[Source: Hangzhou Daily] Reporter Ding Yijie Drawing Reporter Li Wei Text Photo provided by the interviewee Entering from the main entrance of Dajing Alley, passing through the winding corridor and crossing the small fish pond, the medicinal fragrance in the air becomes stronger

Reporter Ding Yijie Drawing

Reporter Li Wei Text Photo provided by the interviewee

Entering from the main entrance of Dajing Alley, passing through the winding corridor and crossing the small fish pond, the medicinal fragrance in the air is getting stronger and stronger. This is the Hu Qingyutang Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum, where Ding Guangming works daily.

Ding Guangming led me inside and muttered: "This used to be the first workshop, as well as the packaging group and warehouse. The crushing group where I first joined was opposite... It wasn't so hot in summer before. I worked from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. "In a daze, more than fifty years ago, the scene of people in the front hall seeing doctors and getting medicine, and pharmacists in the back hall busy making medicines appeared before my eyes.

The inscription "Abstain from Bullying" contains the scent of pills. Ding Guangming has been making handmade pills all his life, and has transformed from a fledgling to a pharmaceutical master with unique skills. He abides by Hu Qingyutang's ancestral motto of "preventing bullying", never shoddy quality, never cut corners, and always regards precise use of materials and exquisite craftsmanship as his duty.

In 2022, 72-year-old Ding Guangming won the honorary title of the 17th Hangzhou Moral Model (Civilian Hero). In February 2024, he received another honor - the national intangible inheritor of Hu Qingyutang Traditional Chinese Medicine.

God knows the truth

Making medicine is a matter of conscience

On June 21, 1966, 17-year-old Ding Guangming entered Hu Qingyutang, which was renamed Hangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory, and became an apprentice.

Three of the four siblings of the Ding family embarked on the road of hanging pots to help the world. "I have been a pharmacist all my life, my eldest sister has been working in the obstetrics and gynecology department, and my third brother is a gastroenterologist."

Hu Qingyutang's old rule is to start as an apprentice when learning a craft. Ding Guangming was assigned to the crushing workshop. In addition to powdering and extraction, I also do various chores, such as cleaning, tidying up, and delivering pills. The masters saw how these apprentices treated others and took it to heart.

A year later, Zhang Yonghao, the leader of the pill group, took a fancy to this down-to-earth young man. "The leader of our crushing team is still reluctant to leave me. But he also hopes that I can learn the real technology of making traditional Chinese medicine."

Hu Qingyutang Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum has a special plaque: not facing the outside, but facing the store, for its own employees Look. This is the "prevent bullying" plaque written by founder Hu Xueyan at the beginning of the business.

Niuhuang Qingxin Pills (prescription) contains donkey hide gelatin. Ding Guangming still remembers that once when his master was boiling donkey-hide gelatin, he ran away temporarily and asked him to help keep an eye on it.

"The glue needs to be stirred constantly, and the heat is also very important. The master is from Ningbo, and he speaks with a certain accent. I didn't hear it clearly." By the time the master came back, the medicine was already scorched. "Master spent his own money to prepare the medicine and boil it again. It was not ready until 8 o'clock in the evening."

Ding Guangming didn't understand. "Master said as he was going through it, Guangming, you have to do things according to your conscience and seek truth from facts, so that you can be worthy of others." Seeing Master's clothes soaked and his hands full of blisters, Ding Guangming was shocked for the first time.

"From then on, I have kept the word 'abstain from bullying' firmly in my heart. Especially when it comes to life, there is no room for any mistakes."

As the master teaches, so the disciple inherits. This story was later made into a short film and became the first lesson for new employees of Hu Qingyutang.

Accurate to the millimeter

The most difficult "Liushen Pill" was only passed to him

One day in 1968, Zhang Yonghao called Ding Guangming: "Starting today, you can learn Panwan." After two years, he finally waited until this point. At that moment, Ding Guangming officially entered the school under the plaque that read "Forbidden to Bully".

