Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

01 · Historical Records

Liushen Pills were originated by Lei Zichun, a successor of the Lei family. They are now a famous signature product of Shanghai Leiyunshang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a state-secret variety and also a nationally protected traditional Chinese medicine variety, and they won the national gold medal three times, in 1979, 1984 and 1989.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

During the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty, Lei Zifan, a successor of the Lei family, obtained the formula for Liushen Pills, expanded production, and the product's reputation grew day by day. Liushen Pills apply a distinctive theory of Chinese medicine formulation: the medicinal materials used are not the most common plant drugs, but animal and mineral drugs, and they carry a certain toxicity; only a physician of consummate skill, deeply versed in the essence of Chinese medical theory, could devise such a formula, which both retains the active constituents of the toxic materials and reduces their toxic side effects. Compared with other traditional Chinese medicines, Liushen Pills have the characteristics of a small dosage and rapid action. The dose is reckoned in milligrams alone; other traditional Chinese medicines usually require a course of treatment measured in weeks or months, whereas Liushen Pills take effect within half a day to a day of being taken. In technique, Liushen Pills are made by hand from the selection of materials through to the "fanwan" (pill-coating, that is, pill-forming) stage. The selection of materials is extremely strict: for pearls, Ganglian pearls are used, never old, dull pearls; for musk, the "dangmenzi" (musk grain) must be used — that is, the dried granular secretion from the abdominal musk gland of the musk deer, of fine quality and high price. Toad venom (chansu) is mostly purchased during the spring and autumn rainy seasons, bought directly from village farmers, with the scraping of the toad venom secretion carried out under the guidance of veteran druggists. The "fanwan" is carried out entirely by hand through forming, seeding (starting the pill nuclei) and polishing, giving the minute pills high roundness and smoothness, a bright lustre and a fast rate of disintegration. "Fanwan" is a traditional technique of Chinese medicine, but to coat pills as small as those of Liushen Pills (the size of mustard seeds) is generally difficult to achieve, which demonstrates the distinctive character of this craft. Its production process is broken down into steps such as purchasing, preparation (paozhi) and selection, with the pharmaceutical workers each attending to their own duties and not permitted to ask questions of one another. Once each post has completed its handling of the crude drugs, the results are gathered together into the hands of the inheritor, who carries out the final compounding in a closed room.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Liushen Pills are a family formula handed down in the Lei lineage of Shanghai. During the Tongzhi reign of the Qing dynasty, Lei Zifan, a successor of the Lei family, obtained the formula and expanded production; the Leiyunshang shop brought pharmacy, workshop and secret formula together under one roof, and the medicine became a signature product of the Huangpu area. The inheritor Lao Sanshen, born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, in September 1946, entered the Liushen workshop and served as its head, carrying forward the combination of the Lei family's formula with the fine-materials craft of Hangzhou-area Chinese medicine. The materials for this formula are traced to extremely distant places of origin: only Ganglian pearls are accepted for the pearls, the "dangmenzi" musk grain must be obtained for the musk, and the toad venom is bought directly from village farmers during the spring and autumn rainy seasons and scraped under the guidance of veteran druggists. In this way the fine-materials market of the Shanghai-Hangzhou area and the rural medicine gatherers were strung together by a single pill the size of a mustard seed.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Lao Sanshen (official archival record of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in September 1946, native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Representative inheritor of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparation Method (Liushen Pill Production Technique), a national-level intangible cultural heritage project in the fourth national-level batch. He has conscientiously studied the production craft of Liushen Pills and related subjects, abided by the agreement on state-secret varieties, and taken on apprentices and taught the art, transmitting this technique. During his tenure as head of the Liushen workshop, Liushen Pills won the national gold medal three times and repeatedly received such titles as "Famous-Brand Product of Shanghai" and "Famous and Quality Product of the Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry" awarded by the Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry Association, winning a fine reputation for the enterprise. The Liushen Pill derivative Shexiang Baoxin Wan (Musk Heart-Protecting Pill), whose development he led, received the Excellent New Product Award of the State Economic and Trade Commission and the First Prize for Excellent New Products of Shanghai; Liuying Wan received the Excellent New Product Award of the State Economic and Trade Commission and the Third Prize for Major Scientific and Technological Achievements of Shanghai.

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 (Huangpu, Shanghai) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Laosanshen · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