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Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

Ⅸ-4Traditional MedicineTaigu, ShanxiBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

In the first year of the Jiajing reign of the Ming dynasty (1522), the Daoist adepts Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen drew on the strengths of the 'Laojun Yishou San' (Old Lord's Longevity Powder) from the Yunji Qiqian, supplementing and cutting from it, and applied the technique of ascending refinement in the furnace and tripod to produce an 'immortal medicine' claimed to confer immortality, which they presented to the emperor. Later, this formula passed through several hands to the Guangsheng Pharmacy (the predecessor of Shanxi Guangyu Yuan Chinese Medicine Co., Ltd.), and Guilingji was preserved as a traditional famous-brand remedy of Taigu County, Shanxi Province.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Traditional Chinese medicine preparation refers mainly to pills, powders, ointments, and elixirs (dan); in addition, there are wine preparations, lozenges (dingji), gelatins (jiaoji), and so on. Each dosage form has its own set of traditional preparation techniques, and in combination with certain products there are also some special methods of production. With the development of the times, the production of ready-made Chinese medicines (patent medicines) has undergone many reforms and innovations, greatly raising production efficiency; yet traditional preparation methods have not all been eliminated, and some of them remain the best choice in the production of patent medicines — especially famous-brand patent medicines, patent medicines with secret formulas, and patent medicines containing precious and rare medicinal ingredients, which are often still produced by traditional preparation methods in time-honored brand enterprises. Traditional Chinese medicine preparation methods retain certain features of ancient workshop production: materials are selected with precision, ingredients are fed in an orderly sequence, and the techniques are distinctive; the packaging and instruction slips are imbued with a traditional cultural atmosphere, and are deeply trusted by physicians and patients. It is refined with a unique traditional technique of ascending refinement, with remarkable efficacy, and is praised as 'Guilingji, the King of Tonics.' After the Jiajing Emperor took it, he was greatly delighted and personally bestowed the name 'Guilingji' (Collection of the Tortoise's Age), signifying that taking this medicine could grant a longevity like that of the thousand-year-old divine tortoise. In ancient times, the tortoise (gui) was ranked among the 'four numinous creatures' (dragon, phoenix, tortoise, and qilin), symbolizing longevity and auspiciousness. Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen thereby won the emperor's favor and rose to the rank of the Three Ducal Ministers; from then on, Guilingji became the 'imperial sacred medicine' of the inner palace. Guilingji is composed mainly of such ingredients as ginseng, deer antler (lurong), cistanche (roucongrong), sea horse, and epimedium (yinyanghuo), which strongly tonify qi and blood and warm yang to benefit essence. It is commonly used for impotence, premature ejaculation, and seminal emission, and has long enjoyed the reputation of a 'sacred medicine' for andrology, with effects such as strengthening the heart and improving immunity; it can be used in the treatment of many male disorders caused by deficiency and detriment of kidney yang. It has the functions of promoting metabolism, strengthening blood circulation, and enhancing the body's immunity and myocardial contractility; it is used mainly for strengthening the body, benefiting the brain, nourishing the marrow, promoting potency, enriching the kidney, tonifying qi, improving appetite, regulating the nerves, adjusting endocrine function, and eliminating myocardial fatigue.

Ascending refinement in the furnace

Heating the materials in a closed furnace to sublime them is the step that distinguishes Guiling Ji from ordinary pills, powders and pastes, and the point where the formula's power gathers.

The sovereign-minister-assistant scheme

Ginseng, deer antler, cistanche, seahorse and epimedium lead as sovereign drugs, with kidney-warming agents as ministers and spleen-regulating and channel-opening herbs as assistants, all aimed at kidney yang deficiency.

Kneading the large honey-pill mass

Powder and boiled honey are kneaded to ratio, divided, rolled, gilded and wax-sealed; every step depends on a judgement of touch and heat built up over decades.

Fixing the written standard

Over more than forty years at Shanxi TCM Factory, Yang Jukui set the formulas and process rules of Guiling Ji and Dingkun Dan down in writing; the record is now held by the National Archives.

The turtle as one of the four numinous creatures

The turtle was counted with dragon, phoenix and qilin among the four auspicious spirits, a sign of longevity and fortune, hence the bestowed name promising the years of a thousand-year tortoise.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Guilingji is the signboard of the pharmaceutical trade of central Shanxi (Jinzhong), whose foundations were laid in the network of trading houses around Taigu. After the Guangsheng Pharmacy took over the ascending-refinement formula drafted by Shao Yuanjie and Tao Zhongwen, this medicine never left Taigu: materials were selected through the medicine shops and veteran farmers of the Jinzhong area, the honey pills relied on the pill-hanging furnace fires of several large pharmacies within the city, and the workforce was passed down in a single line from master to apprentice. Beyond Taigu, the branch houses and sub-offices of firms such as Guangsheng and Guangsheng (廣升) carried this line of production into the other provinces, and from the Republican period onward it traveled with the carts and horses of Shanxi merchants as far as Guangzhou, Fuzhou, northern Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia. Within the same city, Taigu's other famous gynecological medicine, Dingkun Dan, emerged from the same lineage of masters; the processing and pill-making skills of the two medicines supported one another, and they thus converged at Guangyu Yuan into a single set of house rules for pharmaceutical production.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Guilingji is a compound Chinese medicine refined by ascending refinement, with a long history of transmission and preserved intact to the present day; it is a precious heritage in the historical treasure house of China's ready-made Chinese medicines. Yang Jukui (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in October 1933, from Taigu County, Shanxi Province. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project 'Traditional Preparation Methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Traditional Production Technique of Guilingji).' In 1953 he returned to Taigu to take charge of establishing the Shanxi Chinese Medicine Factory. During the more than forty years he worked there, on the one hand he devoted himself to studying the famous Chinese medicines Guilingji and Dingkun Dan and actively developing production; on the other hand he took part in scientific research and development, boldly reforming the ascending-refinement process of Guilingji, adopting the theory of optimization methods to ensure efficacy to the greatest extent possible, and verifying its pharmacological and anti-aging effects with modern scientific theory and methods. After years of unremitting effort, he finalized the formula and the process regulations, which have been collected by the National Archives. Over the years, he has led his apprentices in continuously collecting and collating famous formulas and folk remedies from various places, and in developing new medicines. Liu Huiwu (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in January 1955, from Taigu County, Shanxi Province. Representative inheritor of the fourth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage projects 'Traditional Preparation Methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Traditional Production Technique of Guilingji)' and 'Traditional Preparation Methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Dingkun Dan Production Technique).' Born into a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, he entered the Shanxi Chinese Medicine Factory (formerly the Guangyu Yuan Pharmaceutical Factory) at the age of 17, where he studied the production technique of Dingkun Dan under his father, the senior pharmacist Liu Zijun. For decades he has worked in production posts for Guilingji, Dingkun Dan, and others; he has not only fully mastered the distinctive processing and production techniques of Guilingji and Dingkun Dan but has also carried out technical innovation in the traditional process through continuous exploration. At the same time, he has devoted himself to studying the pharmacology and clinical application of traditional ancient formulas such as Guilingji and Dingkun Dan, excavating their broad intrinsic value. He insists on traditional processing, strictly observes the process steps, and for a long time has orally instructed and personally demonstrated the production workers on the front line of production, selecting those of both good character and ability to carry out teaching activities, guiding and demonstrating hand by hand and one to one, and cultivating successors.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Traditional TCM Preparation Methods (Taigu, Shanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Yang Jukui · National Representative Bearer Archive
  3. Liu Huiwu · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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