Traditional Herbal Processing Techniques
01 · Historical Records
It is said to have originated in the time of Shennong. The Shennong Bencao Jing (Shennong's Classic of the Materia Medica) of the Han dynasty and the Bencao Jing Jizhu (Collected Commentaries on the Classic of the Materia Medica) by Tao Hongjing of the Liang dynasty already contain detailed accounts of the processing of Chinese medicinals. The Leigong Paozhi Lun (Lei Gong's Treatise on Processing) by Lei Xiao, a monograph on processing from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, records the processing methods and techniques for 300 drugs. The Xinxiu Bencao (Newly Revised Materia Medica) of the Tang dynasty was China's first national pharmacopoeia; it marked out methods of drug processing and marks the beginning of government protection for processing techniques. The Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica) by Li Shizhen of the Ming dynasty set aside a special section on processing, while Miao Xiyong's Paozhi Dafa (Great Methods of Processing) summarised seventeen major methods of processing Chinese medicinals. The Xiushi Zhinan (Guide to Processing) by Zhang Rui of the Qing dynasty records 232 processing methods in detail.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The processing of Chinese medicinals refers to the traditional methods and techniques of turning crude Chinese medicinal materials into prepared slices (yinpian) under the guidance of traditional Chinese medical theory and in accordance with the requirements of TCM drug use; in ancient times it was also known as "paozhi", "xiushi", or "xiuzhi". After processing, a drug not only has enhanced efficacy and reduced toxic side effects, but is also easier to store; processing is an indispensable step in the clinical use of Chinese medicine. Over several thousand years, rich processing methods and techniques have been accumulated, and a set of traditional processing tools has also been formed. Processing is the concentrated expression and core of the traditional pharmaceutical techniques of Chinese medicine; "prepared slices enter the medicine, and raw and processed drugs are used differently in treatment" is a distinctive feature and major advantage of Chinese medicine. The processing techniques for prepared slices of Chinese medicinals are unique to China; they are the crystallisation of China's several thousand years of traditional culture and a treasure of Chinese culture. The processing of Chinese medicinals has a long history. The Shanghan Zabing Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases) by Zhang Zhongjing of the Eastern Han dynasty records the processing of more than one hundred drugs. Because modern drug use has tended towards standardisation, the traditional model of "one prescription, one method" no longer exists, and many traditional processing techniques that were distinctive and capable of producing special effects have gradually been forgotten.
Archival Record of Process Steps
After processing, a drug not only has enhanced efficacy and reduced toxic side effects, but is also easier to store; processing is an indispensable step in the clinical use of Chinese medicine.
Compiling the national processing codex
The codex edited by Wang Xiaotao gathered provincial workshop practice into generally accepted entries for processing medicinal materials.
Key national project on prepared decoction pieces
As project leader and technical adviser, Wang Xiaotao headed the national key project on commonly used prepared decoction pieces in the Seventh and Eighth Five-Year Plans.
Processing toxic drugs to reduce harm
Special processing for poisonous substances, aiming to reduce their toxicity while preserving the effective parts before they enter a prescription.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Processing techniques have no fixed school or lineage; they have always rested in the hands of pharmacists (yaogong) in different regions, passed on by word of mouth among those who sourced medicinals through the drug trade and frequented the drug markets. Wang Xiaotao was born in Pingyang, Zhejiang, in 1928; he later established China's first scientific research laboratory for the processing of Chinese medicinals at the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and compiled the practices recounted by veteran pharmacists from Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Beijing into procedures that could be taught and examined. Works such as the Zhongyao Paozhi Jingyan Jicheng (Compendium of Experience in Processing Chinese Medicinals), Zhongyao Paozhifa Huidian (Digest of Methods for Processing Chinese Medicinals), Zhongyao Yinpian Paozhi Shuyao (Essentials of Processing Prepared Slices of Chinese Medicinals), and Quanguo Zhongyao Paozhi Guifan (National Norms for Processing Chinese Medicinals) form a single line, each an attempt to incorporate local experience into a national standard. His research on the processing of toxic Chinese medicinals and his tackling of key problems in commonly used prepared slices have also set a common benchmark for the northern and southern traditions in terms of toxicity reduction and quality identification.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
At present, fewer than one hundred people nationwide are engaged specifically in processing work. The processing techniques of Chinese medicinals are in a shrunken and endangered state. The few remaining veteran pharmacists with consummate skills keep secret the processing methods they have summarised through long years of work, and traditional processing techniques face decline or even total loss. Relevant departments do not yet attach sufficient importance to the inheritance and protection of processing techniques and have taken no concrete measures in these regards; the processing techniques of Chinese medicinals therefore urgently need protection. Wang Xiaotao (from the official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1928, from Pingyang, Zhejiang. He was familiar with the historical evolution of traditional processing of Chinese medicinals and with modern production techniques for processing, mastered the traditional techniques for identifying the quality of prepared slices, established China's first scientific research laboratory for the processing of Chinese medicinals, and conducted in-depth research on techniques for processing toxic Chinese medicinals. He summarised and improved the discipline of Chinese medicinal processing and its research procedures. He undertook and completed the national key research project "Research on Commonly Used Prepared Slices of Chinese Medicinals" under the Seventh and Eighth Five-Year Plans, serving as project leader and technical adviser; he completed seven research achievements at the national and ministerial (bureau) levels, published ten monographs on the processing of Chinese medicinals, and published 110 papers. The monographs on processing he edited and published include the Zhongyao Paozhi Jingyan Jicheng, Zhongyao Paozhifa Huidian, Zhongyao Yinpian Paozhi Shuyao, and Quanguo Zhongyao Paozhi Guifan. Representative inheritor of Processing Techniques of Chinese Medicinals, a project in the first national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage; researcher at the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences; and member of the Pharmacopoeia Commission of the Ministry of Health.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Wang Xiaotao 01-0206
- Jin Shiyuan 01-0207
- Sun Shuwu 03-1440
- Li Chengjie 03-1441
- Wang Junliang 05-2925
- Li Mingyan 05-2927
- Yuan Xiaoping 05-2928
- Hu Changjiang 05-2929
- Chen Baizhong
- Kang Mingxuan
- Xiao Yongqing
- Zhang Yisheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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