Essential oils have been used by many cultures around the world for centuries. Their uses varied between cultures from religious purposes to healing the sick. It's difficult to prove essential oil treatment in medicine is valid or not. Eventually the knowledge of essential oils spread around the globe.
About four thousand years ago, according to the record of Egyptian history, Ancient Egyptians discovered how to use plants to treat various physical and mental diseases. The most famous Egyptian use of aromatic botanical is in mummification. In preparing the bodies of the deceased for burial, embalmers used various botanical such as cinnamon, resins such as frankincense and myrrh, and an early form of cedar or juniper essential oil.
CHINA In China, herbs and plant medicine are an integral part of Traditional Chines Medicine. Specific use of essential oils has been traced to before the time of Christ. The oldest surviving medical text that we’re aware of is Shennong’s Herbal, dated around 2700 BC, containing information on usage of 365 plants. Shennong was the father of Chinese herbal medicine, and cultural hero of China who taught his people the practices of agriculture. He consumed hundreds of herbs to test their medical value. Huang Ti, the legendary Yellow Emperor. His famous book “The Yellow Emperor’s Book of Internal Medicine” contains uses for several aromatics and is still considered a useful classic by practitioners of eastern medicine today.
In today’s aromatherapy world, along with contributing the valuable historical plant medicine texts, China is one of the most prolific producers of essential oils.
