TCM Bone-setting Therapy

Ⅸ-6Traditional MedicineZhaoyang, BeijingBatch 2 (2008)Extension ItemFeatured

01 · Historical Records

The transmission of the Luo school's bone-setting method has continued for more than three hundred years. Its origin is closely connected with the bone-injury trade in southern Beijing in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties: first, folk healers skilled in injury plasters and manipulative bone reduction formed a lineage in the streets and lanes around Shichahai and Shuangqiao; later, the family transmission of the clan of Luo Youming condensed it into a school. Luo Youming, an important successor and outstanding representative of the Luo school's bone-setting method, won broad recognition from the world for his noble medical ethics of doing good and helping others, healing the wounded and rescuing the dying, and seeking neither fame nor profit, together with his superb medical skill; he was praised as the "sage hand at bone-setting," the "sage hand of orthopedics and traumatology," the "sage hand with a benevolent heart," and the "good physician with a benevolent heart." These titles were not conferred by officials; they were a reputation accumulated over three generations of setting bones and restoring people to health.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Traditional Chinese medicine bone-setting therapy is also known as "shangke" (traumatology) or "gu shang ke" (bone and injury medicine, orthopedics and traumatology). First, it has a distinctive understanding of bone physiology and the pathology of bone injuries in the light of traditional Chinese medicine theory; second, it makes ingenious use of manipulative techniques; and third, it has distinctive characteristics in its use of medicines. The combination of these three points often forms a unique therapy and a famous school. As an important successor and outstanding representative of the Luo school's bone-setting method, Luo Youming won broad recognition from the world for his noble medical ethics of doing good and helping others, healing the wounded and rescuing the dying, and seeking neither fame nor profit, together with his superb medical skill; he was praised as the "sage hand at bone-setting," the "sage hand of orthopedics and traumatology," the "sage hand with a benevolent heart," and the "good physician with a benevolent heart."

Reduction by hand

Its manual reduction, joining, fixation and medication were seen as advantages over Western orthopaedics, avoiding operation and shortening recovery.

The eight sinew methods

She set out the eight sinew methods in named form with indications, fixing the order drawn from long practice.

Preparing the external bone liniments

Capsules, tablets and plasters were developed in parallel, with two of the plasters taking an international award.

Teaching films and manuals

Films and manuals in Chinese and English turned a family technique into reproducible teaching material.

The aviation hospital department

She built a department and a teaching team at the aviation hospital, running regular training classes for the method.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

In ancient agricultural society, the incidence of bone injuries was very high, and bone injuries were a common and frequently occurring ailment. At that time, medical conditions were very poor, and transportation in rural areas and frontier settlements was blocked off; once a fracture occurred, seeking treatment was extremely difficult. Thus practice produced true knowledge, and need produced talent: in almost every somewhat larger village or town, one or two local doctors and local methods for treating bone injuries would emerge, and bone-setting therapy became a Chinese medical therapy with wide distribution and a multitude of schools across China. With social development and the broadening and deepening of academic exchange, Chinese medical bone-injury therapy shows a tendency toward convergence; however, the regional characteristics, manipulative characteristics, and medicinal characteristics of certain famous traumatology experts and famous traumatology schools still remain. Compared with Western orthopedic medicine, Chinese bone-setting therapy still has its unique advantages.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine bone-setting therapy are expressed in three aspects. The Luo school's bone-setting method has been transmitted for more than three hundred years up to the present day. With its unique strengths in manipulative reduction and repositioning, bone setting, sinew joining, immobilization, and medicinal application, Luo-school Chinese bone-setting has many advantages that surpass Western medical orthopedics. It is a typical representative of the orthopedics and traumatology of traditional Chinese medicine, and in itself a cultural vehicle of the long history of Chinese medicine, possessing high historical cognitive value and medical research value. Strengthening its protection and transmission work is of extremely important significance for carrying forward the traditional culture of the nation and promoting the development of traditional Chinese orthopedic traumatology. With the passage of time, the Luo school's bone-setting method and the Luo Youming Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Orthopedics and Traumatology now face unprecedented difficulties and pressures and urgently need state protection. Luo Jindian (official archival record of an associated inheritor): He developed dosage forms such as Huayu Zhitong Capsules (stasis-resolving and pain-relieving capsules), Fengshi Qutong Tablets (wind-dampness-dispelling and pain-relieving tablets), and Lingxian Qutong Plasters, with remarkable efficacy. He directed and filmed two television teaching films on the Luo school's bone-setting method, and served as chief editor of the books "Luo Youming's Bone-Setting Method," "The Luo School's Bone-Setting Method" (Chinese-English edition), "Lumbar Disc Herniation," and "Luo Youming, the Bone-Setting Granny of Shuangqiao." He actively promoted the transmission and dissemination of the project, taking Luo Sulan, Luo Wei, Luo Yong, Luo Suxia, and others as disciples. Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in February 1931 and deceased in November 2014, a native of Xiayi County, Henan Province. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project "Traditional Chinese Medicine Bone-Setting Therapy (the Luo school's bone-setting method)". Among these, the Luo's Bone-Injury Plaster and Luo's Bone-Pain Plaster won the gold medal for new products in international traditional medicine. Luo Sulan (official archival record of an associated inheritor): Female, of the Han ethnic group, born in August 1951, a native of Xiayi County, Henan Province. In more than forty years of clinical practice, she has cured tens of thousands of patients at home and abroad. She served as chief editor of "The Luo School's Bone-Setting Method" (Chinese-English edition) and "Luo Youming's Medical Case Records," deputy chief editor of the volumes "Luo Youming's Bone-Setting Method," "Luo Youming, the Bone-Setting Granny of Shuangqiao," and "Lumbar Disc Herniation," and wrote articles such as "Treatment of Femoral Shaft Fractures with Luo Youming's Bone-Setting Method," "Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation by Bone-Setting Manipulative Techniques," and "Theoretical Discussion and Application of the Luo School's Eight Methods of Sinew Setting." She has passed on her skills to her son Li Zhengyi and others. She established the Traditional Chinese Medicine Bone-Setting Department at the General Hospital of Aviation, formed a medical team, carried out clinical teaching, and regularly holds Luo-school bone-setting training courses. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project "Traditional Chinese Medicine Bone-Setting Therapy (the Luo school's bone-setting method)". She was named one of the first academic successors of famous veteran practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine in Beijing.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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