The honest and diligent Ding Guangming won praise from all sides. Not only Zhang Yonghao, but also two other senior masters of Hu Qingyutang's pills, Wang Lichuan from the fine ingredients group and Shen Guangyan from the aniseed ingredients group, were all vying to teach him how to make Pandan pills.

"Actually, before I officially learned Pan Wan, I couldn't help myself and started to 'steal from others'. Whenever I had free time during the day, I would watch the masters making Pan Wan and observe their steps and techniques. I would finish it at night. If you want to work, I will think about it myself and practice these movements several times."

There is a big world in Xiaofan Wan. Hand-made pills, from powder to small granules and then made into pills, need to go through five processes including molding, pan-making, screening, covering and shaping."The most difficult 'Liu Shen Pill', the master passed it on to me alone." Ding Guangming had a smile that couldn't be hidden in the corners of his eyes.

Liushen Pill is a treasure of Chinese medicine. In the pan-pill technique, Liushen Pills have the smallest particles and are the most difficult to make. They contain six medicinal materials such as musk, borneol, and bezoar. The diameter of the pills is about 1.5 mm. 1 kilogram of raw material can make 400,000 pills. The pills must not stick to each other and must be uniform. The weight deviation of 100 pills cannot exceed two pills.

"When I first started, a senior brother made the 'Liu Shen Pill' bigger, and was criticized by the Technology Department and the Drug Administration Department." Ding Guangming practiced hard day and night, and made the "Liu Shen Pill" exactly the same as his master. "I come home every day with backache and blisters on one hand. I open my eyes the next day, get up early, and go to the unit to continue practicing."

There are small and small complexities, and there are big difficulties. The "Ginseng Reconstituted Pills" with a diameter of more than 1 centimeter are a large recipe, consisting of more than 50 herbs. 1 kilogram can make more than 300 pills. "The amount of medicine used in each pill must be the same, the honey water must be taken in the same amount, and the strength must be the same." Ding Guangming said that he is the only one among many apprentices to inherit the "ginseng reconstituted pill" technique.

"At that time, Hu Qingyutang's business was good, and he made dozens of pills every month. I filled it all on the small blackboard, finished each one, and crossed out one." Ding Guangming still keeps a stack of yellowed pills A notebook that records professional knowledge such as medication ratios. He casually took out a book, and one page read: "Cizhuwan: On July 11, 1995, there was cracking this time... I always thought there was no problem beforehand, but the result was underestimation. It's old experience encountering new problems!" ”

Innovation in inheritance

Patients’ health always comes first

In 2009, Ding Guangming retired from the production line and sat in the museum of Hu Qingyu Hall in Dajing Lane. There is a patio, white walls and black tiles, as well as peony, ginkgo and osmanthus trees.

Today, he is the oldest master chef in Hu Qingyutang, and he is also the first one to arrive every day. It opened at 8 a.m., and he was in the workshop of handmade pan pills after 7 a.m. On the day of the interview, we happened to come across an intangible cultural heritage display of handmade pan pills. Ding Guangming put on a white coat and went into battle in high spirits.

For ordinary masters, the first step of starting a mold is like walking on thin ice. But for Ding Guangming, he has a good sense of propriety. His broom dipped in water evenly moistened the bamboo plaque, and the medicinal powder on the other end rotated and jumped in the plaque with the movement of his arm.

"My body now can't be compared with when I was young. At that time, I could do seven or eight hours a day." But in the eyes of others, every movement of Ding Guangming's hands is as fast as the wind, and he does not look like a 75-year-old man at all. Moulding, pan-making, screening, covering, shaping... step by step, to make round and uniform pills, you need to continuously add water, add powder, rotate and tumble. After going back and forth like this for a while, the initial powder will turn into pills of the same weight and uniform size. The pills rustled down the sieve holes, like rain hitting the plantains, one by one falling into the hearts of the bystanders.

Ding Guangming dug out an inconspicuous transparent jar from the wooden cabinet, which contained "Liushen Pills".

"I made this more than thirty years ago, but I can't do it anymore." The small "Liushen Pill" was shaking in his hand. It had lost its luster, but it was the most precious treasure of the old man.

