Wu Chengmou

01 · Lineage & Regional School

He is the second-generation transmitter of Wu-style bone-setting therapy. Precocious from childhood, he learned under the oral instruction and personal example of his father Wu Gending, founder of Wu-style bone-setting: at 12 he began studying the internal exercises and the bone-repositioning manipulation of the school, at 15 he completed his training and began to practise medicine, and by 20 he had thoroughly grasped the essentials of the Wu bone-setting art. Within the regional tradition and school record of TCM Bone-setting Therapy in Gaoping, Shanxi: Wu family bone-setting is a branch of the orthopedics and traumatology discipline of Chinese medicine; from its emergence to the present it has consistently played an important role in the local area. Wu family bone-setting is a branch of the orthopedics and traumatology discipline of Chinese medicine; from its emergence to the present it has consistently played an important role in the local area, and its transmission is closely tied to the evolution of its institutions: after the founder died in 1957, the second-generation heir Wu Chengmou inherited the family tradition; in June 1969 he founded the Orthopedics Department of the Zhangwo Village Health Clinic of Macun Town in Zhangwo Village, Macun; in January 1976 the Macun Town Zhangwo Village Bone-Setting Hospital was established; in March 1993 it was renamed the Gaoping City Wu Family Bone-Setting Hospital; in July 1994 the third-generation heir Wu Tianbao opened the Friendship Street Branch of the Gaoping City Wu Family Bone-Setting Hospital within Gaoping City; and in December 2000 it was renamed the Gaoping City Wu Chengmou Bone-Injury Specialist Hospital. The Shanxi Wu family bone-setting therapy is one of the traditional orthopedic and traumatic therapies of Chinese medicine; it originated in the late Qing dynasty and has a history of one hundred years to the present day. After the liberation of Gaoping in 1945, he was once engaged as a member of the Gaoping County Third District Physicians' Research Institute. After the founder died in 1957, the second-generation heir Wu Chengmou inherited the family tradition; in June 1969 he founded the Orthopedics Department of the Zhangwo Village Health Clinic of Macun Town in Zhangwo Village, Macun; in January 1976 the Macun Town Zhangwo Village Bone-Setting Hospital was established; in March 1993 it was renamed the Gaoping City Wu Family Bone-Setting Hospital; in July 1994 the third-generation heir Wu Tianbao opened the Friendship Street Branch of the Gaoping City Wu Family Bone-Setting Hospital within Gaoping City; and in December 2000 it was renamed the Gaoping City Wu Chengmou Bone-Injury Specialist Hospital.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

Male, Han ethnicity, born in June 1936 in Gaoping City, Shanxi Province. Through long clinical practice he devised the cross-legged traction reduction method for dislocation of the hip, the face-to-face seated traction method for anterior dislocation of the shoulder, the double-thumb compression method for fracture of the lumbar vertebrae, and the supine subaxillary traction method for fracture of the clavicle. He devoted his life to the study of bone-setting, took part in orthopaedic academic symposia of various kinds, published more than ten papers, and passed all of his manipulative techniques and clinical insights on to his children, carrying the ancestral Chinese bone-setting therapy forward. Within the documented technical tradition of TCM Bone-setting Therapy in Gaoping, Shanxi: The founder Wu Gending (1886-1957), at the age of 12, while herding sheep at Baiyun Temple in Qinshui County, Shanxi Province, took an old monk as his teacher and learned bone-setting technique and the spit-bone bone-setting method. Through the unremitting efforts and continuous development of several generations, Wu family bone-setting has formed its own distinctive bone-setting techniques and academic specialties. The general principle of Wu family bone-setting is "single comprehensive repositioning, repeated correction, continuous traction, and regular adjustment". Its characteristics are "manipulative repositioning, with traction plus small splint fixation as the mainstay; oral administration of Chinese medicine in three stages as the auxiliary; and tendon-relaxing tuina massage manipulations for late-stage functional recovery". The Wu family's mnemonic formula for bone-setting manipulation: "When palpating, the mind must be precise; when pressing, the hand must be like a steelyard; when pulling, the force must be appropriate; when grasping, the hand must be steady; when rotating, be loose and skillful; when bringing the bones together, the work must be genuine." Depending on the specific condition of the bone-injury patient, Wu family bone-setting employs repositioning manipulations such as the question-mark method, the lifting-pulling method, the neck-knee traction method, the seated traction method, and the double-thumb pressing method. Orally administered Chinese medicine: the Wu Family Bone-Rejoining Formula. The mnemonic formula of Wu family bone-setting manipulation is: when palpating, the mind must be precise; when pressing, the hand must be like a steelyard; when pulling, the force must be appropriate; when grasping, the hand must be steady; when rotating, be loose (nimble) and skillful; when bringing the bones together, the work must be genuine. The six-line formula breaks the hand feel during repositioning into six lines that can be memorized and verified; "the hand like a steelyard when pressing" means that the weight applied must be commensurate with the patient's condition, neither too light nor too heavy. The founder Wu Gending (1886-1957), at the age of 12, while herding sheep at Baiyun Temple in Qinshui County, Shanxi Province, took an old monk as his teacher and learned bone-setting technique and the spit-bone bone-setting method. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "One reduction, repeated adjustment": The school's motto: reduce once, correct many times, keep traction on, adjust at intervals. "Feel, press, pull, pinch, turn, close": A six-character mnemonic covering feeling, pressing, pulling, pinching, turning and closing, with turning required to stay loose and skilful. "The question-mark and lifting-pulling methods": Manipulations include a question-mark flexion-rotation, lifting and pulling, cervical-knee traction, seated traction and a two-thumb press. "Leg-crossed and face-to-face traction": Specific traction set-ups for hip and shoulder dislocation that use the patient's own limb and a facing partner instead of instruments.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

He is a national representative bearer of TCM Bone-setting Therapy, a fourth-batch national intangible cultural heritage project, in respect of Wu-style bone-setting therapy.

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. Wu Chengmou · National Representative Bearer Archive