Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

01 · Historical Records

Qinggong Shoutao Wan (Palace Longevity Peach Pill) is an exclusive product of the Tianjin Darentang Pharmaceutical Factory. Originally called "Pantao Wan" (Coiled Peach Pill), it is composed of ginseng, Chinese angelica, rehmannia, goji berries, fenxinmu (the membrane inside the walnut shell), and other precious medicinal materials. It tonifies the kidney and engenders essence, and boosts the primordial qi and strengthens the body, with a mild medicinal nature. It was the secret imperial prescription of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty, the court's "septuagenarian Son of Heaven", and its earliest record is found in the Qianlong-reign medical cases of the Qinggong Yi'an (Medical Records of the Qing Palace). Darentang was founded in 1912, growing out of the "Le family's old shop — Tongrentang", which had supplied medicine to the imperial court since the Yongzheng reign. After the fall of the Qing dynasty, Tongrentang ceased supplying imperial medicine, but Puyi, the last emperor — then serving as the figurehead of the puppet Manchukuo regime — continued to purchase medicine from the "Le family's old shop — Darentang". Through Darentang's development, the court's secret formula for "Pantao Wan" and its traditional preparation craft were thus passed down. To protect this precious cultural heritage, in early 1982 the "Qing Palace Medical Records Research Office", headed by Academician Chen Keji, confirmed through further research that the medicine not only had remarkable therapeutic effects but was indeed a secret imperial prescription of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty. Qinggong Shoutao Wan upholds the material-selection methods and principles of Qing court pharmaceutical production, using premium medicinal materials and following the ancient processing techniques, so that it attains the level of a secret court-compounded medicine.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

However, production of this medicine was severely affected during the "Cultural Revolution" period, and most of the production and technical materials were lost. Tianjin Darentang enjoys the reputation of the "King of Honey Pills"; its processing techniques and material-selection standards have always followed tradition. Qinggong Shoutao Wan has become a superior tonic for tonifying the kidney and benefiting the primordial qi, supplementing qi and nourishing the blood, and delaying aging.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Although Qinggong Shoutao Wan bears the "palace" in its name, its roots are planted in Tianjin. Darentang opened in 1912, growing out of the Le family's old shop Tongrentang, which had supplied medicine to the court during the Yongzheng era, and the skills and rules of the Tongrentang line were thereby brought into Tianjin; meanwhile the last emperor Puyi continued to buy medicine from the Le family's old shop, allowing the court's secret formula of Pantao Wan and its former process steps to continue within the factory. Tianjin was also a distribution hub for southern medicines moving north, and premium materials such as ginseng, rehmannia, and fenxinmu were warehoused through it, so the pill's material-selection standards were bound to the state of the Tianjin medicine market. The Tongrentang name spread to two cities, Beijing and Tianjin; in 1982 the Qing Palace Medical Records Research Office re-verified its court origins, and Tongrentang Jingwanhong Pharmaceutical has since preserved the technical archives on that basis, keeping this pharmaceutical experience — which flowed from the palace into the marketplace and was carried on from there — within the single city of Tianjin.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Guo Yufeng (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in March 1949, a native of Tianjin. A representative inheritor of the traditional craft of making Darentang Qinggong Shoutao Wan, a project under the fifth national-level batch of the national intangible cultural heritage item "Traditional Preparation Methods of Chinese Medicine". She worked for many years on the front line of raw-material processing, pharmaceutical production, ingredient preparation, and other workshops at the Darentang Pharmaceutical Factory, accumulating extensive practical experience. She has deep knowledge of the Qinggong Shoutao Wan product, organized and completed the full set of technical archives for it, and has rich practical experience in the traditional craft of making Qinggong Shoutao Wan; she has also carried out research on anti-aging and related directions concerning the medicinal mechanism of the product. She authored the book "A Precious Longevity Tonic of the Qianlong Reign of the Qing Court — Qinggong Shoutao Wan". In 1987 she received the third prize for scientific and technological progress in Chinese medicine awarded by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and in 1988 the annual outstanding new technology award from the Tianjin Municipal Economic Commission.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Yan Zhenghua 01-0208
• Zhang Boli 01-0209
• Yang Jukui 03-1442
• Li Yingjie 03-1443
• Liu Huiwu 04-1941
• Laosanshen 04-1942
• Yang Fuan 04-1943
• Xia Xiaozhong 04-1944
• Guo Yufeng 05-2930
• Li Yanyu 05-2931
• Gao Qiang 05-2932
• Ma Weidong 05-2933
• Liu Wenwei 05-2934
• Wang Yanming 05-2936
• Liu Baisheng 05-2937
• Yu Baitang 05-2938
• Liao Zhizhong 05-2939
• Ke Shuquan 05-2940
• Yin Shurong 05-2941
• Zhang Yuankun 05-2942
• Ma Xubin 05-2943
• Ma Xianghai
• Song Shidun
• Wang Feng
• Gu Wanxia
• Du Xinlei

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Traditional TCM Preparation Methods (Tianjinzhongxinyaoyejituangufenyouxiangongsidarentangzhiyaochang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Guo Yufeng · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