Zhongyao Herbal Processing Craftsmanship

Ⅸ-3Traditional MedicineTonghua, JilinBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

Ginseng processing in Tonghua did not grow out of the pharmacy shops but from beneath the forests of the Changbai Mountains. Forest coverage in the area around Jinchang Town exceeds ninety per cent, and the water sources are clean; slope aspect, gradient, soil quality, and vegetation together determine whether a plot of land can raise seedlings, so choosing the mountain, the slope, and the forest became the earliest stage in this technique. The tasks of seed collecting, germination acceleration, dibbling, and transplanting follow an annual cycle and compete for space with the woody plants of the forest; they are therefore especially dependent on a familiarity with the nature of the mountain. The Wang family has kept to this cultivation method for more than a hundred years and has taken on the processing as well, so that cultivation and processing are joined end to end within a single family; in recent decades the Fushenyuan mountain-ginseng planting base has expanded planting according to these old methods — the scale of the technique has changed, but the order of the process steps and the feel of the hand remain as before.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Fushenyuan mountain-ginseng planting base is located in Jinchang Town, Tonghua City, on the southern slopes of the Changbai Mountains; the base's forest coverage exceeds ninety per cent, its water resources are abundant and pure, and it is an ideal area for cultivating wild mountain ginseng. The mountain ginseng cultivated here is sold throughout China, especially in the southern regions, and is exported to Southeast Asian countries and other regions. The growth of wild mountain ginseng makes strict demands on soil, gradient, slope aspect, and vegetation; the cultivation of mountain ginseng at Fushenyuan has a history of more than three hundred years. Once wild mountain ginseng has been seed-collected and sown by hand, or seedlings have been taken and planted, the cultivation process involves seed selection, germination acceleration, selection of forest land (choosing slope aspect, gradient, and soil quality), selection of seedlings with their shape preserved, sowing, and transplanting (choosing the slope, pressing the fibrous roots, straightening the rhizome, and management). In the Fushenyuan ginseng-processing technique, seed selection relies mainly on mountain-ginseng and under-forest-ginseng seeds; for transplanting stock, low-year small mountain ginseng and under-forest seed-grown seedlings are chosen in order to preserve their wild character. Sowing is by hole-dibbling at reasonable density and depth, with 2–3 seeds per hole; seedlings are planted according to their natural shape, with the fibrous roots pressed and the rhizome straightened, and the soil pressed down over the leaves. The Fushenyuan ginseng-processing technique has been transmitted in the Wang family for more than a hundred years; it mainly employs the traditional folk processing methods of the local area, and comprises two processing techniques: sun-dried ginseng and wine-processed ginseng. Sun-dried ginseng refers to the technique of drying unearthed ginseng in air-sheds and ovens after the processes of brushing the ginseng, tying the string, hanging the ginseng, smoothing the fibrous roots, gathering the tail, and forming the body. Wine-processed ginseng refers to selecting fresh ginseng around the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month, packing it into a vat, and steeping it in aged Changbai Mountain liquor, giving full play to the special properties of the aged Changbai Mountain liquor and the distinctive quality of Fushenyuan mountain ginseng. The ginseng processed by this technique is regarded as a fine product for prolonging life and nourishing health; it has the effects of greatly replenishing the primordial qi, restoring the pulse and preventing collapse, tonifying the spleen and benefiting the lungs, and promoting fluids and calming the spirit.

Brushing the roots

Freshly lifted roots are brushed, never soaked for long, so the skin keeps its grain and later betrays where and when they grew.

Tying and hanging

Roots are graded, tied by stem and tendril, then hung from rails with gaps between them so that they neither borrow odours nor mould.

Shade-drying in the drying shed and cabinet

The roots lose water slowly in the drying shed and cabinet rather than in fierce sun, stabilising colour and aroma into a distinctly regional character.

Steeping the wine ginseng in the jar

Fresh roots lifted around the mid-autumn moon are put in a jar under Changbai Mountain old wine, alcohol and volatile constituents acting together to make wine ginseng.

Choosing slope, site and soil

Aspect, gradient and soil decide the forest site; when setting out a plant the grower presses the tendrils, straightens the stem and covers the leaves with soil to keep the wild habit.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

In the course of cultivating mountain ginseng, the Fushenyuan ginseng-processing technique has formed its own distinctive ginseng culture, which has become an important component of Changbai Mountain culture and influences the lives of the people of this land; the ginseng-cultivation stories "Wang Shan Yangzi Protects the Ginseng" and "Sun Xi Cultivates Er Jia Zi" circulate widely in the local area. The technique emphasises preserving the wild character of mountain ginseng while not damaging the vegetation; it has certain ecological benefits and cultural value and is of positive significance in promoting the sustainable development of the local economy, society, and environment.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Fushenyuan, in Tonghua City, Jilin Province, has passed down the traditional ginseng-processing technique from generation to generation. Wang Junliang (from the official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Manchu ethnicity, born in September 1969, from Tonghua City, Jilin Province. Representative inheritor of Processing Techniques of Chinese Medicinals (Ginseng Processing), a project in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage. Building on the traditional technique, he has continually studied and drawn on new methods, starting from the processes of brushing the ginseng, tying the string, hanging the ginseng, smoothing the fibrous roots, gathering the tail, and forming the body, and drying the ginseng in air-sheds and ovens; his distinctive processing method gives the finished ginseng a distinctly regional quality. He has led mountain-ginseng specialty enterprises in Tonghua in establishing propagation bases for mountain-ginseng seeds and seedlings, perfected standardised operating procedures for ginseng processing, and built up the traditional brand of Changbai Mountain ginseng. For many years he has consistently run inheritance training classes and established training bases, cultivating a group of students highly skilled in ginseng processing techniques.

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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