Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

01 · Historical Records

In the late Qing and early Republican period, the Fanghuichun Hall traditional paste-formula preparation technique was already famous throughout Hangzhou for its numerous pastes — Shiquan Dabu Paste (All-inclusive Great Tonifying Paste), Eryi Paste, Yimu Paste (Motherwort Paste), Ejiao Paste (Donkey-hide Gelatin Paste) and Guilu Erxian Paste (Turtle and Deer Two Immortals Paste) — and it flourished in the Jiangnan region; today it is still practiced in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, Shanghai, and Guangdong.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Fanghuichun Hall traditional paste-formula preparation technique is a traditional Chinese pharmaceutical method in which a physician, through pattern differentiation and treatment determination, writes a prescription, hands it to a paste-boiling master to boil down, and the paste is finally formed. Fanghuichun Hall was born in Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, and stands at No. 117 Hefang Street, a famous historical and cultural street of China. The Fanghuichun Hall traditional paste-formula preparation technique involves many process steps: writing the prescription, proportioning ingredients, soaking, decocting, settling, straining off the residue, concentrating and finishing the paste. The pastes it produces are composed of five parts: prepared Chinese medicine slices, fine medicinal materials, glues (animal-gelatin materials), sugars and excipients; they have the health-preserving effects of replenishing deficiency and supporting weakness, preventing and curing disease, resisting aging and prolonging life, and are suitable for a wide range of people. Fanghuichun Hall selects authentic medicinal materials from across the country and uses the high-quality water of Fanghuichun Hall's ancient well to boil down the pastes. The craft is rigorous: an experienced physician of Chinese medicine writes a good prescription, and then a pharmacy attendant, taking a young assistant along and carrying a full set of copper pots and the medicinal materials, goes to the patient's home to boil the paste; the herbs are sliced and the ejiao blended in person, the heat is gauged accurately, and the paste forms only after boiling for the better part of a day. The tools are distinctive: ancient implements such as the iron medicine grinder and the pestle are still used to process the medicinal materials; a hundred-year-old copper pot is used to finish the paste, keeping the paste body from molding for a long period. Emphasis is placed on one prescription per person: because pastes are personalized, the ingredients of each batch differ markedly; tonifying medicines must be decocted longer, aromatic medicines must be added later, rare and precious medicines are stewed separately, and whether to add wine to the ejiao depends on the patient's condition; the procedure is complex. The packaging is refined, with specially made porcelain jars of various kinds used to hold the pastes. The inheritors of the Fanghuichun Hall traditional paste-formula preparation technique command the properties of medicines and the control of heat with exact precision; experience in such matters as the color and texture of the paste body, the proportion of sugar to be added and the "hanging flag" (paste dripping from a spatula like a little flag) is all passed down orally from master to apprentice. At the same time, as modern society pursues health preservation and the therapeutic effects of pastes gain recognition, some students of Chinese medicine universities have also joined the ranks of those learning paste-formula preparation. The Fanghuichun Hall traditional paste-formula preparation technique has a complex and rigorous process, and its experience in grasping the properties of medicines and controlling the heat carries considerable craft value; it condenses the wisdom and medical insight of generations of paste makers and physicians, and while bringing health to the world it also carries forward the profound culture of Chinese medicine, giving it historical, cultural and socioeconomic value.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

In Hangzhou, pastes divide into two routes — shop-prepared medicine and self-boiled paste — and Fanghuichun Hall belongs to the latter. It stands at No. 117 Hefang Street, drawing the neighborhood with an ancient well and a hundred-year-old copper stove; the names of its pastes — Shiquan Dabu Paste, Eryi Paste, Yimu Paste, Ejiao Paste and Guilu Erxian Paste — spread through the Jiangnan region, and the people of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong still recognize this house to this day. Yu Botang, born in Hangzhou in May 1949, learned medicinal processing from his father as a child; he entered Hangzhou People's Pharmacy in 1979, and after coming to Fanghuichun Hall in 2001 he set down the paste-boiling process and the quality-control records item by item; in 2008 Fanghuichun Hall once again used a master-led apprenticeship program to continue the staffing of paste boilers.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

In 2008, Fanghuichun Hall launched a "master leading apprentices" program, focusing on training talent in pharmaceutical and paste preparation and strengthening the transmission of the paste-formula preparation technique. Yu Botang (record from the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born May 1949; a native of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage projects: traditional Chinese pharmaceutical preparation methods (Fanghuichun Hall traditional paste-formula preparation technique). A well-known veteran pharmacist of Hangzhou skilled in hand-making pills and boiling pastes, with more than fifty years in the trade. He learned Chinese medicine processing techniques from his father from childhood. In 1979 he entered Hangzhou People's Pharmacy. After joining Fanghuichun Hall in 2001, he established a complete system of paste-preparation procedures and quality-control records, facilitating the quality control and review of the pastes. At every Fanghuichun Hall paste festival he lectures on pastes and promotes them. He has trained a group of paste-boiling specialists.

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 (Hangzhoushishangcheng, Zhejiang) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Yu Baitang · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