Traditional TCM Preparation Methods
01 · Historical Records
Baozitang was founded in the eighth year of the Kangxi era of the Qing dynasty (1669), and has a history of more than three hundred years to this day; it is among the first batch of "time-honored Chinese brands" certified by the Ministry of Commerce. The founder Pan Wu'an, upholding the concept of establishing the business on integrity, created Baozitang Baoying Dan on the basis of a folk-tested formula. It became an effective remedy for acute infantile convulsions, has been passed down to this day, and sells far overseas.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The Baoying Dan formula consists of 26 medicinal ingredients; although named a "dan", it is in fact a powder, and is especially suited to treating acute infantile convulsions and similar diseases. Because Baozitang Baoying Dan adheres to the traditional Chinese pharmaceutical philosophy of honoring and inheriting antiquity — being meticulous from formula composition and efficacy to dosage form and even packaging, all in accordance with ancient methods — it is deeply popular at home and abroad, and is called a "classical-formula quality medicine" by the broad community of overseas Chinese. Another technical feature of Baozitang Baoying Dan production is "packaging the powder in a wax shell", which effectively prevents the medicine from absorbing moisture and facilitates long-term storage and use. However, for various historical reasons, the Baoying Dan produced by Guangzhou Zhongyi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is supplied only for export, leaving the mainland market entirely blank.
A twenty-six ingredient formula
Twenty-six ingredients are combined for children's convulsion, mostly mild in nature and free of harsh agents, suiting the delicate organs of children.
A pill in name, a powder in fact
Though named a pill it is in fact a powder, made with no binder and no rolling, so that a child's emergency dose can be taken up at once without any division.
Powder packed in wax shells
Packing the powder in wax shells keeps out damp and allows long storage and easy use; a traveller can carry it without the powder caking or losing its taste, which was the precondition for overseas sales.
Revering the ancient method in every particular
From the formula and its action to the dosage form and even the packaging, everything follows the ancient way and nothing is changed for convenience, hence the reputation overseas as a true ancient formula.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Baozitang began in the eighth year of the Kangxi era of the Qing dynasty (1669) as an ordinary medicine shop in the city of Guangzhou; its founder Pan Wu'an established the business on integrity and created Baoying Dan to treat acute infantile convulsions, on the strength of which it became one of the first batch of time-honored Chinese brands certified by the Ministry of Commerce. For more than three hundred years, the medicine's name has traveled with the shop's, sold from the single city of Guangzhou to Hong Kong and Macau, and the overseas Chinese of Nanyang regard it as an essential household item, calling it a classical-formula quality medicine; oddly, however, it has long been absent from the mainland, as the Baoying Dan produced by Guangzhou Zhongyi Pharmaceutical is supplied only for export, leaving the mainland market entirely blank. The reason for this, roughly, is that the formula was originally an emergency powder for acute infantile convulsions, with both its price and its distribution channels dependent on foreign trade; once exports were cut off, it could not continue. Today this craft is carried on by Guangzhou Baiyunshan Zhongyi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which under the Baiyunshan name of the modern Chinese pharmaceutical industry has preserved this powder as an old rule of the time-honored brand: not one medicinal ingredient has been reduced, the wax shell remains as before, and it is still export-only. Why this medicine has survived for centuries only in the Guangdong region is worth careful thought. Acute infantile convulsions come on suddenly and medicine must be taken quickly; opening a wax shell yields the dose immediately, which is precisely its point. Yet in Fujian and Guangdong there were folk methods for acute convulsions such as tiaojing (pricking the skin to "draw out the fright") and guasha (therapeutic scraping), and the poor of old often could not afford to summon a doctor, so even if this ready-made medicine could be produced, it might not be purchasable in time; it was instead the overseas Chinese making a living in Nanyang who carried it with them and shipped it back to their hometown boat by boat, so that beyond Guangdong people knew its name but rarely had the thing itself. Today most time-honored brands have moved toward conglomeratization; other medicine shops have merged classical formulas into large product lines, but this one alone still keeps the two old rules of wax shell and export-only, refusing to change to large packaging, tablets, or capsules — its refusal to adapt has instead become the reason it has survived.
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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The traditional Baozitang Baoying Dan-making craft is in an awkward position domestically, on the verge of being lost, and urgently needs to be excavated and protected.
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
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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