In addition to generic pills, Ding Guangming also made fried pills, powders, and ointments. Pills, powders, ointments, and elixirs, the masters of each group are willing to leave the work to him.

Ding Guangming has a quick mind and is willing to spend time and energy to dig and dig. In the process of preparing and grinding "Liu Shen Pills", he explored a new process - grinding the six herbs separately and making pills, with the three flavors as the inner layer, which makes it less sticky and easier to make. He also innovated the needle crystal crushing operation method and optimized and reformed the Zhanyisan crushing process so that the particle size of the finished product could meet the national testing requirements. This operation method was named "Ding Guangming needle crystal crushing method" by the Hangzhou Federation of Trade Unions. He also came up with the method of wet-crushing ball-milled pearls using low-level ethanol to inhibit bacteria at room temperature, which solved the disadvantages of seasonal crushing of pearl powder.

Once, a Shanghai pharmacist came to Hu Qingyutang to ask why the Niuhuang Qingxin Pills he made always cracked. After asking about the production process in detail, Ding Guangming gave instructions - no matter how late it is, the pills must be made on the same day and not overnight. Otherwise, the degree of dryness on the inside and outside will be different and it will easily crack.

The disciples were puzzled as to why the master taught so much to outsiders. The master told the disciples, "'Big Shopkeeper' Hu Xueyan once said that if colleagues are not jealous, anything can be done. The patient's health is always the first priority, why should there be a distinction between winners and losers? Traditional Chinese medicine skills should not be divided into Hangzhou The pharmaceutical factory, or the pharmaceutical factory in Shanghai, allows more pharmacists to make pills with better quality and better effects, which truly considers customers and serves patients.”

With the advent of machine-made medicine, hand-made medicine has grown rapidly. shrink. Ding Guangming believes that "machines are always tools, and handwork is the foundation."

"Extra small pills and medicinal materials that are difficult to mold must still be made by hand. The temperature of the hands is still different from that of the machine."

There is a newcomer in this generation

Three generations of apprentices can now stand on their own

"My My wish is to take on more apprentices until I can’t do anything anymore.”

Ding Guangming started taking on apprentices in the 1990s. He used the methods his master taught him on his own disciples. "When making medicine, you must first be a good person. I accept apprentices, and character is the most important thing. Then you must be practical and willing to learn. No one's superb skills are achieved overnight, and practice makes perfect."

Zhou Xinbiao and Ding Guangming learned handmade pan pills for five years. "Once I needed to make a batch of concentrated pills by hand. When I was extracting the concentrated liquid, I didn't control the heat properly and the bottom of the pot became scorched. The master immediately dumped the entire pot and prepared a new batch of pills at his own expense. .”

Apprentice Mao Manfeng has just finished making a batch of handmade pills for two or three-year-old children. "Has it been concentrated? The child does not eat much. If it is not concentrated, it may not be able to achieve the medicinal effect. This should be noted." The master made a point and the apprentice suddenly realized.

"Usually, when medicine is made by machine, the loss is more than by hand. We think it is not a big deal. But the master does not allow it. He teaches us to bake the medicinal powder at a certain temperature, then dehydrate it and then beat it. Keep baking and beating to reduce the loss to Almost zero." Zhou Xinbiao said that the master is old, but he always has a strong balance in his heart. He often says, "No one can see the cultivation, but God knows the intention." He always requires his disciples to use precise materials and improve their craftsmanship.

Ge Ding, a young Chinese medicine practitioner from Tianjin, has been learning Pan Wan from Master Ding for several years. "Every time Xiaoge comes to Hu Qingyutang for consultation, he will ask me for advice on techniques and techniques. For example, how to make black tin pills and three yellow treasure wax pills. These are pills on the verge of being lost."

As long as someone asks for advice with an open mind, Ding Guangming will give it a try. The bags are taught to each other. To help the world and save people, he is willing to teach no matter how difficult it is.

