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Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

Ⅸ-4Traditional MedicineHaerbinshidaowai, HeilongjiangBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

During the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty, Wang Zhaoyu, founder of the Lao Wangmazi plaster preparation technique, opened the Kyoto Fuqing Tang pharmacy on Niujie (Ox Street) in Beijing. In 1897, Wang Zhaoyu's son Wang Shusen braved the journey into the Northeast (Chuang Guandong) and arrived in Harbin; because he had light-colored pockmarks on his face, people called the plaster he sold 'Lao Wangmazi Plaster.'

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Lao Wangmazi plaster preparation technique is a traditional Chinese medicine preparation method in which medicinal materials are boiled over a high flame and extracted at high temperatures; its formula is rigorous, its preparation method special, and its efficacy on bone diseases and rheumatism remarkable. This technique is transmitted in Daowai District, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province; its users are mainly in the three northeastern provinces, and it is also sold in Hebei, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Shanxi, Henan, and other provinces and regions, as well as abroad. The plaster he formulated by combining court secret formulas specializes in treating bone diseases, with remarkable efficacy, and it quickly spread among the people. From the collection of medicinal materials to their preparation, the Lao Wangmazi plaster preparation technique follows authentic traditional Chinese medicine methods; it uses more than a dozen Chinese medicinals, boiled over a high flame and extracted at high temperatures, yielding a dark-brown hard plaster body that is applied directly to the affected site. It can treat orthopedic diseases such as cervical spondylosis, lumbar disc herniation, femoral head necrosis, rheumatism, senile arthritis, and bone hyperplasia; gynecological diseases such as mastitis, infertility, and cold uterus (gonghan); and other diseases such as prostatitis, tumors, and sequelae of cerebral thrombosis. The special extraction method of the Lao Wangmazi plaster preparation technique combines perfectly with its unique formula; the boiling process requires a high flame, with the mastery of heat control also being precisely right; there are also many technical links in the order in which the medicinal materials are added. Only in this way can the efficacy of the raw Chinese medicinal materials be brought fully into play, giving 'Lao Wangmazi Plaster' its distinctive medicinal effect. Lao Wangmazi Plaster mainly has the following characteristics: convenient to use, extra large and ultra-thin; the dosage is five times that of ordinary plasters, and the content of Chinese medicinals can reach five times that of ordinary plasters; the allergy rate is extremely low; the medicinal penetration is super strong; the treatment range is broad; there are no side effects; and it has achieved certain results in the treatment of sequelae of cerebral thrombosis. Through the efforts of several generations of inheritors, the Lao Wangmazi plaster preparation technique has been continuously improved on the basis of continuing to use the traditional formula, both alleviating the inconveniences of traditional plasters in use and expanding its application to treating many other diseases.

High-temperature extraction over a fierce fire

A dozen-odd herbs are extracted over a fierce fire at high heat, driving out the active material quickly and yielding a black-brown solid plaster applied straight to the affected place.

The order in which herbs go in

The order of addition carries much craft: what goes in first contributes weight, what goes in last contributes lightness, and a wrong sequence leaves the fire and the thickness uneven.

Judging the heat

The fire must stay fierce throughout and be judged exactly right — too long burns it, too short leaves the medicine unextracted — and the recipe's cleverness and the extraction method complete each other.

Oversized and extra-thin plaster sheets

The plaster is spread extra large and extra thin, carrying five times the dose and five times the herb content of an ordinary sheet, with a very low allergy rate and strong penetration, so the area treated can be wide.

The brand name of the Chuang Guandong crossing

When Wang Shusen crossed into Harbin his pale pockmarks gave him the name Lao Wang Mazi, and his plaster spread under it — a name that travelled far beyond that of the Kyoto Fuqing Hall pharmacy.

Wang Yanming's guardianship of the formula

When his father died in 1989 Wang Yanming took over the workshop, keeping the ancestral recipe while also graduating from the Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, which deepened his grasp of practice and treatment.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The roots of Lao Wangmazi Plaster lie on Niujie in Beijing, but it came to fruition in Harbin. During the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty, Wang Zhaoyu opened the Kyoto Fuqing Tang pharmacy on Niujie, specializing in formulating plasters from court secret formulas; in 1897 his son Wang Shusen braved the journey into the Northeast and arrived in Harbin, and because he had light-colored pockmarks on his face, the neighbors called the plaster he sold Lao Wangmazi Plaster — a name that remained unchanged over time and proved easier to remember than the shop's formal name. Thereafter the technique was mainly passed down from generation to generation within the Wang family, with Daowai District, Harbin, as its stronghold; because the three northeastern provinces have a cold climate and a high incidence of rheumatic and bone diseases, its users are mainly in the three northeastern provinces, while Hebei, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, Guangdong, Shanxi, Henan, and other provinces and regions, as well as foreign countries, also purchase it. Immigrants who braved the journey into the Northeast carried the capital's plaster formulas and turned them into the plaster medicine of the land beyond the pass. Today Harbin Fuqing Tang Medical and Health Products Co., Ltd. carries on this legacy, and the Wang family's inheritors are still slowly reconciling the old formulas from inside the pass with the land and water beyond it.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

This technique is mainly passed down from generation to generation within the Wang family. It exists because of the needs of the people, with the fundamental aim of treating illness and saving lives; the plaster it produces has no toxic side effects, treats internal diseases externally, satisfies the health needs of the public, and possesses economic, social, and cultural value. Wang Yanming (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in May 1951, from Yutian County, Hebei Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project 'Traditional Preparation Methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Lao Wangmazi Plaster Preparation Technique).' After his father died of illness in 1989, he took up the heavy responsibility of heading the Lao Wangmazi plaster preparation technique. While inheriting the ancestral secret formula, he emphasized systematic study of traditional Chinese medicine; after graduating from Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, his understanding of TCM and treatment methods deepened further. He emphasizes the transmission of the technique, enabling more people to inherit and carry forward the Lao Wangmazi plaster preparation technique.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Traditional TCM Preparation Methods (Haerbinshidaowai, Heilongjiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Wang Yanming · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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