Uyghur Medicine
01 · Historical Records
Whether derived from plants, animals, or minerals, most Uyghur medicinal materials have adverse reactions such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and headache.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Uyghur medicine is the traditional medicine of the Uyghur people. Built on the accumulation and development of the medicine of its own people and drawing on the essence of medical cultures of different regions and ethnic groups in the East and West, it has formed a traditional medical system with distinctive Uyghur characteristics. Uyghur medical science is a traditional medicine based on doctrines such as the erkang (four elements) theory, the mijazi (temperament) theory, and the heliti (humors) theory, mainly comprising a whole set of principles for diagnosing and treating disease, therapeutic techniques, and methods of medication — treatment by syndrome differentiation, addressing the individual as a whole and the symptoms in particular. The traditional concoctive preparation technique of Uyghur medicine (weiyao) is a technology of variously processing Uyghur medicinal materials according to the foundational theories of Uyghur medicine and the needs of medical treatment, compounding, preparation, and storage. To correct the adverse reactions of medicinal materials and improve efficacy, concoctive preparation adjusts the nature of the drug, reduces toxicity, and enhances efficacy, so as to meet the requirements of medicine-making; only after processing and concoctive preparation can they be applied. Uyghur medicine's concoctive preparation methods include more than twenty kinds — purification and selection, cutting, drying, stir-frying, detoxification, the kuxitai method, roasting, steam distillation, juice extraction, oil extraction, flotation and settling, paste extraction, and grinding, among others. The preparation processes range from simple to complex, with strict operating procedures.
Cleaning and cutting
Cleaning removes impurities and cutting divides the drug into slices or segments, the first stage that makes later heating even.
Drying and frying
Drying removes moisture for storage while frying alters the drug under heat and releases its aroma.
Detoxifying processing
Detoxifying processing curbs the nausea, vomiting, purging and headache that many Uighur drugs would otherwise cause.
The Kusitai fire-processing method
Kusitai is the fire-processing family of Uighur pharmacy, covering clay-wrapped, pot, smoke-sublimation and distillation methods.
Roasting, water distillation and extracting juice or oil
Beyond roasting are distillation, juice and oil extraction, floatation, paste extraction and grinding, among more than twenty methods in all.
Aibibula Yusupu and thirty-plus techniques
Born in Hotan in 1942, Aibibula Yusupu mastered over thirty traditional processing techniques and paste manufacture.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
The traditional concoctive preparation technique of Uyghur medicine covers Xinjiang, with Hotan Prefecture an important branch: after Abibula Yusufu was transferred to the Uyghur Medical Hospital of Hotan Prefecture in 1975, he studied Uyghur medical treatment experience and traditional pharmaceutical technique from renowned Uyghur medical experts such as Abduleyimiti Yusupu Aji and Aimaiti Aji; over fifty years he mastered more than thirty traditional concoctive preparation techniques — stir-frying, soaking, steeping, roasting or baking, sun-drying, and cutting — as well as the processing of traditional paste-type preparations. This project is now under the protection of the Xinjiang Uyghur Medical College, whose teaching system continues the clinical experience of hospitals and research institutes, allowing preparation standards to be preserved through the curriculum. Its theoretical foundation lies in the erkang (four elements) theory, the mijazi (temperament) theory, and the heliti (humors) theory. Whether derived from plants, animals, or minerals, most Uyghur medicinal materials have adverse reactions such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and headache, so concoctive preparation is not an optional processing step but a precondition for medication.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Uyghur Medicine · Uyghur Medicine · Uyghur Medicine · Uyghur Medicine · Uyghur Medicine.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
Abibula Yusufu (per the official file of the associated inheritor): Representative inheritor of Uyghur medicine (traditional concoctive preparation technique of Uyghur medicine), an intangible cultural heritage project of the fourth national-level batch. After being transferred to the Uyghur Medical Hospital of Hotan Prefecture in 1975, he studied Uyghur medical treatment experience and traditional pharmaceutical technique from renowned Uyghur medical experts such as Abduleyimiti Yusupu Aji and Aimaiti Aji. In more than fifty years of Uyghur medical practice, he mainly transmitted traditional concoctive preparation and pharmaceutical techniques, mastering more than thirty traditional Uyghur medical preparation techniques — stir-frying, soaking, steeping, roasting or baking, sun-drying, and cutting — as well as the processing of traditional Uyghur medical paste preparations. Male, Uyghur ethnicity, born in March 1942, died in November 2013, a native of Hotan City, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Abudouwubuer Aji 04-1954
- Aibibula Yusufu 04-1955
- Abudoukelimu Abudouremu 05-2966
- Wusiman Yasheng
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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