In November last year, the team of Hu Qingyutang’s hand-made pan pills was strengthened again. Three young Chinese herbalists became apprentices to Ding Guangming at the Chinese Medicine Culture Festival. Two of them are post-2000s graduates who have just graduated, and are as young as Ding Guangming when he entered Hu Qingyu Hall. Every weekend or lunch break, they would learn skills from their master.

"Sometimes after practicing with the master for a long time, I can't straighten my waist, and there are blisters on the tiger's mouth." Xu Jiabin, a Chinese herbalist, spreads his hands, and there are calluses of different shades on his hands. However, after work, the old man would also browse short videos on his mobile phone. "There are still people who use this method to shake medicine plaques!" Ding Guangming discussed the pros and cons of the two methods of shaking plaques with his post-2000 apprentice.

In the annual National Traditional Chinese Medicine Skills Adjustment Competition, most of the top ten are disciples of Hu Qingyutang. Hu Qingyutang accounts for half of the number of senior technicians of traditional Chinese medicine in Zhejiang Province. "All my apprentices are more promising than me. My earliest apprentice, Zhu Yijun, has a skill master studio and was rated as an industrial craftsman in Hangzhou." When talking about his beloved apprentice, Ding Guangming's eyes are brighter than "Liu Shen Pill" .

Slowly, Ding Guangming’s working hours turned into two days off. Every working day, after lunch at the workplace, Ding Guangming goes to the nursing home to visit his wife. When the heat was at its peak, he took slow steps and his shiny head gradually disappeared into the bustling Hefang Street.

After his death, Hu Qingyutang’s pharmaceutical workshop is still flourishing, and the inheritance of the quintessence of traditional Chinese medicine is becoming more and more profound.

Character introduction

Ding Guangming

The 17th Hangzhou City Moral Model (Civilian Hero), Hu Qingyutang National Intangible Heritage Inheritor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He joined Hu Qing Yu Tang in 1966 and has been engaged in handmade pan pill production for more than 50 years.

Reporter Ding Yijie Drawing

Reporter Li Wei Text Photo provided by the interviewee

Entering from the main entrance of Dajing Alley, passing through the winding corridor and crossing the small fish pond, the medicinal fragrance in the air is getting stronger and stronger. This is the Hu Qingyutang Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum, where Ding Guangming works daily.

Ding Guangming led me inside and muttered: "This used to be the first workshop, as well as the packaging group and warehouse. The crushing group where I first joined was opposite... It wasn't so hot in summer before. I worked from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. "In a daze, more than fifty years ago, the scene of people in the front hall seeing doctors and getting medicine, and pharmacists in the back hall busy making medicines appeared before my eyes.

The inscription "Abstain from Bullying" contains the scent of pills. Ding Guangming has been making handmade pills all his life, and has transformed from a fledgling to a pharmaceutical master with unique skills. He abides by Hu Qingyutang's ancestral motto of "preventing bullying", never shoddy quality, never cut corners, and always regards precise use of materials and exquisite craftsmanship as his duty.

In 2022, 72-year-old Ding Guangming won the honorary title of the 17th Hangzhou Moral Model (Civilian Hero). In February 2024, he received another honor - the national intangible inheritor of Hu Qingyutang Traditional Chinese Medicine.

God knows the truth

Making medicine is a matter of conscience

On June 21, 1966, 17-year-old Ding Guangming entered Hu Qingyutang, which was renamed Hangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory, and became an apprentice.

Three of the four siblings of the Ding family embarked on the road of hanging pots to help the world. "I have been a pharmacist all my life, my eldest sister has been working in the obstetrics and gynecology department, and my third brother is a gastroenterologist."

Hu Qingyutang's old rule is to start as an apprentice when learning a craft. Ding Guangming was assigned to the crushing workshop. In addition to powdering and extraction, I also do various chores, such as cleaning, tidying up, and delivering pills. The masters saw how these apprentices treated others and took it to heart.

A year later, Zhang Yonghao, the leader of the pill group, took a fancy to this down-to-earth young man. "The leader of our crushing team is still reluctant to leave me. But he also hopes that I can learn the real technology of making traditional Chinese medicine."

