. Bathing in a bathhouse was very relaxing and also provided a chance to get to know neighbors better. Of course‚ sometimes people had violent disputes for a minor reason. In the reign of the Qianlong Emperor‚ a man was sentenced to hang for beating someone to death in a bathhouse. In the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor‚ a certain person in some county went outside to relieve himself and found a woman bathing behind a wall‚ he sneaked through her door and tried to molest her while she finished bathing. The women was so angry and ashamed‚ she killed herself. The man was detained and had to wait until the Autumn Trial and Imperial Court Trial to find out if he would be beheaded. In modern times in Taiwan‚ hot springs were actively developed by the Japanese during their 50 year rule into public bathhouses‚ such as Beitou‚ Yilan‚ Caoshan public bathhouses; these were places ordinary people could go to relax. The interior of Beitou Public Bathhouse during the reign of the Taishō Emperor
in the Japanese Colonial Period Taipei Railway Workshop‚ opposite of the Living Mall in Taipei Songshan District‚ was a railway workshop built in the Japanese Colonial Period that was used for the repair and assembly of locomotives and rolling stock; it was the only place with above-ground railway tracks left in Taipei. It also had an employees’ bathhouse where the water was heated by the steam from the workshop furnace. After a hard day at work‚ employees were often covered in lubricant and dirt. The bathhouse was opened thirty minutes before employees got off duty and didn’t just allowed them to clean up‚ it also refreshed them so they went home full of vigor. The bathhouse was listed by Taipei City Government as a Grade 3 historic site‚ however the entire workshop was relocated to Fugang base in Yangmei in 2011‚ depriving the bathhouse of its heat source and also removing the last above-ground railway tracks in Taipei. What does the future hold for this historic bathhouse now? | 
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