Yanjuantao

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Yanjuantao, Male, Han, from Shanghai, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods (Ⅸ-2). The tradition is documented in Shanghai. Within the regional tradition and school record of TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods in Shanghai: The features that distinguish Ding-style tuina from other tuina schools are embodied in the following three points: first, gentleness is prized, with hardness and softness combined. 'Movement' includes physical movement, respiratory movement, and mental activity, and can also be divided into passive movement and active movement. Ding-style tuina originated in the one-finger meditation pushing (Yizhi Chan) tuina academic school of Ding Fengshan during the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty. The branch descended from Ding Shushan achieved the most brilliant results: his disciple Zhu Chunting became the first principal of the Tuina School affiliated with Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine and a pioneer of modern tuina education, playing a promoting role in the wide dissemination of the Ding school of tuina throughout China. Ding Shushan's son Ding Jifeng founded the rolling-technique (gun fa) tuina school in the 1940s and stands as a representative figure of tuina innovation and development.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Yanjuantao is anchored in the documented technical standards of TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods in Shanghai. Within the documented technical tradition of TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods in Shanghai: Tuina is one of the oldest therapeutic methods and, together with acupuncture, moxibustion, and Chinese herbal medicine, constitutes the system of traditional Chinese medical therapy. The core elements of Ding-style tuina therapy are the manipulation techniques and the exercises (gong fa): the manipulations are mainly the one-finger meditation pushing method (Yizhi Chan tuifa) and the rolling method (gun fa), while the exercises are mainly the Yijinjing (Muscle and Tendon Classic). The one-finger meditation pushing method uses the tip of the thumb to contact the treatment surface, with the left-right swinging of the forearm driving the thumb, so as to achieve point-like stimulation. The rolling method (gun fa) is a compound tuina manipulation completed through flexion and extension of the practitioner's wrist joint together with internal and external rotation of the forearm; the dorsum of the hand and the hypothenar eminence deliver continuous arc-shaped surface stimulation to the treatment area, which is more conducive to integration with passive movement and can provide linear and planar stimulation of the sinew channels and the skin regions. 'Softness' (rou) is the basic prerequisite for maintaining benign stimulation by the manipulation techniques; 'softness' is taken as the highest requirement of the techniques, pursuing the ideal that 'where the technique is applied, the patient does not feel its pain'. In actual practice one must also contain hardness within softness and softness within hardness, combining strength and gentleness. Second, points are primary, with points and surfaces combined. 'Point' refers to acupoints and pressure pain points (extraordinary points), while 'surface' refers to the sinew channels and the skin regions; combining points and surfaces is the combination of channels and sinews. Third, movement comes first, with movement and stillness combined. 'Stillness' includes the practitioner's meditative concentration as well as the patient's rest. The one-finger meditation pushing manipulation and the rolling manipulation of Ding-style tuina, together with the spinal micro-adjustment techniques and guided exercise tuina techniques developed from them, have been applied in the treatment of spinal diseases, limb and joint injuries, internal and gynecological miscellaneous diseases, and pediatric conditions, contributing to raising the health level of the public and to the dissemination and promotion of traditional Chinese medicine culture. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The single-finger meditation technique": The thumb pad leads, swung from the forearm to deliver a focused point stimulus, easing in gradually. "The Gunfa rolling technique": A compound technique created by Ding Jifeng, driven by wrist flexion with forearm rotation, the back of the hand sweeping an arc over a broad surface. "Gentleness above all": The school's first principle: gentleness as the highest requirement, with hardness hidden inside softness and vice versa. "Points and surfaces combined": Focusing on points while also working surfaces — points for acupoint and tender points, surfaces for sinew and skin.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Yanjuantao was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods, with Shanghai as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods in Shanghai: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Shanghai as its declared area, and Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine University Affiliated Yueyang Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

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. Yanjuantao (Shanghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yanjuantao · China ICH Official Archive