Hu Qingyutang Traditional Chinese Medicine Museum has a special plaque: not facing the outside, but facing the store, for its own employees Look. This is the "prevent bullying" plaque written by founder Hu Xueyan at the beginning of the business.

Niuhuang Qingxin Pills (prescription) contains donkey hide gelatin. Ding Guangming still remembers that once when his master was boiling donkey-hide gelatin, he ran away temporarily and asked him to help keep an eye on it.

"The glue needs to be stirred constantly, and the heat is also very important. The master is from Ningbo, and he speaks with a certain accent. I didn't hear it clearly." By the time the master came back, the medicine was already scorched. "Master spent his own money to prepare the medicine and boil it again. It was not ready until 8 o'clock in the evening."

Ding Guangming didn't understand. "Master said as he was going through it, Guangming, you have to do things according to your conscience and seek truth from facts, so that you can be worthy of others." Seeing Master's clothes soaked and his hands full of blisters, Ding Guangming was shocked for the first time.

"From then on, I have kept the word 'abstain from bullying' firmly in my heart. Especially when it comes to life, there is no room for any mistakes."

As the master teaches, so the disciple inherits. This story was later made into a short film and became the first lesson for new employees of Hu Qingyutang.

Accurate to the millimeter

The most difficult "Liushen Pill" was only passed to him

One day in 1968, Zhang Yonghao called Ding Guangming: "Starting today, you can learn Panwan." After two years, he finally waited until this point. At that moment, Ding Guangming officially entered the school under the plaque that read "Forbidden to Bully".

The honest and diligent Ding Guangming won praise from all sides. Not only Zhang Yonghao, but also two other senior masters of Hu Qingyutang's pills, Wang Lichuan from the fine ingredients group and Shen Guangyan from the aniseed ingredients group, were all vying to teach him how to make Pandan pills.

"Actually, before I officially learned Pan Wan, I couldn't help myself and started to 'steal from others'. Whenever I had free time during the day, I would watch the masters making Pan Wan and observe their steps and techniques. I would finish it at night. If you want to work, I will think about it myself and practice these movements several times."

There is a big world in Xiaofan Wan. Hand-made pills, from powder to small granules and then made into pills, need to go through five processes including molding, pan-making, screening, covering and shaping."The most difficult 'Liu Shen Pill', the master passed it on to me alone." Ding Guangming had a smile that couldn't be hidden in the corners of his eyes.

Liushen Pill is a treasure of Chinese medicine. In the pan-pill technique, Liushen Pills have the smallest particles and are the most difficult to make. They contain six medicinal materials such as musk, borneol, and bezoar. The diameter of the pills is about 1.5 mm. 1 kilogram of raw material can make 400,000 pills. The pills must not stick to each other and must be uniform. The weight deviation of 100 pills cannot exceed two pills.

"When I first started, a senior brother made the 'Liu Shen Pill' bigger, and was criticized by the Technology Department and the Drug Administration Department." Ding Guangming practiced hard day and night, and made the "Liu Shen Pill" exactly the same as his master. "I come home every day with backache and blisters on one hand. I open my eyes the next day, get up early, and go to the unit to continue practicing."

There are small and small complexities, and there are big difficulties. The "Ginseng Reconstituted Pills" with a diameter of more than 1 centimeter are a large recipe, consisting of more than 50 herbs. 1 kilogram can make more than 300 pills. "The amount of medicine used in each pill must be the same, the honey water must be taken in the same amount, and the strength must be the same." Ding Guangming said that he is the only one among many apprentices to inherit the "ginseng reconstituted pill" technique.

"At that time, Hu Qingyutang's business was good, and he made dozens of pills every month. I filled it all on the small blackboard, finished each one, and crossed out one." Ding Guangming still keeps a stack of yellowed pills A notebook that records professional knowledge such as medication ratios. He casually took out a book, and one page read: "Cizhuwan: On July 11, 1995, there was cracking this time... I always thought there was no problem beforehand, but the result was underestimation. It's old experience encountering new problems!" ”

Innovation in inheritance

Patients’ health always comes first

In 2009, Ding Guangming retired from the production line and sat in the museum of Hu Qingyu Hall in Dajing Lane. There is a patio, white walls and black tiles, as well as peony, ginkgo and osmanthus trees.

