The hebao is also a type of adornment used in traditional Chinese clothing (including in hanfu and in the Manchu people's qizhuang).

[5]: 463  These medicine pouches are used to induce resuscitation, awaken consciousness, eliminate turbid pathogens with aromatics, invigorate organs (spleen and stomach), avoid plague and filth, repel mosquitoes and other insects.

Incense, pearls, jade, and other valuable items were placed inside the hebao to dispel evil spirits and foul smells.

[7] In the Song dynasty, the term hebao referred to a small bag which would store carry-on valuables (e.g. money and personal seal).

[4][1] The tradition of carrying xiangbao can be traced back to the Duanwu festival, where a hebao would be filled with fragrant herbs and was embroidered with the patterns of the Five Poisons; it was meant to ward off evil spirits and wickedness while brings wealth and auspiciousness to its carrier.

[6]: 100 [8][5]: 463 During the reign of Qin Shi Huang, perfume pouches were attached on the girdles of young men to show respect to their parents and their in-laws.

[9]: 87 It is also believed that the use of xiangbao is a long tradition of the Han Chinese; the use of xiangbao can be traced back to the Tang dynasty when women living in rural areas would make perfume pouch (made of coloured silk, silk threads, gold and silver beads) in every year on the 4th lunar month.

The Qing emperors would also award perfume pouches to the princes and ministers to show his favour for them on important festivals or at the end of each year.

[4][1] Yuyong hebao (Chinese: 御用荷包; pinyin: yùyòng hébāo), ornamented purses which were manufactured for the imperial palace, were an extraordinary mark of imperial favour and expressed the high regards which was held by the Qing emperor to his generals; the emperors only sent to those hebao to his highest generals.

[4] Xiangbao were used extensively by the common people regardless of gender and ages; they would carry perfume pouches and give it to others as presents while young men and women would often use it as a toke of love.

The bag was originally made of out animal hide and was worn at the waist; it was secured on the belt for the usage of carry food.

[1] Later on, when the ancestors of the Manchu left the mountain regions and began an agricultural life, the hide bag was developed into a small and delicate accessory which would only contain sweetmeat.

[1] Manchu women would use small pieces of silk and satin to the sew the bag and would decorate it with flower and birds embroidery patterns.

'Embroidering a pouch'), originally called Huguang diao from the regions of Hunan and Guangdong, is a popular song since the Ming and Qing dynasties.

[2]: 83  Chinese folks about embroidering hebao are sung in all parts of China, with the most familiar ones being the ones in Shanxi, Yunnan, and Sichuan.