Traditional Chinese medicine mainly comes from natural medicine and some processed products, including medicines made of plants, animals, minerals and some chemical and biological substances. And the majority are made of plants.
When it comes to traditional Chinese medicine, perhaps the first thing that comes to people’s minds is the old Chinese pharmacies in the old streets. Usually there were a wall made of medicine boxes, each box containing one medicinal material. After hearing your symptoms, the doctor would choose several medicinal materials from the medicine box wall, weight them until the portion was right. Foshan is one of the birthplaces of Lingnan patent medicine. Various medicine brands became part of the important carriers of Foshan's culture and memory. The long-standing Chinese medicine culture has long penetrated into the bones of Foshan people.
In the period of Ming and Qing Dynasties, Foshan was one of the Four Famous Towns in China. The names of the patent medicine industry had sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, with classic brands emerging one by one. In the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, there were thousands of practitioners in the patent medicine industry. There were more than a hundred pharmacy brands with more than a thousand products.
For hundreds of years, the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine in Foshan has never stopped. Foshan has been the home to a large number of time-honored brands. The following are some the old brands of Foshan Chinese patent medicine. Have you heard of any of them?
Founder: Liang Zhonghong
Founding time: Wanli period in Ming Dynasty
Original address: Zaoshi Street (now No.178 Fuxian Road)
Main products: Baolong ointment, Baolong pills
Liang Zhonghong Wax Pill Pharmacy was the earliest Chinese patent medicine in Lingnan and the originator of Chinese patent medicine. Wax pill refers to the pills stored in the small balls made of wax. People in the old days used wax to seal the traditional Chinese medicine pills wax could help prevent moisture and also prevent insects and mildew.
Baolong pills, first made by them, which were a special medicine for children with abdominal pain and vomiting, were very popular. Later, Liang Zhonghong Wax Pills Pharmacy was merged into Foshan Fengliaoxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. To this day, Foshan Fengliaoxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is still producing Baolong pills.
Founder: Feng Bingyang (Father of Feng Liaoxing)
Founding time: Wanli period in Ming Dynasty
Original address: Fenning Road area (now No. 11 Fenning Road)
Main products: Dieda ointment (for bruises), rheumatism medicine
Speaking of the 400-year-old Foshan Medicine King Feng Liao Xing, everyone in Foshan is familiar with this name, especially the older generations. Their most popular product, Feng Liaoxing rheumatism and bruises medicinal liquor has been effective in treating rheumatic bone pain, numbness of hands and feet, soreness and weakness of limbs, lumbago and leg pain, as well as injuries caused by falls and bruises. You could find it in the medicine kit of almost every family. The product was not only well-known among senior Foshan citizens, but also got exported to America and Southeast Asian countries. During the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, the annual export volume of medicinal liquor from Foshan reached 200,000 taels of silver.
Founder: Huang Heng'an
Founding time: Tianqi period of Ming Dynasty
Original address: Zouma Road (now called Funing Road)
Main product: Wujin pills
During the Tianqi Period in Ming Dynasty, Huang Heng'an from Shunde County set up a clinic in Foshan. He summarized clinical experience and devoted his attention to studying prescriptions and successively developed a variety of wax pills. In 1627, Huang Heng'an Wax Pill Pharmacy was founded. Their most popular product was Wujin pills, which were mainly taken to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis.
Founder: Huang Zhaoxiang
Founding time: the 10th year of Xianfeng Period in Qing Dynasty
Original address: Wenming Li
Main Product: Ruyi Medicinal Oil
Huang Xiang Hua’s Ruyi Medicinal Oil had a good effect on seasonal colds, gastrointestinal discomfort, coughs and children’s abdominal pain. It also worked well on burns, stab wounds and mosquito stings. During the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, the statesman, Li Hongzhang's beloved concubine was cured after the treatment using the medicinal oil, the reputation of Ruyi Oil got spread and the sales of Ruyi Oil soared. Huang's family became the richest men in Foshan. He opened branches in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing, and then took root in Hong Kong.
In May 1998, the Foshan Municipal Government listed its Medicinal as a cultural relic protection unit in Foshan. In 2012, the ancestral pharmacy reopened in Lingnan Tiandi, Chancheng District, under the name of Huang Xianghua Yangsheng Tang (meaning health house). In addition to selling traditional Ruyi oil, it also sells catering products such as herbal tea, stew soup, and steamed rice.
