Yao Customs
01 · Historical Records
Yaowang (Medicine King) fairs are a type of traditional temple fair, and they appeared as early as the Tang dynasty. In the eighth year of the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty (1375), the temple fair received official recognition and support, trade in medicinal materials gradually became its main content, and the temple fair thus transformed into a medicine fair. In the fifty-seventh year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing dynasty (1718), medicine merchants from various places who came to Huixian County donated funds to build the Medicine King Temple and held a Medicine King temple fair every first lunar month; the Baiquan Medicine Fair thus gradually developed into one of the three great medicinal-material trade fairs of the country.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Medicine markets are periodic trading fairs held at long-established centers for the collection and distribution of Chinese medicinal materials. More than 110 such collection and distribution centers formed over successive dynasties; among them, the ones with broad influence nationwide, complete functions in gathering, cultivation, processing, and use, large distribution volumes, and brisk trade are Anguo, Zhangshu, Baiquan, and Yucheng, known as the 'Four Great Medicine Markets.' The famous physician Sun Simiao is the patron deity of the traditional Chinese medicine trade, revered as the 'Medicine King' (Yaowang). Temple fairs centered on the worship of the Medicine King are called 'Medicine King Fairs' (Yaowanghui); most well-known medicine markets developed out of Medicine King Fairs, while others originated in plain market trade in medicinal materials. Apart from trading in medicinal materials, each medicine market developed its own folk customs - trading rules, sacrificial rites, opera performances, and entertainments - drawing participation and spectatorship from the general public beyond the traders themselves and making the medicine market an influential local venue for popular gatherings. The Baiquan Medicine Fair is held at Baiquan, one kilometer northwest of Huixian City, Henan Province. It originated in the worship of the River God at the Weiyuan Temple in the fourth year of the Daye reign of the Sui dynasty (608); by the time of Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the scale of the ceremonies had further expanded, and barter and trade were gradually added. Because the Taihang Mountains region is rich in medicinal materials, trade in medicinal materials became an important activity of the temple fair. Alongside the exchange of medicinal materials, the temple fair features distinctive ceremonies worshiping the Medicine King; among them, local folk activities such as 'releasing water ducks' and 'floating river lanterns' have considerable influence in the area.
The river-god rite at the Weiyuan temple
The fair's origin lies in a river-god sacrifice first performed in the Sui dynasty.
The medicine-king temple fair of the first month
After the temple was built by merchant donations, the fair settled on the first lunar month.
Setting the ducks on the water
An old river rite performed with the fair, setting ducks adrift to pray for the year's yield.
Floating the river lanterns
Lanterns drift downstream, extending the sacrificial atmosphere across the water.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In addition, other famous physicians in history have been revered as the 'Medicine King' in particular regions.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Anguoyao · Yao Customs · Yao Customs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In recent years, due to the rapid development of science and technology, increasingly convenient transport and communications, and the impact of Western medicine and pharmaceuticals, traditional Chinese medicine culture and local folk culture have been declining, and the Baiquan Medicine Fair has consequently fallen into a crisis of survival that urgently calls for protection. What makes the Baiquan Medicine Fair special is that it puts one river to two uses: when the spring floods rise, releasing water ducks and setting river lanterns adrift are age-old village rites, while inside the temple gate lie the purchase and onward shipment of medicinal materials, with the various drugs produced in the Taihang Mountains inspected and priced on this very occasion. The official recognition and support of the eighth year of Hongwu in the Ming dynasty shifted the focus of the temple fair from purely devotional worship to substantive trade; in the fifty-seventh year of Kangxi in the Qing dynasty, medicine merchants from various places donated funds to build the Medicine King Temple, fixing in place both the patron deity of the trade and the merchants' investment, and also locking the timing of the fair to the first month of every lunar year. In recent years, scientific and technological development and convenient transport and communications, together with changes in the medical landscape, have dealt blows to both the traditional trading methods and local folk culture; the fair has to cope with the supply pressure brought by the growing number of practitioners who practice medicine away from home and the gradual depletion of wild resources. How to preserve, alongside the new ways of seeking medical care, this seasonal chain entangled with religious custom, trade, and old river-borne rites is the practical problem this tradition leaves for the present day.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Zhu Qingshan 05-2998
- Zhu Youzhou
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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