Traditional Herbal Processing Techniques

Ⅸ-3Traditional MedicineZhongguozhongyaoxiehuiBatch 1 (2006)Newly Added Item

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.

Judging authenticity at the herb markets

Travelling from market to market and comparing samples by eye to judge genuine material and quality rather than by instrument.

The Chinese pharmacy programme in Beijing

Established in 1961 by the Beijing health bureau, this programme became a formal route for training pharmacy professionals in the city.

Master-apprentice training in processing

Appointed in 1990 as one of the first 500 national mentors, he trained two groups of students who have all completed their apprenticeship.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

This branch took Beijing as its centre and prized the quality and provenance of the material over the control of heat. Jin Shiyuan was born in Beijing in 1926; he spent his life travelling through medicinal-material markets across the country to distinguish genuine from fake goods, bringing the on-the-spot judgements made in the southern and northern drug markets — on place of origin, harvesting, and appearance — back to Beijing, so that the capital's expertise in identification became linked with market conditions in the drug markets of Guangzhou, Bozhou, and Anguo. The teaching line began in 1961, when the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau decided to open a Chinese materia medica programme at the Beijing Health School, where he taught for more than thirty years and trained 1,200 professionals in Chinese materia medica; in 1990 he became one of the mentors in the first national group of 500 renowned traditional Chinese medicine physicians taking on apprentices, and successively trained two batches of students.

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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. Jin Shiyuan (from the official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1926, from Beijing. He travelled through medicinal-material markets throughout the country and built up a skill for distinguishing genuine from fake medicinal materials. In 1990 he was selected as one of the mentors in the first national group of 500 renowned traditional Chinese medicine physicians taking on apprentices, and in two successive batches he took on four students in total, all of whom completed their training. He authored Zhong Chengyao de Heli Shiyong (The Rational Use of Ready-Made Chinese Patent Medicines) and was editor-in-chief of works including Zhongyao Paozhixue (The Study of Processing Chinese Medicinals); he published more than sixty professional papers. Representative inheritor of Processing Techniques of Chinese Medicinals, a project in the first national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage; chief pharmacist at the Beijing Health School; visiting professor at the School of Chinese Medicine, Capital Medical University; and recipient of a special government allowance from the State Council. At the same time, in order to strengthen the training of personnel in Chinese materia medica, the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau decided in 1961 to open a Chinese materia medica programme at the Beijing Health School, where Jin Shiyuan taught for more than thirty years and trained 1,200 professionals in Chinese materia medica.

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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