Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

01 · Historical Records

Tai'an Tang's Qilin Pills are inherited from the Tai'an Wuzi Yanzong Pills of the seventh-generation successor of Tai'an Tang during the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty; they are the crystallization of generations of the Ke family of Tai'an Tang in their medical practice, with a history of about 300 years to date.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Tai'an Tang Qilin Pill preparation technique is a traditional Chinese medicine preparation method that blends the pharmaceutical essence of Tai'an Tang across generations with the core preparation techniques of Ming dynasty court medicine. This technique is transmitted in Shantou City, Guangdong Province, with Shantou, Chaozhou, Jieyang, and Guangzhou in Guangdong, as well as Fujian, forming its core areas. Adhering to Tai'an Tang's pharmaceutical philosophy of 'following the ancients while seeking expansion, having formulas verified in the pharmacopoeia, attaining the utmost in refinement, with the great way being formless,' the Tai'an Tang Qilin Pill preparation technique rigorously subjects the medicinal materials in the Qilin Pill formula to washing, trimming, cutting, steaming, and roasting, among other processes, with special processing of fleeceflower root (heshouwu) to preserve the properties of the Chinese medicinals and enhance the efficacy of the formula. The Qilin Pills select authentic medicinal materials, such as fleeceflower root (heshouwu), eclipta (mohanlian), epimedium (yinyanghuo), mulberry fruit (sangshen), Chinese yam (shanyao), and turmeric (yujin) — medicinal materials characteristic of Lingnan or the Chaoshan region — with careful combination in the formula, special processing, remarkable efficacy, purely natural plant ingredients, and a mild medicinal nature. In addition, the medicinal materials must be harvested in suitable seasons and cleaned, cut into slices or segments, dried in the sun or in the shade, and stored on medicine racks or in medicine boxes for later use. Before being used medicinally, fleeceflower root and other materials must undergo special processing; for example, when fleeceflower root is processed by the special method, it must be damp-rested for a certain period, then steamed and boiled for several sessions, after which it is removed and dried in the air for use. Once the formula materials are complete, production can proceed according to the preparation technique process: some are ground into powder, others are extracted, and several medicinals are mixed evenly to form pills. Its product is a concentrated Chinese medicine pill, convenient to take. It treats kidney deficiency and essence depletion, insufficiency of blood and qi, soreness and weakness of the lower back and knees, fatigue and lassitude, a lusterless complexion, thin and watery semen in men, impotence and premature ejaculation, and irregular menstruation in women, as well as male infertility and female infertility presenting the above symptoms, with the effects of tonifying the kidney and replenishing essence, and boosting qi and nourishing blood.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The roots of the Tai'an Tang Qilin Pill preparation technique lie in Shantou, Guangdong, with Chaozhou, Jieyang, Guangzhou, and Fujian forming a secondary network for its services and the exchange of medication experience. In the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong, medicinal material shops and warehouses are dense; the need to adapt between the dry, harsh products of the sea and the damp-heat climate of the plains has given pill preparations of the kind that tonify the kidney, replenish essence, boost qi, and nourish blood a stable following among the people. Ke Shuquan entered the profession from Chao'an County, specializing in TCM gynecology and surgery, bringing conditions previously lacking dedicated treatises into the scope of pill-based treatment; he also compiled the empirical and secret formulas of successive generations of inheritors and edited book series, giving this predominantly family-private technique a written vehicle. The direction of the technique's diffusion broadly coincides with the trade routes along the coast of eastern Guangdong.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Tai'an Tang's Qilin Pills have definite efficacy and considerable medical value; their preparation technique is an important component of Tai'an Tang's traditional Chinese medicine, following Tai'an Tang's TCM philosophy of 'upholding virtue to aid the world, acting without contention,' along with its humanistic thought of valuing character, loving the country and the people, harmonious development, and the pursuit of excellence. It is a representative of Lingnan traditional Chinese medicine, possessing historical, cultural, and social value. Ke Shuquan (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in July 1948, from Chao'an County, Guangdong Province. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project 'Traditional Preparation Methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Tai'an Tang Qilin Pill Preparation Technique).' Thirteenth-generation inheritor of the Tai'an Tang Qilin Pill preparation technique. He has practiced medicine and prepared pharmaceuticals for more than forty years, transmitting the core techniques of Tai'an Tang's Qilin Pills. He specializes in TCM gynecology and surgery, with profound attainment in treating infertility. Drawing on the essence of the ancestral 'Wanshi Biguan' (Wan's Medical Penetration), he studied the empirical and secret formulas of successive generations of inheritors; he collected, protected, and researched the tools and items used in the preparation technique, edited series of books, produced television dramas, and transmitted traditional Chinese medicine culture. He jointly established specialized institutions with multiple departments to study the Qilin Pill preparation technique, built the Qilin Garden, set up dedicated production lines, improved product technical quality, and applied for invention patents. He holds skill transmission training classes from time to time to cultivate inheritors.

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 (Shantou, Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Ke Shuquan · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