Traditional TCM Culture
01 · Historical Records
As a "time-honored Chinese brand," Chenliji is one of the earliest pharmaceutical enterprises established in China; in the words of the saying, "in the north there is Tongrentang, in the east Hu Qingyutang, and in the south Chenliji" — Chenliji was one of the three great Chinese medicine brands of the late Qing dynasty.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Traditional Chinese medicine is the study of human life and of human health that took shape in ancient Chinese society; it is not a simple accumulation of prescriptions, drugs, individual techniques, and tricks, but a body of knowledge concerning human life and health. This body of knowledge has a profound traditional cultural background. With its distinctive philosophical thinking, systematic foundational theories, rich scientific content, and distinct humanistic character, it stands tall in the forest of world medicine. It is both one of the living forms of traditional Chinese culture and a vast space for the further development of that culture. For example, the way of nourishing life through tranquility and authenticity, the therapeutic principles of harmony, balance, and the golden mean, the conception of life grounded in inner serenity, the criterion of the medical way that puts people first, and the professional norm of honesty and good faith — all of these run through every aspect of the theory and practice of Chinese medicine. They have become the soul of all its figures, writings, artifacts, and undertakings, and also the fine tradition and professional dedication that today's Chinese medicine enterprises and institutions are proud to carry forward. The core of Chenliji's culture of Chinese medicine is the cultural tradition of "good faith as the foundation, working together with one heart to aid the world." Chenliji was founded with joint investment by a merchant surnamed Chen and a physician surnamed Li; taking one character from each surname, Chen and Li, it signified perpetual cooperation and joint service to the world. In keeping with the principle that "however complex the craft, its labor shall never be reduced; however many the ingredients, their quality shall never be diminished," Chenliji pursued the finest workmanship in its pharmaceuticals and required that only the finest materials be selected. For several centuries Chenliji maintained the rule that anyone passing by its shop who fainted or was injured must be given medicine and rescued. Chenliji successfully blended beeswax with wood wax to produce a wax shell neither too soft nor too hard for wrapping pills, bringing a great innovation to the field of pharmaceutical preparation. When it first began making wax pills, Chenliji also created a distinctive method of storing aged tangerine peel (chenpi). The reason Chenliji could stand alongside the two great pharmacies of north and south in the late Qing lay not in the age of its name but in preserving several things that others saved effort on: the pill shell had to be neither too soft nor too hard, the pills had to withstand storage, and anyone collapsing in front of the shop had to be rescued first. None of these three was written on the prescriptions, yet they were harder to imitate than the prescriptions themselves.
Wax shell from beeswax and wood wax
Beeswax and wood wax were blended into a shell neither soft nor hard, to enclose the pills—a reform in pharmaceutical packaging.
Storing pills with dried tangerine peel
From its earliest wax pills the house kept them alongside dried tangerine peel, which draws off damp and slows the medicine's action.
United in helping the sick
A merchant named Chen and a physician named Li founded the house together, each giving one character of the name to pledge their cooperation.
Never to spare the work
Never to spare effort for complicated work and never to reduce the materials, the house demanded the finest selection—an oath paralleled by that of the northern houses.
Medicine given at the door
For centuries the house ordained that anyone who collapsed or was hurt at its door would be given medicine, making the counter a place of rescue as well as trade.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Chenliji is a mainstay of the Lingnan pharmaceutical trade, ranked alongside Beijing's Tongrentang and Hangzhou's Hu Qingyutang — as the saying goes, "in the north there is Tongrentang, in the east Hu Qingyutang, and in the south Chenliji." Based in Guangzhou, it developed its own distinct approaches to material selection, honey pills, wax shells, and the storage of aged tangerine peel, occupying the southern seat among the three great Chinese medicine brands of the late Qing and becoming one of the first choices of the Cantonese people in their daily selection of medicines.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Traditional TCM Culture · Traditional TCM Culture · Traditional TCM Culture · Traditional TCM Culture · Traditional TCM Culture · Traditional TCM Culture · Traditional TCM Culture · Traditional TCM Culture.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Today, after the passage of many years and under the impact of Western medicine and pharmaceuticals, the transmission of Chenliji's culture of Chinese medicine has been affected.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Quyuxiang 03-1461
- Lei Yulin 04-1948
- Shentuyinhong
- Lu Qifu
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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