Founder: Liang Caixin
Founding time: Jiaqing period in the middle of Qing Dynasty
Original address: Lanshi market, suburb of Foshan
Main products: Medicinal liquor, pills and ointment for bruises and injuries
From the beginning of the 19th century to the end of the Republic of China, the lines waiting to get in a clinic in Lanshi, Foshan never ended. Many orthopedic patients both from nearby regions and outside the province would come to seek medical treatment. The famous Liang Cai Xin Clinic had spread its name far, and its best selling product, Liang Caixin Dieda Pills are still popular today. They are now produced by Fengliaoxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and has been recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
Founder: Ma Bailiang
Founding time: during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty
Original address: first in Chaoyang Street, later it was moved to Douchi Lane
Main products: Qili powder, Yanshe powder, Tongling powder, Xiongdan pills
Ma Bailiang's Qili powder is considered a magic medicine for children, which is mainly for children with convulsions and expectoration. Today, the Qili powder produced by Foshan Fengliaoxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. still uses Ma's prescription.
Founder: Li Zhaoji
Founding time: during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty
Original Address: 18 Zumiao Street
Main products: Baoji pills, Baohe tea, Shengbao oil
Of all the medicines made by Li Zhongsheng Pharmacy, Baoji pills was the most famous. It was mainly for summer heat and colds, and symptoms include fever, headache, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, gastrointestinal discomfort; also used for carsickness and seasickness. The pills’ reputation got spread throughout the country and it was also well-known overseas. Up to these days, Baoji pills are still popular both at home and abroad. In addition to selling well in Hong Kong and Macau, they are also popular in Southeast Asia. Foshan Fengliaoxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is making Baoji pills and the output continues to increase.
Founder: Yuan Jisun
Founding time: during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty
Original address: Longju Street, Fenshui Shop, Foshan (now Nanqing Street)
Main products: Ganhe tea, Huichun powder, Smoking Cessation pills, Yatong water (for toothache), Dutong water (for abdominal pain)
Yuan Ji Lin Ganhe Tea, commonly known as Box Tea (it was packed into a small paper box), was a famous Chinese patent medicine in Foshan which was under the herbal tea catalogue. It was used for colds, fever, headache, joint pain, food stagnation and fullness, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. According to the Records of Foshan Pharmaceutical Industry, in 1898, in the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1898), the spread of influenza occurred in the central and northern part of Guangdong Province. The Yuan Family mobilized all forces to give out the medicine (herbal tea) for free, promoting the efficacy of the tea. After people tried the tea, it had got very positive feedback and the reputation began to grow. Up to this day, there are still sales outlets of Yuan Ji Lin Ganhe Tea in Southeast Asia.
Founder: Wu Man
Founding time: eleventh year of Guangxu Period in Qing Dynasty
Original address: Xinji Zhengzhongyue, Guangzhou
Main product: Sanshedan Nanxingmo
Wu Man was known as Man the Snake King. In the 1920s, Wu Man set up a pharmacy in Fenliu Street, Foshan. He added the gall bladders of cobra, krait, ptyas korros into medicine. Snack gall bladders could be used as antipyretic and antispasmodic. They could also used for children pneumonia, pertussis, bronchitis, cough, acute rheumatic arthritis etc. He also provided pharmaceutical raw materials for other pharmacies. In the 1970s, the medicinal products created by Man were put under the Foshan No. 1 Pharmaceutical Factory (the predecessor of Foshan Fengliaoxing Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.). The remarkable curative effect helps the medicines stay popular till today.
For hundreds of years, the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine in Foshan has never stopped. In recent years, the traditional Chinese medicine industry in Foshan has maintained growth, with a total output value of more than 10 billion yuan.
Recently heated discussions about the effectiveness of Chinese medicine have been brought up. Questions have been raised including “does it really work”, “Which is better for curing diseases, Chinese medicine or Western medicine”. With the popularization of higher education, people began to have doubts because some traditional Chinese terms such as “inner heat” “inner wind” cannot be explained by science. It looks like a debate between tradition and science. The discussions still continue on the Internet as the winner has not yet been determined. Anyway, we need to look at a matter objectively and rationally. No matter what methods you use to get better when you are sick, do more excises at usual times, keep an open mind and stay happy. That is one good way to stay healthy for sure!
