TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods

Ⅸ-2Traditional MedicinePingdingshanshiruzhou, HenanBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Song's TCM External Medicine Therapy originated in Tao Village, Zhifang Town, Ruzhou, Henan Province. It is a system of principles, methods, prescriptions, and medicinals for differentiating and treating surgical (external medicine) diseases, formed through seven generations of clinical exploration. The Song family's external medicine practice began during the Daoguang reign of the Qing dynasty and has been passed down through the generations for more than 180 years.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

In ancient times the official roads of Wanluo, Xiangluo, and Xuluo converged at Ruzhou; today railways and expressways pass through its territory, making transport convenient. The region is rich in products and abounds in medicinal herbs, providing a suitable natural environment and human conditions for the gestation and development of Song's TCM External Medicine. Successive generations of Song physicians adhered to holistic pattern differentiation, excelling at observing the complexion and using touch to examine in detail whether a sore or ulcer had formed pus, whether there were foreign bodies beneath the skin, and the nature of the condition. In accordance with the pattern, they applied the approach of treating external disease through internal treatment and treating the internal and external aspects together — for example, using a method of strengthening the spleen, supplementing the kidney, quickening the blood, and nourishing bone, combined with external application, to treat osteomyelitis by type and stage; using a method of harmonizing yang, freeing the collaterals, dispelling dampness, and relieving pain, with external application of red medicinal ointment, to treat vasculitis; using a method of quickening the blood and transforming stasis, nourishing bone, and generating bone, with external application of their self-developed mung bean bone-setting plaster, to treat bone injuries; using a method of clearing heat, dispelling dampness, detoxifying, quickening the blood, expelling pus, and generating flesh, with externally applied plaster medicine applied in stages, to treat sores, swellings, and toxins; and using a method of supplementing the liver and kidney, strengthening sinews and bones, fortifying the brain and boosting intelligence, and generating essence and replenishing marrow, supplemented by acupuncture, tuina, and massage, to treat pediatric flaccidity syndrome, among other conditions. The Song family differentiated patterns and composed their own prescriptions, such as 'Dingzi Yao' (lozenge medicine), 'Yanghe Jieyu Tang' (Yang-Harmonizing Stasis-Resolving Decoction), 'Shenqi Qufeng San' (Ginseng and Astragalus Wind-Dispelling Powder), 'Qinggu Qufu Paidu Tang' (Bone-Clearing Putrefaction-Removing Toxin-Expelling Decoction), 'Shengxue Tang' (Blood-Generating Decoction), 'Sanjia San' (Three-Shell Powder), 'Qianchui Gao' (Thousand-Hammer Plaster), and 'Nianzi Yao' (twisted-pill medicine), flexibly applying topical medicines, powders, and fuming-and-washing medicines. They achieved good clinical results and were renowned for being simple, convenient, inexpensive, and proven.

Inspecting colour and pus

Colour and palpation tell whether pus has formed and what lies beneath the skin, deciding whether to treat from within or from without.

Staged internal and external treatment

Type and stage decide the pairing: strengthening spleen and kidney with application for osteomyelitis, harmonising yang and easing pain for vasculitis.

The mung bean bone-setting plaster

A self-formulated plaster of mung bean and other drugs applied to fractures, valued for being simple and cheap.

Qianchui Gao, the thousand-beaten plaster

A family plaster beaten a thousand times to a fine paste, applied to sores at different stages with different results.

Yanghe Jieyu Tang

One of the family's own formulas, warming while resolving stasis, used internally alongside external application.

Pastes, powders and washes

Pastes, powders and washes chosen to suit the case, three forms together making up the school's material armaments.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The project's area of distribution gradually expanded from Tao Village to the whole of Ruzhou and to the cities of Luoyang, Xuchang, Xinyang, Zhumadian, Nanyang, and Zhengzhou.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The fifth-generation inheritor Song Jingeng summarized the experience of his predecessors, further improving and developing the family's external medicine therapy, and together with later inheritors widely took on disciples from across China and even from abroad, who went on to practice TCM external medicine or to open hospitals and clinics. In addition to family and master-apprentice transmission, this heritage project also carries out transmission activities through special study classes and clinical teaching within medical alliances, passing on both TCM therapeutic technique and professional virtue. Song's TCM External Medicine Therapy is rooted in the populace and embodies the characteristics of traditional Chinese external medicine along with distinctive local features. Its folk character, scientific basis, practicality, and the qualities of being simple, convenient, inexpensive, and effective have won it recognition and welcome among the broad public. It has important value for practical promotion and cultural transmission, and is of positive significance for raising people's level of health, spreading traditional medicine culture, and promoting social progress.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods (Pingdingshanshiruzhou, Henan) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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