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. During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, trading activities in Chinese medicinal materials already appeared in Yuzhou, Henan; by the Hongwu reign of the Ming dynasty, such trade had reached a considerable scale, and Yuzhou thereby became one of the larger medicine markets in the country. During the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, with official encouragement, the Yuzhou medicine trade fair expanded further in scale; medicine merchants from all over the country arrived in guild-organized groups, establishing medicine firms and inns in Yuzhou, and four major markets took shape: crude medicinal materials, prepared slices (yinpian), pills and powders, and mountain products. By 1949, Yuzhou had 18 medicine shops (yaozhuang), 41 medicine firms (yaohang), 65 medicine stalls (yaopeng), and 22 traditional Chinese medicine halls, with 1,487 people employed, organized into more than twenty trade guilds. Taking the 2004 Yuzhou Medicine Fair as an example, 450 medicine merchants participated, with an annual transaction volume of 1 billion yuan.
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 various medicine guilds also established many guild halls, among which the better-known ones are the Shanxi Guild Hall, the Huaibang Guild Hall, the Jiangxi Guild Hall, and the Shisanbang (Thirteen Guilds) Guild Hall. The Yuzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Trade Fair is one of the six specialized markets for Chinese medicinal materials nationwide approved by the Ministry of Health, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Drug houses, inns and the four great markets
Merchant guilds built houses and inns, dividing the trade into four distinct markets.
The Shanxi and Huai guild halls
Guild halls built by merchants from different provinces served as rule-making and price-setting bodies.
Restoring the nine-steam nine-sun processing
Long-lost nine-steam processing techniques were revived, producing nine-steam rehmannia and he-shou-wu.
Inspecting the herbs before the market opens
Before trading opens, dealers grade the herbs by quality, origin and dryness before pricing.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
In addition, other famous physicians in history have been revered as the 'Medicine King' in particular regions. From this time on, Yuzhou developed a fairly complete system for the operation and management of Chinese medicine with comprehensive market categories, and on this basis a distinctive local merchant culture of the medicine trade took shape. The medicine market of Yuzhou rose through the formation of guilds: merchants from various routes established trade offices and stalls as soon as they arrived, gradually forming four major markets - crude medicinal materials, prepared slices, pills and powders, and mountain products. Guild halls such as the Shanxi Guild Hall, the Huaibang Guild Hall, the Jiangxi Guild Hall, and the Shisanbang Guild Hall stand as material evidence of this structure. By 1949, the city had 18 medicine shops, 41 medicine firms, 65 medicine stalls, and 22 traditional Chinese medicine halls, with 1,487 practitioners organized into more than twenty trade guilds, so that market categories and management formed a system of their own. During the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, official encouragement expanded the scale another level; medicine merchants from all over the country arrived in guild-organized groups, pushing Yuzhou into the ranks of the larger medicine markets in the country. From the Republican era through the early years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, trading methods changed several times, and between 1990 and 2006 industry organizations such as trade associations once again took up the role of leadership. Today's Yuzhou Medicine Trade Fair has been approved by the relevant state authorities as one of the six specialized markets for Chinese medicinal materials nationwide; once the fair opens, the old rules of medicine merchants from north and south are still followed on this new stage.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Anguoyao · Yao Customs · Yao Customs.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
In recent years, due to changes in the methods of medical trade and the spread of informatization, networking, and e-commerce, the traditional trading methods of the Yuzhou Medicine Fair have come under great impact; it is hoped that the relevant authorities will take concrete measures to provide the necessary protection for this long-established traditional medicine fair. Zhu Qingshan (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): From 1946 he worked as an apprentice and then shop assistant at the Yuanfengxiang medicine stall in Chengguan, Yuxian, and later worked in turn at the Yuxian Pharmaceutical Company, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Wholesale Department, and the Yuzhou Medicinal Materials Company. From 1990 to 2006 he served as president of the Yuzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Trade Association, dedicating himself to promoting and passing on the Yuzhou Medicine Fair and the traditional techniques of processing Chinese medicinal materials. Based on the nine-steamings-and-nine-dryings method of Sun Simiao, the Medicine King, as transmitted in Yuzhou, he restored the processing techniques for the 'four great nine-steamed products' that had long been lost in Yuzhou, and developed products such as nine-times-steamed-and-nine-times-sunned prepared rehmannia (shudihuang) and nine-times-steamed-and-nine-times-sunned fleece-flower root (heshouwu), which have had wide influence locally; he is hailed as a living dictionary of the Yuzhou Medicine Fair. He has actively passed on the folk customs of the Yuzhou medicine market and the techniques of processing Chinese medicinal materials, taking on several hundred apprentices. Male, Han ethnicity, born in June 1931, died in October 2020, a native of Yuzhou City, Henan Province. Representative inheritor of Medicine Market Customs (Yuzhou Medicine Fair), an item of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.
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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