Traditional TCM Culture
01 · Historical Records
Tongjitang was founded in the fourteenth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1888). Over the course of more than one hundred years, there took shape: Tongjitang was founded in the fourteenth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1888).
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. Over the course of more than one hundred years, Tongjitang developed a strict quality-management system, business philosophy and methods, and a distinctive culture of quality and integrity. Tongjitang's traditional medical culture is embodied above all in the values of "working together with one heart to aid the people"; the quality view that "purchased drugs must be genuine products of their place of origin, production must be meticulous, and dispensing must follow established standards"; the business philosophy of "genuine goods at fair prices" and "no deception of the old or the young"; the professional ethics of "aiding the living and saving people, treating others' urgency as one's own, winning through quality, and earning trust through service"; the Tongjitang brand and its distinctive marks; and Tongjitang's traditional techniques for processing Chinese materia medica. The medical character of Tongjitang lies in the integration of traditional Chinese medicine with the medicine of the ethnic minorities and folk medicine.
Buy only from the proper source
Buy from the proper source, make with care, sell by rule—a standard laid down and kept in the minority regions where the house worked.
Traditional processing at Tongjitang
Over more than a century the house built a system of quality control and an ethos of honesty, its processing adapted to the mountain regions where it traded.
Honest goods at honest prices
Honest goods at honest prices, the same to young and old, and a duty to relieve distress before counting the cost—the shop's most durable advertisement.
Where Chinese and folk medicine meet
The house's character lies in the meeting of mainstream Chinese medicine with local folk practice, giving its prescriptions a regional colour.
A century-old house
Founded in 1888, the house spent a century refining its rules—though modern culture has left traditional pharmacy in general, and this house with it, in difficulty.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
While upholding and carrying forward the traditional medical culture of the motherland in remote areas inhabited by ethnic minorities, Tongjitang absorbed the rich medical essence of the local ethnic minorities, forming a distinctive style of traditional medicine of its own. Tongjitang's approach bears the temper of the Guizhou mountains: its drugs come from the local land and travel long roads, so every medicinal material entering the factory must first be verified as a genuine product of its place of origin, and every finished medicine leaving must first conform to established standards; after more than a hundred years, these rules have instead become a reference point for other pharmacies in the remote regions inhabited by ethnic minorities.
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
However, under the influence of modern Western culture, traditional medicine faces difficulties, and Tongjitang's traditional medical culture is no exception; it urgently needs the support and protection of society.
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)
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。