TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods

Ⅸ-2Traditional MedicineShanghaiBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Gu school's surgical therapy originated with Gu Yunyan in the late Qing dynasty. Grounded in the theoretical tradition of Chinese medicine and drawing broadly on and integrating the strengths of surgical physicians across the ages, it formed an academic system integrating the Gu school's distinctive theory, distinctive diagnosis and treatment, distinctive external therapeutic methods, and distinctive formulas.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

In theory, it advocates a holistic conception and attaches importance to holistic treatment; it emphasizes that in the treatment of sores and ulcers the first task is to differentiate yin from yang; it pays attention to pattern differentiation by location, by meridian, and locally; it values the role of the spleen and stomach and of dietary regulation in the treatment of sores; and it stresses the combination of internal and external treatment of surgical diseases. In diagnosis and treatment, it emphasizes the integration of disease identification and pattern differentiation — first identifying the disease, then differentiating the pattern. It uses the method of supporting the healthy and harmonizing ying to draw out toxins in treating headed carbuncles; the method of regulating the chong and ren meridians in treating mammary hyperplasia; the method of boosting qi, nourishing yin, regulating the chong and ren meridians, detoxifying, and dissipating masses in treating post-operative breast cancer; and the method of nourishing yin in treating bone tuberculosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and other surgical and skin diseases, and treats the transformed patterns of acute appendicitis through "unblocking, moistening, differentiation, and change." In its distinctive external therapeutic methods, it has created many new treatments, including the rubber-band thread-draining method, the thread-dragging method, medicated-thread therapy, hot-baking therapy, perfusion therapy, and the cotton-padding method. The thread-dragging method in particular is used to treat refractory sinus fistulae, plasma cell mastitis, and complex anal fistulae, with the advantages of small trauma, rapid healing, and no functional impairment; it has been introduced and promoted by numerous hospitals throughout China. In its use of formulas and drugs, long practice and accumulation have produced a series of famous and empirical formulas, including Qingdai Ointment, Hongyou (Red Oil) Ointment, Shengji Baiyu (Flesh-Growing White Jade) Ointment, Xiaozhi (Hemorrhoid-Removing) Ointment, Shengji (Flesh-Growing) Powder, Qingchuikou Powder, Diandao Powder Lotion, Sanhuang (Three-Yellow) Lotion, Qinlian Xiaodu Drink, Yiqi Tuoduo Decoction, Modified Gualou Niubang Decoction, Saisan Xiaosan Formula, Liangqing Xuefei Drink, Changyong Formula, the Internal Formula for Hydrocele, Jinhong Tablets, Qingjie Tablets, and Fuhuang Tablets.

Identifying the disease before the pattern

Surgery first names the disease, then reads the pattern, so that an external method is chosen for a defined condition.

Sorting yin from yang first

Yin and yang govern the rest — local, channel and site-level reading all proceed from this.

The thread-drawing method

A medicated thread is passed through a sinus to draw out necrotic tissue slowly, healing fast and sparing sphincter function.

Rubber-band ligation of fistula

A rubber band exerts slow continuous pressure to open a deeper fistula by the same principle as thread drawing.

Qingchui Kousan powder

One of the family's external formulas, blown onto the lesion to form a film and ease pain, usually alongside an internal decoction.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Gu school's surgical therapy is a traditional therapeutic method of Chinese medicine renowned throughout Jiangnan and the nation; it has a history of more than a century, with Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang as its main areas of distribution, centered on Xuhui District of Shanghai, influencing Jiangnan and radiating across the whole country. The Gu school's surgical therapy has perfected the system of TCM surgery and raised its academic content, giving it high historical and cultural value; renowned throughout the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region, it has relieved the pain of many patients, and its relatively low cost and relatively safe use of medicines have won it the respect, affection, and recognition of the public.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The means of transmission of the Gu school's surgical therapy include Gu family transmission, master-apprentice transmission, and school education; before the third generation, transmission was mainly through the family and the master, while from the fourth generation onward it has been based primarily on a combination of paired master-apprentice training and school education. Zhu Dingcheng (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in February 1951, a native of Shanghai. He excels at the comprehensive correlation of the four diagnostic methods and pattern differentiation through the meridians; applying the Zhu school's Yizhi Chan tuina therapy to treat external disease by internal means, harmonizing ying and wei, overcoming hardness with softness, and supporting the healthy while dispelling the pathogenic, he treats insomnia, disorders of the spleen and stomach, and pain of the neck, shoulders, lower back, and knees, enjoying high esteem in the profession; his practice is one of the medical hallmarks of Huadong Hospital affiliated with Fudan University. His writings include "Collected Academic Experience of the Tuina Master Zhu Chunting" (Tuina Mingjia Zhu Chunting Xueshu Jingyan Ji), "Haipai Traditional Chinese Medicine" (Haipai Zhongyi), and "A Complete Guide to Healthy Living: Yuesheng, Yuesheng, Cervical Spondylosis" (Jiankang Shenghuo Wanquan Zhinan Yuesheng, Yuesheng, Jingzhuibing), among others. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Diagnostic Methods of Chinese Medicine (the Zhu School's Tuina Therapy)." He has been engaged as a mentor for Shanghai's high-level training class for specialists in acupuncture, tuina, and trauma, transmitting the Zhu school's tuina therapy. Lu Deming (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1935, a native of Pinghu City, Zhejiang Province. Professor, doctoral supervisor, and chief physician. Since the 1980s he has led the development of the discipline of "Surgery of Traditional Chinese Medicine" at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, playing a foundational and pioneering role in its becoming a national key discipline in the field of TCM surgery. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage item "Therapeutic Methods of Chinese Medicine (the Gu School's Surgical Therapy)." He has successively led more than twenty research projects, including national Seventh Five-Year Plan key tackling projects, National Natural Science Foundation of China projects, and projects of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine; his research results have repeatedly won awards including the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine's Award for Scientific and Technological Progress and the Shanghai Award for Scientific and Technological Progress. In 1995 he was named one of the first "Famous Traditional Chinese Medicine Doctors of Shanghai" by the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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