Liu Huiwu

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Liu Huiwu, Male, Han, from Taigu, Shanxi, is a fourth-batch national representative bearer of Traditional TCM Preparation Methods (Ⅸ-4). The tradition is documented in Taigu, Shanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of Traditional TCM Preparation Methods in Taigu, Shanxi: Guilingji is the signboard of the pharmaceutical trade of central Shanxi (Jinzhong), whose foundations were laid in the network of trading houses around Taigu. After the Guangsheng Pharmacy took over the ascending-refinement formula drafted by Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen, this medicine never left Taigu: materials were selected through the medicine shops and veteran farmers of the Jinzhong area, the honey pills relied on the pill-hanging furnace fires of several large pharmacies within the city, and the workforce was passed down in a single line from master to apprentice. Beyond Taigu, the branch houses and sub-offices of firms such as Guangsheng and Guangsheng (guangSheng) carried this line of production into the other provinces, and from the Republican period onward it traveled with the carts and horses of Shanxi merchants as far as Guangzhou, Fuzhou, northern Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia. Within the same city, Taigu's other famous gynecological medicine, Dingkun Dan, emerged from the same lineage of masters; the processing and pill-making skills of the two medicines supported one another, and they thus converged at Guangyu Yuan into a single set of house rules for pharmaceutical production. In the first year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty (1522), the Daoist adepts Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen drew on the strengths of the 'Laojun Yishou San' (Old Lord's Longevity Powder) from the Yunji Qiqian, supplementing and cutting from it, and applied the technique of ascending refinement in the furnace and tripod to produce an 'immortal medicine' claimed to confer immortality, which they presented to the emperor. Later, this formula passed through several hands to the Guangsheng Pharmacy (the predecessor of Shanxi Guangyu Yuan Chinese Medicine Co., Ltd.), and Guilingji was preserved as a traditional famous-brand remedy of Taigu County, Shanxi Province.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in January 1955 in Taigu County, Shanxi Province. He is a national representative bearer of Traditional TCM Preparation Methods, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project, in respect of both the traditional crafting technique of Guilingji and the crafting technique of Dingkundan. Born into a family of Chinese medicine practitioners, he entered the Shanxi Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory (formerly the Guangyuyuan Pharmaceutical Factory) at the age of 17 and studied the crafting technique of Dingkundan under his father Liu Zijun, a senior pharmacist. For several decades he worked at production posts for Guilingji, Dingkundan and related products. He not only mastered in full the distinctive processing and manufacturing techniques of Guilingji and Dingkundan, but also, through continuous experiment and enquiry, introduced technical innovations into the traditional processes. At the same time he has devoted himself to research on the pharmacology and clinical application of classical formulas such as Guilingji and Dingkundan, drawing out their broad intrinsic value. Within the documented technical tradition of Traditional TCM Preparation Methods in Taigu, Shanxi: Traditional Chinese medicine preparation refers mainly to pills, powders, ointments, and elixirs (dan); in addition, there are wine preparations, lozenges (dingji), gelatins (jiaoji), and so on. Each dosage form has its own set of traditional preparation techniques, and in combination with certain products there are also some special methods of production. With the development of the times, the production of ready-made Chinese medicines (patent medicines) has undergone many reforms and innovations, greatly raising production efficiency; yet traditional preparation methods have not all been eliminated, and some of them remain the best choice in the production of patent medicines — especially famous-brand patent medicines, patent medicines with secret formulas, and patent medicines containing precious and rare medicinal ingredients, which are often still produced by traditional preparation methods in time-honored brand enterprises. Traditional Chinese medicine preparation methods retain certain features of ancient workshop production: materials are selected with precision, ingredients are fed in an orderly sequence, and the techniques are distinctive; the packaging and instruction slips are imbued with a traditional cultural atmosphere, and are deeply trusted by physicians and patients. It is refined with a unique traditional technique of ascending refinement, with remarkable efficacy, and is praised as 'Guilingji, the King of Tonics.' After the Jiajing Emperor took it, he was greatly delighted and personally bestowed the name 'Guilingji' (Collection of the Tortoise's Age), signifying that taking this medicine could grant a longevity like that of the thousand-year-old divine tortoise. In ancient times, the tortoise (gui) was ranked among the 'four numinous creatures' (dragon, phoenix, tortoise, and qilin), symbolizing longevity and auspiciousness. Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen thereby won the emperor's favor and rose to the rank of the Three Ducal Ministers; from then on, Guilingji became the 'imperial sacred medicine' of the inner palace. Guilingji is composed mainly of such ingredients as ginseng, deer antler (lurong), cistanche (roucongrong), sea horse, and epimedium (yinyanghuo), which strongly tonify qi and blood and warm yang to benefit essence. It is commonly used for impotence, premature ejaculation, and seminal emission, and has long enjoyed the reputation of a 'sacred medicine' for andrology, with effects such as strengthening the heart and improving immunity; it can be used in the treatment of many male disorders caused by deficiency and detriment of kidney yang. It has the functions of promoting metabolism, strengthening blood circulation, and enhancing the body's immunity and myocardial contractility; it is used mainly for strengthening the body, benefiting the brain, nourishing the marrow, promoting potency, enriching the kidney, tonifying qi, improving appetite, regulating the nerves, adjusting endocrine function, and eliminating myocardial fatigue. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Ascending refinement in the furnace": Heating the materials in a closed furnace to sublime them is the step that distinguishes Guiling Ji from ordinary pills, powders and pastes, and the point where the formula's power gathers. "The sovereign-minister-assistant scheme": Ginseng, deer antler, cistanche, seahorse and epimedium lead as sovereign drugs, with kidney-warming agents as ministers and spleen-regulating and channel-opening herbs as assistants, all aimed at kidney yang deficiency. "Kneading the large honey-pill mass": Powder and boiled honey are kneaded to ratio, divided, rolled, gilded and wax-sealed; every step depends on a judgement of touch and heat built up over decades. "Fixing the written standard": Over more than forty years at Shanxi TCM Factory, Yang Jukui set the formulas and process rules of Guiling Ji and Dingkun Dan down in writing; the record is now held by the National Archives.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He has adhered to processing by traditional methods and strictly observed every procedural step. Working on the production line over many years, he has passed on his skills by oral instruction and personal example, selected those outstanding in both character and ability for formal teaching, and guided and demonstrated to them hand in hand and one to one, training successors for the craft.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Liu Huiwu · National Representative Bearer Archive