Zhu Long

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Zhu Long, Male, Han, from Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of TCM Bone-setting Therapy (Ⅸ-6). The tradition is documented in Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi. Within the regional tradition and school record of TCM Bone-setting Therapy in Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi: The Zhu family's bone-setting technique is distributed in Fuping County, Shaanxi Province. It is a school of bone-setting formed by the Zhu family through inheriting and absorbing folk traditional bone-setting culture, and through long-term exploration, practice, and summation. The Zhu family's bone-setting practice is a branch of orthopedics and traumatology in the Weinan area of Guanzhong, Shaanxi. Its early practitioners treated patients among the people for many years, trying out one by one the bone-setting manipulation techniques that circulated in Guanzhong and southern Shaanxi, keeping only those that could be repeatedly verified and then adjusting them into fixed forms according to their own sense of touch. This body of knowledge was never codified into a unified written text; it was passed on strictly from master to apprentice through demonstration, observation, and imitation. In manipulation, the practice is summarized by the four characters 'steady, accurate, light, and quick.' Common sites such as distal radius fractures and humeral condyle fractures can mostly be reduced by hand; for cases that are difficult to handle, such as shoulder dislocation, cervical rotational injuries, and fifth metacarpal neck fractures, it employs original techniques such as reverse reduction, rotational fixed-point reduction, and continuous traction fixation. Its medication system is its own school: altogether 56 kinds of raw medicinal materials are used, formulated into five prescriptions, administered through three routes — oral, external application, and external washing — with the dressing changed according to the early, middle, and late stages of fracture healing. The environment of Fuping and the pattern of injuries and illnesses there are similar to those in other parts of Guanzhong, allowing this body of experience to accumulate readily in the locality; the Zhu family's bone-setting practice has also been maintained in the form of family and clinic inheritance, without interruption.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Zhu Long is anchored in the documented technical standards of TCM Bone-setting Therapy in Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi. Within the documented technical tradition of TCM Bone-setting Therapy in Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi: The reduction manipulations of the Zhu family's bone-setting technique are simple and characterized by being 'steady, accurate, light, and quick,' such as the manual reduction of distal radius fractures and humeral condyle fractures; some reduction techniques are its own creations, such as the 'reverse reduction method for shoulder dislocation,' the 'rotational fixed-point reduction method for cervical spine injuries,' and 'manual reduction with continuous traction and fixation for fifth metacarpal neck fractures.' The Zhu family's bone-setting technique emphasizes holistic treatment, attaching equal importance to sinews and bones. Periarticular functional exercise begins immediately after fracture reduction, characterized by simple methods, relatively little pain, and notable efficacy. The Zhu family's bone-setting practice uses 56 kinds of raw medicinal materials, some of which continue to be processed by traditional methods. Its five formulated medicines are administered through three routes: oral, external application, and external washing. Medication is applied in three stages. In the early stage, 'Jingu Zhitong Ding' (Sinew-and-Bone Pain-Relief Tincture) and 'Dieda Huoxue San' (Trauma Blood-Invigorating Powder) are used to move qi and invigorate blood, reduce swelling, and relieve pain; in the middle stage, 'Shangke Jiegu Jiaonang' (Orthopedic Bone-Setting Capsules) are taken orally to remove stasis, relieve pain, and reconnect sinews and bones; in the late stage, an 'external washing agent' is used to tonify the liver and kidneys and to relax the sinews and activate the collaterals. The self-prepared 'Jieqi Huoxue Tie' (Blood-Activating Patch) and 'Lixue Wangbi Wan' (Blood-Regulating Rheumatism Pills) are used to treat chronic pain of the cervical and lumbar spine. The combined use of bone-setting manipulations and ancestral medicines produces notable efficacy. The Zhu family's bone-setting technique has absorbed the bone-setting experience of the Guanzhong and southern Shaanxi regions and represents a summation of Shaanxi's folk bone-setting therapies; some of its original manipulations and its series of Chinese medicines have enriched the methods of traditional Chinese orthopedics, giving it important historical, cultural, and clinical practical value. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "Closed reduction of distal radius fracture": The commonest wrist fracture is usually corrected without instruments, the four fingers and heel of the hand drawing the fragments back into place in one decisive move. "Reverse reduction of shoulder dislocation": A family-specific technique that turns the displaced humeral head against the pull of the muscles rather than with it, reducing the force the injured tissue has to resist. "Rotational reduction of the cervical spine": A small-amplitude, well-localized rotation used to realign cervical vertebrae, a technically demanding maneuver reserved for practised hands. "Three-stage medication for fractures": Early stage uses linjiu pain tincture and dieda huoxue powder; the middle stage relies on the bone-knitting capsule; the late stage switches to a washing decoction that tonifies liver and kidney.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Zhu Long was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for TCM Bone-setting Therapy, with Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of TCM Bone-setting Therapy in Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi as its declared area, and Fuping Zhulaoergushang 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. Zhulong (Weinanshifuping, Shaanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Zhulong · China ICH Official Archive