TCM Bone-setting Therapy
01 · Historical Records
The Zhu family's bone-setting practice is a branch of orthopedics and traumatology in the Weinan area of Guanzhong, Shaanxi. Its early practitioners treated patients among the people for many years, trying out one by one the bone-setting manipulation techniques that circulated in Guanzhong and southern Shaanxi, keeping only those that could be repeatedly verified and then adjusting them into fixed forms according to their own sense of touch. This body of knowledge was never codified into a unified written text; it was passed on strictly from master to apprentice through demonstration, observation, and imitation. In manipulation, the practice is summarized by the four characters 'steady, accurate, light, and quick.' Common sites such as distal radius fractures and humeral condyle fractures can mostly be reduced by hand; for cases that are difficult to handle, such as shoulder dislocation, cervical rotational injuries, and fifth metacarpal neck fractures, it employs original techniques such as reverse reduction, rotational fixed-point reduction, and continuous traction fixation. Its medication system is its own school: altogether 56 kinds of raw medicinal materials are used, formulated into five prescriptions, administered through three routes — oral, external application, and external washing — with the dressing changed according to the early, middle, and late stages of fracture healing. The environment of Fuping and the pattern of injuries and illnesses there are similar to those in other parts of Guanzhong, allowing this body of experience to accumulate readily in the locality; the Zhu family's bone-setting practice has also been maintained in the form of family and clinic inheritance, without interruption.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
The reduction manipulations of the Zhu family's bone-setting technique are simple and characterized by being 'steady, accurate, light, and quick,' such as the manual reduction of distal radius fractures and humeral condyle fractures; some reduction techniques are its own creations, such as the 'reverse reduction method for shoulder dislocation,' the 'rotational fixed-point reduction method for cervical spine injuries,' and 'manual reduction with continuous traction and fixation for fifth metacarpal neck fractures.' The Zhu family's bone-setting technique emphasizes holistic treatment, attaching equal importance to sinews and bones. Periarticular functional exercise begins immediately after fracture reduction, characterized by simple methods, relatively little pain, and notable efficacy. The Zhu family's bone-setting practice uses 56 kinds of raw medicinal materials, some of which continue to be processed by traditional methods. Its five formulated medicines are administered through three routes: oral, external application, and external washing. Medication is applied in three stages. In the early stage, 'Jingu Zhitong Ding' (Sinew-and-Bone Pain-Relief Tincture) and 'Dieda Huoxue San' (Trauma Blood-Invigorating Powder) are used to move qi and invigorate blood, reduce swelling, and relieve pain; in the middle stage, 'Shangke Jiegu Jiaonang' (Orthopedic Bone-Setting Capsules) are taken orally to remove stasis, relieve pain, and reconnect sinews and bones; in the late stage, an 'external washing agent' is used to tonify the liver and kidneys and to relax the sinews and activate the collaterals. The self-prepared 'Jieqi Huoxue Tie' (Blood-Activating Patch) and 'Lixue Wangbi Wan' (Blood-Regulating Rheumatism Pills) are used to treat chronic pain of the cervical and lumbar spine. The combined use of bone-setting manipulations and ancestral medicines produces notable efficacy. The Zhu family's bone-setting technique has absorbed the bone-setting experience of the Guanzhong and southern Shaanxi regions and represents a summation of Shaanxi's folk bone-setting therapies; some of its original manipulations and its series of Chinese medicines have enriched the methods of traditional Chinese orthopedics, giving it important historical, cultural, and clinical practical value.
Closed reduction of distal radius fracture
The commonest wrist fracture is usually corrected without instruments, the four fingers and heel of the hand drawing the fragments back into place in one decisive move.
Reverse reduction of shoulder dislocation
A family-specific technique that turns the displaced humeral head against the pull of the muscles rather than with it, reducing the force the injured tissue has to resist.
Rotational reduction of the cervical spine
A small-amplitude, well-localized rotation used to realign cervical vertebrae, a technically demanding maneuver reserved for practised hands.
Three-stage medication for fractures
Early stage uses linjiu pain tincture and dieda huoxue powder; the middle stage relies on the bone-knitting capsule; the late stage switches to a washing decoction that tonifies liver and kidney.
Jieqi huoxue plaster and Lixue jiebi pills
A proprietary plaster for local blood circulation and a pill aimed at chronic cervical and lumbar pain, the two taking different roles in the same regimen.
Sustained traction for fifth metacarpal neck fracture
Because a small bone of the hand is hard to hold after reduction, sustained traction and fixation are used so that alignment is kept without costing later hand function.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The Zhu family's bone-setting technique is distributed in Fuping County, Shaanxi Province. It is a school of bone-setting formed by the Zhu family through inheriting and absorbing folk traditional bone-setting culture, and through long-term exploration, practice, and summation.
Other submitting regions for the same item: TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy · TCM Bone-setting Therapy.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
The Zhu family's bone-setting technique embodies the values and characteristics of 'simplicity, convenience, proven efficacy, and low cost' in traditional medical culture, reducing the financial burden on patients.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Guo Weihuai 01-0212
- Sun Shuchun 01-0213
- Shi Qi 01-0214
- Liu Gang 03-1446
- Luo Jindian 03-1447
- Shi Yangshan 03-1448
- Guo Yanjin 03-1449
- Wu Chengmou 04-1945
- Zhang Yuzhu 04-1946
- Luo Sulan 05-2951
- Su Jicheng 05-2952
- Shi Yinyu 05-2953
- Zhang Yanyou 05-2954
- Guo Yanxing 05-2955
- Liao Huaizhang 05-2956
- Li Feiyue
- Zhan Hongsheng
- Lin Zishun
- Zhu Liguo
- Li Tao
- Zhang Yunzhi
- Guo Jiayi
- Zhu Huaiyu
- Xu Zesan
- Zhu Long
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回 英文名录。