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Traditional TCM Preparation Methods

Ⅸ-4Traditional MedicineKunming, YunnanBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The traditional Chinese medicine preparations of Kunming Chinese Medicine (Kunzhongyao) originated in the fourteenth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty (1381); rooted in Lan Mao's 'Diannan Materia Medica' (Diannan Bencao) and other Yunnan pharmacopoeias, as well as Yunnan's rich soil of Chinese medicinal materials, they extensively draw on the strengths of the ethnic medicines of the Yi, Miao, Zhuang, and other peoples on the basis of inheriting tradition.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The traditional Chinese medicine preparations of Kunzhongyao are a typical representative of Yunnan ethnic medicine, mainly transmitted at Kunming Chinese Medicine Factory Co., Ltd. (abbreviated 'Kunzhongyao'), located in Kunming City, Yunnan Province. Medicines such as the Lung-Clearing and Phlegm-Resolving Pill (Qingfei Huatan Wan) are also sold abroad. For example, the Cold-Relief and Anti-inflammatory Tablets produced by Kunzhongyao use choulingdan (Laggera pterodonta), commonly used by the Yi and Miao peoples; the Epilepsy-Calming Tablets use the Zhuang ethnic medicinal qianniuzi (morning glory seed); and the Dizziness-Relieving and Calming Granules use the Yi medicinal luxiancao (pyrola), among other materials. Kunzhongyao also upholds the convictions of 'great medicine, profound virtue,' 'making medicine accumulates virtue,' and 'selecting materials with precision,' along with 'skillfully compounding pills, powders, pastes, and elixirs, and processing raw and prepared decoction pieces according to the methods.' It adheres to the medicinal ethics of 'profound virtue,' 'exquisite craftsmanship,' and 'no reduction'; its distinctive product system, orally transmitted medicine-making techniques, and rigorous, exacting master-apprentice system have produced a large number of traditional Chinese medicines, including the Children's Emergency Elixir, Ruan's Shangqing Pills, Zhai Yuliu's Cough-Stopping Pills, Zheng's Female Golden Elixir, Mulberry Leaf and Chrysanthemum with Lonicera and Forsythia Powder, and the Lung-Clearing and Phlegm-Resolving Pill, with special formulas and remarkable efficacy. These embody the TCM health-preservation concepts and disease-treatment methods of 'soothing, clearing, and nourishing' — soothing the liver and regulating qi, clearing the lung and resolving phlegm, and clearing heat and strengthening the stomach — aimed at preventing disease before it occurs, and are deeply loved by the general public.

Pill-panning by the water method

She is best at the water-panning method, judging the stickiness and moisture of the material by touch so the pills come out round and even.

Careful compounding of pills, powders and pastes

The workshop keeps to careful compounding of pills, powders, pastes and pills proper, inheriting named recipes from old Kunming drug shops.

Yi, Miao and Zhuang herbs in the formulas

Some preparations are built on local minority herbs, combining several ethnic traditions in one prescription.

Consolidation of the old drug shops

After the 1956 joint public-private operation, eighty-two trading houses and nineteen itinerant traders in Kunming were folded into the state workshop.

Export of the lung-clearing pill

Pills built on the idea of clearing, soothing and nourishing are now sold across China and partly abroad.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The traditional Chinese medicine preparations of Kunzhongyao are an important component of traditional Chinese medicine culture and Yunnan ethnic medicine culture; they reflect the experience and wisdom of the Yunnan people in using local authentic medicinal materials and are the crystallization of profound TCM theory and medical practice, renowned both at home and abroad, with socioeconomic value.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present, Kunzhongyao's products are sold throughout the country. Kunzhongyao's traditional Chinese medicine culture has a history of more than 600 years; before the founding of the People's Republic of China, the traditional Chinese medicine preparations of Kunzhongyao were mainly transmitted through master-apprentice relationships. After the joint public-private operation of 1956, 82 retail merchants and 19 wholesale merchants in the Kunming area — including 'Shuangmei Hao,' 'Sun Wansong Caotang,' 'Tide Tang,' and 'Fulin Tang' — were all merged into Kunzhongyao, shifting to enterprise-group transmission. Zhang Yuankun (recorded in the official archives of the associated inheritor): Female, Han ethnicity, born in January 1948, from Kunming City, Yunnan Province. In 1965 she joined Kunming Chinese Medicine Factory to work on traditional Chinese medicine preparations; she worked in the field for forty years and excels in the water-piling (fanwan, pill-rolling) preparation technique. She is good at painstaking study, has an accurate grasp of the stickiness of medicinal materials and their moisture content, is careful in screening, and has exquisite polishing skill. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project 'Traditional Preparation Methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparations of Kunzhongyao).' She actively carries out transmission activities, cultivates successors, and has guided multiple enterprises in water-piling production; she is representative and influential in the TCM circles of Yunnan Province.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

  1. Traditional TCM Preparation Methods (Kunming, Yunnan) · China ICH Official Project Archive
  2. Zhang Yuankun · National Representative Bearer Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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