TCM Bone-setting Therapy

Ⅸ-6Traditional MedicineHuangpu, ShanghaiBatch 5 (2021)Extension ItemFeatured

01 · Historical Records

The main characteristics of the Shi school's bone-injury therapy: first, the three-stage treatment of fractures based on syndrome differentiation — in the 1950s it proposed "three-stage syndrome differentiation and treatment of closed fractures of the limbs."

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Guided by classical theories of traditional Chinese medicine, this heritage project employs specially effective Chinese herbal medicines taken orally and applied externally, manipulative reduction, and splint immobilization, focusing on the diagnosis and treatment of sinew-and-bone diseases such as lumbar disc herniation, cervical spondylosis, lumbar spinal stenosis, osteoarthrosis, fractures of the limbs, and acute and chronic soft-tissue injuries. In theory it advocates "the thirteen disciplines are penetrated by a single principle"; in practice it emphasizes "combining internal and external treatment, with three-stage treatment based on syndrome differentiation." In the initial stage, activate blood and resolve stasis; in the middle stage, harmonize the nutritive qi and mend the bones; in the later stage, tonify the liver and kidneys and boost qi and blood. Splinting and immobilization and the application of plasters are likewise administered according to the three stages. Second, it is adept at external medicines; existing external preparations include hard plasters, medicinal plasters, ointments, powders, elixirs, fumigating and washing preparations, tinctures, and many others. Third, it excels at internal treatment, holding that diseases of the sinews and bones are rooted in the liver and kidneys, with particular emphasis on wind-cold and blood stasis. In sinew-and-bone injuries, qi stagnation and blood stasis come first; in sinew-and-bone strain injuries, wind-cold comes first; in sinew-and-bone flaccidity, the liver and kidneys come first. In differentiating internal injuries, special importance is attached to qi and blood and to the location of the viscera. At present there are five hospital-prepared preparations with official approval numbers and more than thirty proven formulas handed down from the Shi family. Fourth, it places weight on manipulative technique: among these techniques, the palpation method applies light, medium, or heavy force depending on the location; the bone-reduction and repositioning techniques follow the eight methods of bone-setting, emphasizing the integrity and protection of the periosteum; the bone-setting and sinew-regulating techniques attach importance to the standardization and set routines of operations, emphasizing the restoration of displaced sinews and misaligned bone joints. It values the traditional therapies of Chinese medical bone injury, advocates individualized treatment, and does not favor surgical treatment that is costly and highly damaging, which helps reduce the health economic burden on patients and the state. It excels at and advocates the combined treatment of internal and external injuries, organically combining local injury with the body's viscera, meridians, qi, and blood to improve overall therapeutic efficacy.

Three-stage treatment of closed limb fractures

Proposed in the 1950s, the three-stage system times reduction, splinting and plasters to the stage of healing.

Warming plasters for the bone and sinew

More than twenty external preparations are named for new injury and for chronic injury alike.

Weak sinew and bone traced to liver and kidney

Fresh injury is treated as stasis, wear as wind-cold, and weakness as liver-kidney deficiency, each with its own lead.

Palpation and the reordering of sinew and bone

Light, medium and heavy touch for skin, muscle and bone; reduction follows the eight methods and protects the periosteum.

The school clinic formulas

Five approved oral preparations sit alongside more than thirty inherited decoctions.

Against costly surgery

It favours personalised conservative treatment over costly surgery, and always links the local injury to the whole body.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Shi school's bone-injury therapy is a major school of Chinese medical traumatology in China. It is mainly transmitted at the Xiangshan Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Huangpu District, Shanghai, and is also distributed in Jing'an District, Pudong New Area, and Chongming District of Shanghai, Haimen City of Jiangsu Province, Beijing, Lu'an City of Anhui Province, as well as in the United States, Australia, Canada, and other countries.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

At present, five oral hospital-prepared preparations have been developed: Shufeng Shuyao Granules, Dilong Shuyao Capsules, Zhilong Juanbi Tablets, Tianma Jingnaoning Tablets, and Guigui Zhuanggu Tablets; more than twenty external preparations have been created, including Diaoshang Plaster, Sushang Plaster, Jiegu Plaster, Fengshi Plaster, and the Zhuangjin Tongluo external wash formula; and more than thirty proven formulas handed down from the Shi family have been formulated, such as Dilong Shuyao Decoction, Wenjing Yangrong Decoction, Yuyin Jianyao Decoction, Bushen Jianyao Decoction, and Huoxue Zhitong Decoction. The Shi school's bone-injury therapy cultivates inheritors through family transmission, master-apprentice pairing, and graduate education. Using forms such as writing books and establishing doctrines, running training courses, and skills training, it transmits and promotes the academic thought and clinical experience of the Shi school's bone-injury therapy. The value of the Shi school's bone-injury therapy is extensive: the theory of "three-stage syndrome differentiation and treatment of closed fractures of the limbs" has promoted the further improvement of the syndrome differentiation system for fractures in Chinese medicine. Shi Yangshan (official archival record of an associated inheritor): In diagnosis and treatment, he emphasizes equal attention to qi and blood and the combination of internal and external treatment. He created the concept of treating disease: "take qi as the primary factor and blood as the first concern, give equal weight to sinews and bones while aligning internally with the liver and kidneys, regulate and treat concurrent pathogenic factors with special emphasis on phlegm-dampness, examine deficiency and excess, and apply tonification or purgation accordingly." In diagnosis and treatment he emphasizes the three-stage treatment of sinew-and-bone injuries; in medicinal application he attends to both internal and external aspects with holistic regulation, and is skilled at prescribing internal medicines on the basis of syndrome differentiation, taking injury as the primary consideration together with the patient's constitution and concurrent pathogenic factors. Male, of the Han ethnic group, born in March 1931 and deceased in December 2015, a native of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province. Representative inheritor of the third national-level batch of the intangible cultural heritage project "Traditional Chinese Medicine Bone-Setting Therapy (the Shi school's bone-injury therapy)". In 1995 he was named a famous practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine of Shanghai by the Shanghai Municipal Health Bureau; in 2006 he was awarded the Special Contribution Award for the transmission of traditional Chinese medicine by the China Association of Chinese Medicine; in 2007 he was conferred the title of "Famous Master of Chinese Orthopedics and Traumatology" (inaugural class) by the China Association of Chinese Medicine; and in 2014 he received the title of "National Medical Master" (second batch) awarded by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

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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