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Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

Ⅸ-4Traditional MedicineHongqiao, TianjinBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Yidecheng wenyao (snuff-medicine) production technique, as a method of traditional Chinese medicine preparation, originated at the Yidecheng Wenyao Shop in Hongqiao District, Tianjin; its area of circulation has now expanded to Shanghai, Beijing, Shanxi, Fujian, Hainan, Chongqing, and other places. Wenyao belongs to the sneezing-inducing therapy (tongbi therapy) of traditional Chinese medicine; its medicinals and aroma are absorbed through the nasal mucosa and quickly enter the bloodstream, and it is used for dry nose, nasal congestion, loss of smell, pain in the head and cheeks, sinusitis, and other conditions. Since the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty it has also been commonly called "snuff" (biyan).

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Yidecheng wenyao products include Shexiang Chun (musk flavor), Moli Xiang (jasmine fragrance), Bohe Xin (mint freshness), Laoyan Pi (old tobacco base), and Bencao Xin (herbal freshness). One production cycle of the Yidecheng wenyao technique requires more than 90 days, with an aging period of at least four years. The tobacco leaves are mainly selected from Linyi, Shandong, characterized by fine veins, no thick stalks, strong tobacco flavor, high oiliness, and a mild taste. The tobacco growing process requires dedicated supervision, with strict standards for seed selection and fertilization; each tobacco plant has eight leaves, of which the middle four are taken, with stalks and fibers removed; after careful selection, less than three liang (about 150 grams) remains from one jin (500 grams) of crude tobacco; the leaves are then ground by stone mill into a fine powder of 80 mesh. A complete fumigation cycle takes three months; in each flowering season, the aged tobacco powder is transported to the south for fumigation. The ratio of flowers to tobacco is 1:10; the mixture is turned at regular intervals depending on temperature, keeping the air circulating, and the temperature inside the tobacco cabinet must not exceed 36 degrees Celsius; each fumigation lasts about ten hours, and each airing takes five hours. The complete fumigation process is repeated nine times, which is why the trademark of Yidecheng wenyao is the "Nine Smiles" (Jiuxiao) brand. The fumigated tobacco powder is then placed in ceramic vats for aging. Before sale, it is fumigated once more with fresh jasmine flowers. The Yidecheng wenyao production technique was formed by following the sneezing-inducing therapy of China's traditional medicine and combining it with people's living habits and health needs. Its raw materials - tobacco, medicinals, and flowers - are all natural plants, and their fragrance treats illness: it not only has effects such as refreshing the spirit, clearing the brain, brightening the eyes, lowering blood pressure, and preventing encephalitis, but can also relieve tobacco craving, eliminate fire hazards, and remove the harm of secondhand smoke to people, giving it practical value; it can also be given to others as a gift.

Taking the four middle leaves

Of eight leaves on a tobacco plant only the four middle ones are taken; stalks and ribs are stripped and the leaf carefully sorted, so that less than three liang remain from a jin of raw leaf.

Grinding to eighty mesh

The cleaned leaf is ground on a stone mill to eighty mesh; grinding slowly without heat keeps the aroma and drug properties from escaping, so the stone mill is still used.

Nine rounds of fumigation

A full cycle takes three months: blossoms and tobacco powder in a ratio of one to ten, turned at fixed intervals, about ten hours of fumigation and five of drying each round, repeated nine times — hence the name Nine Laughs.

The smoke box kept under thirty-six degrees

Throughout the fumigation the air is kept moving and the box may not pass thirty-six degrees; beyond that line the fragrance scorches and the drug properties scatter.

Aging in earthen jars for four years

The finished powder is aged in earthen jars for at least four years, with a working cycle of over ninety days; it is a labour measured in years, and one last pass of fresh jasmine precedes sale.

Snuffing the aroma

Snuffed, the drug and its aroma pass through the nasal mucosa into the blood, serving dryness, blockage, lost smell, headache and sinusitis; since the Yongzheng reign common folk have called it nasal tobacco.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Yidecheng wenyao began at No. 1 Guodian Street, at the eastern end of Guyi Street in Tianjin, where the Zhang family hung out its sign and opened for business in the forty-ninth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1710); for the early period it was handed down within one family for five generations, and later switched to master-apprentice transmission. Wenyao is originally one branch of sneezing-inducing therapy: the medicinals and fragrance are absorbed through the nasal mucosa and reach the blood, and after the Yongzheng reign it was commonly called snuff among the people, so the medicine shop and the tobacco shop were often combined into one - selecting tobacco leaves, fumigating with flower fragrance, and sealing in ceramic vats, with a single shop carrying on both the medicine and the tobacco trades at once. The tobacco leaves used were shipped from Linyi, Shandong, with fine veins, no thick stalks, and high oiliness; only the middle four leaves of each plant were taken, and after careful removal of stalks and fibers, less than three liang remained from one jin of crude tobacco; in the flower season each year the aged tobacco powder was also transported to the south for fumigation, nine times making one round, hence the Nine Smiles brand of this medicine. In former times this technique was passed on in the Guoyi Street area of Tianjin through word of mouth among neighbors; today it has spread to Shanghai, Beijing, Shanxi, Fujian, Hainan, Chongqing, and other places, with the shopfront replaced by exhibitions, specialty shops, and museums, though the method still keeps the final step of fumigation with fresh jasmine flowers.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Yidecheng wenyao production technique relies mainly on oral transmission and personal instruction. It began with the "Yidecheng Wenyao Shop" opened at No. 1 Guodian Street, at the eastern end of Guyi Street in Tianjin, in the forty-ninth year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1710); in its early period it was operated and transmitted by the Zhang family for five generations in all, and was later transmitted mainly through master-apprentice teaching. On the basis of inheriting the traditional craft, new products have been developed, and transmission and dissemination activities have been carried out through channels such as exhibitions, specialty shops, and museums. Ma Weidong (from the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born June 1955, from Tianjin. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparation Methods (Yidecheng Wenyao Production Technique). After graduating from university in 1978, he engaged in traditional medicine education and enterprise management for nearly forty years. In the early 1980s he took Zhang Yuanlin as his teacher and began studying the wenyao production technique. Under his master's oral transmission and personal instruction, he developed a fairly complete set of craft standards covering everything from seed selection for wenyao raw materials, control of the plants' growth process, operation of each stage of production, to later storage management. With social development, he has made full use of modern production equipment and conditions, revising raw-material procurement standards, product quality inspection standards, and authenticity determination charts for products. On the basis of following the ancient processing methods and preserving the original craft, he has improved product quality and production capacity.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Traditional TCM Preparation Methods (Hongqiao, Tianjin) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Ma Weidong · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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