TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods

Ⅸ-2Traditional MedicineShanghaiBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the early 20th century, Zhu Nanshan became a disciple of Shen Xilin, the Confucian physician of Nantong, and gained fame in his hometown for treating severe epidemic diseases. In 1916, Zhu Nanshan moved to Shanghai and opened a clinic at Tongxing Lane on Kaifeng Road; before long he became a famous physician of Shanghai. In 1933, he named his clinic 'Nanshan Xiaozhu' and saw 200-300 patients a day.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Zhu-style gynecology originated in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, and developed in Shanghai. It was founded by Mr. Zhu Nanshan, laid on a foundation by Mr. Zhu Xiaonan, and developed by Zhu Nansun, a master of traditional Chinese medicine; it has a history of more than a century to date. Modeling on Zhang Zhongjing's ten questions, he formulated the Ten Questions Verse for Gynecology. His treatment emphasized regulating qi and blood, soothing liver qi, strengthening spleen qi, and benefiting stomach qi; his pattern differentiation was precise and his prescriptions effective, with excellent results at low cost, earning him the name 'Zhu of a Single Prescription' (Zhu Yitie). The Zhu school of gynecology thus began to establish itself. Zhu Xiaonan was the first to introduce the theory of the extraordinary channels into the diagnosis and treatment of gynecological diseases. Zhu Nansun established the concept of 'movement and stillness', proposed the view of 'examining the bias toward movement or stillness so as to restore it to balance', summarized the four methods of 'accordance, harmony, preservation, and change' (cong he shou bian), and built a distinctive system of pattern identification and treatment for gynecological diseases. Based on the fundamental theories of traditional Chinese medicine, Zhu-style gynecology took the lead in treating gynecological diseases from the perspective of the 'eight extraordinary channels', and summarized the academic thought of 'nourishing tiangui (the heavenly tenth-day essence) and regulating liver qi, so that menstruation and leukorrhea flow in harmony; investigating the extraordinary channels and nourishing qi and blood as the foundation of fertility; keeping monarch and minister herbs refined and specialized, with adjuncts addressing concurrent symptoms, and making skillful use of herb pairs; in treating women's diseases — menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation — timeliness is paramount'. It initiated the general treatment principle of 'accordance, harmony, preservation, and change' (cong he shou bian) and established the prescribing doctrine of 'yin-yang balance, with movement and stillness in due measure'.

The ten questions of gynaecology, in verse

A mnemonic built on the classic ten questions, covering menstruation, discharge, pregnancy, childbirth and course — easy to recite and pass on.

Treatment through the extraordinary vessels

The founder's predecessor brought the extraordinary vessels into gynaecology, treating them as the lever for balancing qi and blood throughout.

The four principles: joining, holding, guarding, changing

A treatment principle treating women's disease as a shifting process, read for its bias and returned to balance.

Nourishing the tiangui, regulating liver qi

The school maxim: regulate menstruation and discharge, address the extraordinary vessels, nourish qi and blood, with chief and minister drugs kept narrow.

Jiangjun Zhanguan Tang

One of the school's assembled formulas, used for obstructed and painful menstruation.

Zisheng Wan and its modifications

A pill-based approach to prepared medicine, taken alongside decoctions, a standing feature of the school's prescribing.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Zhu-style gynecology began in Nantong and flourished in Shanghai, becoming the most famous gynecology practice in Shanghai. Zhu Nanshan first made his name treating severe epidemic diseases; after moving to Shanghai he opened a clinic at Tongxing Lane on Kaifeng Road, and by the time of the Nanshan Xiaozhu clinic he was seeing two to three hundred patients a day, making the name of Zhu-style gynecology widely known in Shanghai. Based in Shanghai, the Zhu family carefully mentored disciples through the New China Medical College of Shanghai, training large numbers of TCM physicians and laying the groundwork for the later reconstruction of Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Today its successors mostly hold gynecology posts in hospitals across Shanghai, while team members have also been dispatched to other parts of the country, carrying this set of proven formulas and the four methods of accordance, harmony, preservation, and change beyond Shanghai. Fifth-generation successors are already active on the front line of promoting the tradition in various regions, forming a structure in which family transmission, institutional education, and master-apprentice inheritance coexist.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Zhu-style gynecology has compiled diagnosis and treatment protocols for its advantageous disease types, such as infertility, amenorrhea, and pain syndromes. The more than ten famous and proven formulas and characteristic preparations accumulated through long-term practice — including Jiangjun Zhan'guan Decoction, Tiaojing Cucheng Formula, Jiawei Mojie Tablets, Puding Tengjiao Anti-inflammatory Decoction, and Zishe Xiaoliu Duanjing Decoction — are widely used in clinical practice. Inherited for a century, Zhu-style gynecology practices benevolent medicine and benefits society; pursues scholarship and creates renowned schools; and promotes schools and passes on the cultural thread. Early on it established the New China Medical College of Shanghai, laying the foundation for the reconstruction of Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and later further refined traditional master-apprentice education, training large numbers of outstanding TCM physicians. At present the Zhu-style gynecology team is composed of multiple inheritance and education models — family transmission, academy, and master-apprentice — with an echelon of inheritors that includes masters of traditional Chinese medicine, famous TCM doctors of Shanghai, master's and doctoral supervisors, chairs of national specialist committees, and leaders of key specialties, playing a pivotal role in the field of TCM gynecology. Fifth-generation successors are active on the front line of promoting Zhu-style gynecology, extending its inheritance and promotion to all parts of China. Inherited for a century, Zhu-style gynecology is an important TCM gynecology school nationwide; in TCM inheritance, discipline building, academic thought, and specialty diagnosis and treatment it all demonstrates distinctive features, setting a model for the inheritance of TCM gynecology schools and contributing to the development of traditional Chinese medicine in China. Zhu Dingcheng (official archive record of associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in February 1951, from Shanghai. He is skilled in synthesizing the four diagnostic methods and differentiating patterns by channels and collaterals; applying Zhu-style one-finger meditation tuina therapy to treat external diseases through internal treatment, harmonizing nutrient and defensive qi, overcoming hardness with softness, and supporting the healthy qi to expel pathogenic factors. He treats insomnia, spleen and stomach diseases, and pain of the neck, shoulder, waist, and knees, enjoys high prestige in the field, and his practice is one of the medical specialties of Huadong Hospital affiliated with Fudan University. His works include Collected Academic Experience of the Renowned Tuina Master Zhu Chunting, Haipai Traditional Chinese Medicine, The Complete Guide to Healthy Living: Yuesheng, Yuesheng, Cervical Spondylosis, and others. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage project TCM diagnostic methods (Zhu-style tuina therapy). He has been engaged as a mentor for Shanghai's high-level acupuncture, tuina, and trauma medicine talent program, teaching Zhu-style tuina therapy. Lu Deming (official archive record of associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1935, from Pinghu, Zhejiang Province. Professor, doctoral supervisor, and chief physician. Since the 1980s he has led the construction and development of 'TCM Surgery' at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, playing a foundational and pioneering role in the discipline's becoming a national key discipline in the field of TCM surgery. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage project TCM diagnostic and therapeutic methods (Gu-style surgical therapy). He has presided over more than twenty research projects, including the national Seventh Five-Year Plan key tackling project, projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and projects of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. His research results have repeatedly received the Science and Technology Progress Award of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award, among others. In 1995, he was named among the first 'Famous TCM 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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