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Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

Ⅸ-4Traditional MedicineChangchunshijiutai, JilinBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The medical practice of the Ping family can be traced back several generations. Its forebears were hereditary physicians of Zhejiang who practiced medicine successively in Shandong, then in Fengtian, Liaoning (today's Shenyang area), and finally settled in Changchun, Jilin, and its neighboring areas. The Ping family's hereditary specialty was treating mass accumulation disorders (jizheng), consumptive diseases (laozheng), and orthopedic ailments; their most famous legacy is the orally administered Xiaoji Extract Paste (Xiaoji Jingao) and Hualao Extract Paste (Hualao Jingao), together with the externally applied Ruyi Plaster (Ruyi Waitie Gao). Over several generations of clinical exploration, they distilled the medication for a class of hard-to-treat diseases into three formulas. Their method of preparing medicine had another layer of refinement: it began at the hour of the rooster's crow, the Chou period (1–3 a.m.), when yang qi was just beginning to revive and yin qi was gradually declining, and the person too was still, with qi gathering; thus decoction, removing the pot from the fire, and adding fine ingredients were all undertaken within this time period. The family's forebears took the Chou period as the guide for entering the practice of medicine, and later generations named this entire set of paste-boiling techniques the 'Rooster-Crow Chou-Hour Medicine Preparation Method' — one boiling lasting the whole night, one vigil until dawn.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Ping family extract paste preparation technique is a hereditary preparation method used by the Ping family of physicians across generations to clinically treat 'mass accumulation disorders' (jizheng, tumors), 'consumptive disorders' (laozheng, tuberculosis), and orthopedic diseases, among others; it is the essence of the Ping family's medical art and pharmacology. The Ping family, with its ancestral home in Zhejiang, has practiced medicine for generations with exquisite medical skill, later moving successively to Shandong, Fengtian in Liaoning (present-day Shenyang), and Changchun, Jilin, and its surrounding areas. Jiutai belongs to the Changbai Mountain water system; its groundwater contains calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and other natural minerals, providing uniquely favorable material conditions for the preparation of the Ping family's extract pastes. The rich experience accumulated by the Ping family's hereditary medicine covers all clinical departments, and its therapeutic prescriptions are considered the best in the form of the orally administered Xiaoji Extract Paste and Hualao Extract Paste, together with the externally applied Ruyi Plaster, which have had a profound influence among the people. The Ping family extract paste preparation technique has been transmitted to the present day, always operated by traditional hand methods; the decoction time, the concentration of the extract paste, when to remove the pot from the fire, and when to add fine ingredients are all passed on by oral instruction and personal example. Its medicinal materials are mainly pure, genuine herbs from the Changbai Mountains and the Sichuan, Qinghai, and Tibet regions, selected for their substantial quality, stable composition, and long-lasting medicinal efficacy; the processing of raw medicinal materials (cleaning, cutting, and processing) all follows ancient methods. The characteristics of the Ping family extract paste medicines are a rich medicinal aroma, no impurities, high content of active ingredients after concentration, small volume, easy storage, and convenient administration. The Ping family's forebears were born at the hour of the rooster's crow and the Chou period, establishing the precedent for the Ping family's practice of medicine as a profession; later generations, carrying on the family's occupation, named the medicine preparation technique the 'Rooster-Crow Chou-Hour Medicine Preparation Method.' This medicine preparation method has rich connotations, and its procedures are standardized and rigorous. The Chou period is the time when yang qi gradually revives, carrying the meaning of yang growing ever stronger, yin declining ever further, and pathogenic factors being dispelled. Among the earthly branches, 'chou' means 'knot' — grasses and trees sprout within the soil, about to emerge above the ground. 'Chou' corresponds to 'earth' among the five elements; earth gives birth to all things and has the characteristics of nurturing and transformation, signifying endless life. The Chou period is also the time when people are still, allowing the medicine preparer to calm the qi and concentrate the spirit, and to operate according to the method with single-minded focus. As an important representative of traditional Chinese medicine preparation methods, the Ping family extract paste preparation technique condenses the crystallized wisdom of several generations of the Ping family, continues and carries forward the medical ethics and style of 'great physicians with utmost sincerity' (dayi jingcheng) in history, and has made contributions to the cause of traditional medicine in the homeland.

Preparing the paste in the hour of the ox

In the hour of the ox yang begins to return and yin to wane, disease is said to retreat; grasses sprout in the earth about to break the surface — hence the work begins then, quietly and with full attention.

Cleaning, slicing and archaic processing

Raw drugs are handled by ancient rule: cleaned of impurities, sliced into pieces, then processed according to their natures; how far each step goes decides the concentrate's strength and aroma.

Decoction and the moment of lifting

The duration of decoction, the strength of the extract and the moment to lift the pot are known only through teaching and example, with no fixed hour; too early and it is thin, too late and it scorches.

When to add the fine aromatics

Fine aromatics go in at just the right moment before the pot is lifted; too early their scent escapes with the steam, too late and they have not merged, a point passed on by word of mouth alone.

The three inherited formulas

Taken internally are Xiaoji Extract and Huoliao Extract, used externally Ru Yi Wai Tie Gao; the three formulas address masses, consumption and injury, serving both internal and external routes.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Ping family extract paste preparation technique is today transmitted in Jiutai District, Changchun City, Jilin Province. Jiutai belongs to the Changbai Mountain water system; its groundwater contains calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, and other natural minerals, and its well water is clear and cold, making it convenient as water for boiling pastes. In Shandong, Fengtian, and Changchun, where the Ping family practiced medicine, the medicinal materials were taken from the Changbai Mountains and the Sichuan, Qinghai, and Tibet regions, selected for their substantial quality and stable composition, so that the boiled pastes have a rich aroma without residue, with concentrated ingredients and small volume, making them easy to store for long periods and to carry. Geographically, the old pharmacies of the Harbin and Shenyang areas connect with the medicinal sources of the Changbai Mountains; once a batch of paste medicine is ready, it is mostly sold inside and outside the pass along these trade routes. Today Jiutai remains the one corner of the country where this line of family-transmitted technique survives.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present, this technique is transmitted in Jiutai District, Changchun City, Jilin Province. The Ping family's medical art and the Ping family's extract pastes have relieved sufferers of their pain and gained recognition from the people, possessing practical value and social value.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Traditional TCM Preparation Methods (Changchunshijiutai, Jilin) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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