Miao Medicine
01 · Historical Records
The therapy of stuffing medicine into a pig's heart has no written formula texts; it was finalized through the fifty-odd years of medical observation and clinical practice of the Miao physician Long Yunian. He regarded epilepsy as a kind of short, recurrent episode in which, owing to various congenital or acquired causes, the movement of qi and blood and of the channels and collaterals is obstructed and cardiac function is impaired, affecting the brain; on this basis he established the two-pronged approach of using a pig's heart as the medicinal guide and herbs as the internal medicine. Using the pig's heart as the guide is consistent with the same principle emphasized in Miao treatment of bone injuries and snakebites — that the viscera and the channels and collaterals are interconnected — and for this reason it could become a fixed family-inherited secret formula in the Miao countryside of Xiangxi.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Stuffing medicine into a pig's heart is a folk Miao therapy for epilepsy. The Miao physician Long Yunian had more than fifty years of practice in treating epilepsy; through long-term observation and clinical practice, he held that epilepsy is a short-duration disturbance, occurring at regular or irregular intervals, that is caused by various congenital or acquired factors: the flow of qi and blood and the state of the channels and collaterals, as well as cardiac function, are affected, leading to abnormal brain function, irritability, and general discomfort, and thus bringing on attacks. After the patient is diagnosed with epilepsy, two medicines are prepared according to the ancestral prescription: the first is the medicinal guide (a pig's heart), and the second is the internal medicine (herbs). Select the heart of a healthy boar (the pig should weigh around 75 kg). Divide the prepared medicine into two equal portions and stuff them respectively into the principal blood vessels (arteries and veins) of the pig's heart, tying them tightly with hemp thread. Boil it plainly in water, then remove it from the pot and drain it. Divide the boiled heart and broth into four equal portions; the patient takes one portion in the morning and one in the afternoon each day, finishing two portions per day and all of it within two days. The pig's heart has the function of tonifying the human heart. It can also conduct the various medicines to all parts of the human body, and, together with the auxiliary internal medicine, achieves the goal of unblocking the channels and collaterals and smoothing the flow of qi and blood. The pig's-heart medicine-stuffing therapy for epilepsy is the family-inherited secret formula of the famous Miao physician Long Yunian; its efficacy is remarkable, with a cure rate above 90 percent.
Preparing drug-guide and internal remedy
Two things are prepared after diagnosis, a pig heart as drug guide and a herbal decoction taken internally.
Choosing the pig heart
A healthy male pig of about seventy-five kilograms supplies the heart, large enough to hold the divided doses.
Filling the great vessels
The dose is halved and poured into the great arteries and veins of the heart, then tied tight with hemp thread.
Boiling and draining
The filled heart is plainly boiled, lifted out and drained, the cooking time deciding how far the medicine enters.
Four portions over two days
The cooked heart and broth are divided into four portions, one morning and evening, finished within two days.
Thirty-six syndromes and seventy-two ailments
Long clinical practice organised epilepsy into thirty-six syndromes and seventy-two ailments, each with its own remedy.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Miao medicine (epilepsy therapy) takes Fenghuang County in Hunan Province as its core heritage area; historically its service range also extended to the counties and cities of Jishou, Huayuan, and Songtao on the Hunan-Guizhou border, and it belongs to the shared experience of the Miao settlement area of Xiangxi. Transmission is centered on the Long family line: Long Yunian served as a Miao physician at the health center of Liubao Township (Tuopai Commune) from 1953 to 1962, and thereafter practiced independently until his death, taking on more than twenty disciples; Long Yuchang and Long Yushan are already the fifteenth-generation inheritors of the Long family medical art. In treatment, one first distinguishes the thirty-six symptoms and seventy-two ailments, and then selects a single herb, an empirical formula, or a pattern-based combined prescription according to the symptom.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Miao Medicine · Miao Medicine · Miao Medicine · Miao Medicine.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Long Yunian (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): After long-term accumulation in clinical treatment, he classified diseases into the thirty-six symptoms and seventy-two ailments, prescribing medicines according to the symptoms, with diverse methods. From 1953 to 1962 he served as a Miao physician at the health center of Liubao Township (Tuopai Commune), and later practiced independently until his death; he always upheld the service creed of 'healing the wounded and rescuing the dying, treating the sick and saving the people.' His service area centered mainly on Fenghuang, Jishou, Huayuan, Songtao, and other counties and cities; in treating disease he made no distinction between high and low status or between close and distant kin, and he was patient and careful, with unique accomplishments in the treatment of common diseases and difficult cases. Male, of Miao ethnicity, born in November 1935 and deceased in August 2016, from Fenghuang County, Hunan Province. He is a representative inheritor of Miao medicine (epilepsy therapy), a national-level intangible cultural heritage item of the fourth batch. He was also an important inheritor of Miao medical skills, taking on more than twenty disciples, among whom Long Yuchang and Long Yushan are already the fifteenth-generation inheritors of the Long family medical art.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Long Yunian 04-1950
- Tian Xingxiu 05-2963
- Wang Zengshi 05-2964
- Long Xinchen
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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