Today, he is the oldest master chef in Hu Qingyutang, and he is also the first one to arrive every day. It opened at 8 a.m., and he was in the workshop of handmade pan pills after 7 a.m. On the day of the interview, we happened to come across an intangible cultural heritage display of handmade pan pills. Ding Guangming put on a white coat and went into battle in high spirits.

For ordinary masters, the first step of starting a mold is like walking on thin ice. But for Ding Guangming, he has a good sense of propriety. His broom dipped in water evenly moistened the bamboo plaque, and the medicinal powder on the other end rotated and jumped in the plaque with the movement of his arm.

"My body now can't be compared with when I was young. At that time, I could do seven or eight hours a day." But in the eyes of others, every movement of Ding Guangming's hands is as fast as the wind, and he does not look like a 75-year-old man at all. Moulding, pan-making, screening, covering, shaping... step by step, to make round and uniform pills, you need to continuously add water, add powder, rotate and tumble. After going back and forth like this for a while, the initial powder will turn into pills of the same weight and uniform size. The pills rustled down the sieve holes, like rain hitting the plantains, one by one falling into the hearts of the bystanders.

Ding Guangming dug out an inconspicuous transparent jar from the wooden cabinet, which contained "Liushen Pills".

"I made this more than thirty years ago, but I can't do it anymore." The small "Liushen Pill" was shaking in his hand. It had lost its luster, but it was the most precious treasure of the old man.

In addition to generic pills, Ding Guangming also made fried pills, powders, and ointments. Pills, powders, ointments, and elixirs, the masters of each group are willing to leave the work to him.

Ding Guangming has a quick mind and is willing to spend time and energy to dig and dig. In the process of preparing and grinding "Liu Shen Pills", he explored a new process - grinding the six herbs separately and making pills, with the three flavors as the inner layer, which makes it less sticky and easier to make. He also innovated the needle crystal crushing operation method and optimized and reformed the Zhanyisan crushing process so that the particle size of the finished product could meet the national testing requirements. This operation method was named "Ding Guangming needle crystal crushing method" by the Hangzhou Federation of Trade Unions. He also came up with the method of wet-crushing ball-milled pearls using low-level ethanol to inhibit bacteria at room temperature, which solved the disadvantages of seasonal crushing of pearl powder.

Once, a Shanghai pharmacist came to Hu Qingyutang to ask why the Niuhuang Qingxin Pills he made always cracked. After asking about the production process in detail, Ding Guangming gave instructions - no matter how late it is, the pills must be made on the same day and not overnight. Otherwise, the degree of dryness on the inside and outside will be different and it will easily crack.

The disciples were puzzled as to why the master taught so much to outsiders. The master told the disciples, "'Big Shopkeeper' Hu Xueyan once said that if colleagues are not jealous, anything can be done. The patient's health is always the first priority, why should there be a distinction between winners and losers? Traditional Chinese medicine skills should not be divided into Hangzhou The pharmaceutical factory, or the pharmaceutical factory in Shanghai, allows more pharmacists to make pills with better quality and better effects, which truly considers customers and serves patients.”

With the advent of machine-made medicine, hand-made medicine has grown rapidly. shrink. Ding Guangming believes that "machines are always tools, and handwork is the foundation."

"Extra small pills and medicinal materials that are difficult to mold must still be made by hand. The temperature of the hands is still different from that of the machine."

There is a newcomer in this generation

Three generations of apprentices can now stand on their own

"My My wish is to take on more apprentices until I can’t do anything anymore.”

Ding Guangming started taking on apprentices in the 1990s. He used the methods his master taught him on his own disciples. "When making medicine, you must first be a good person. I accept apprentices, and character is the most important thing. Then you must be practical and willing to learn. No one's superb skills are achieved overnight, and practice makes perfect."

Zhou Xinbiao and Ding Guangming learned handmade pan pills for five years. "Once I needed to make a batch of concentrated pills by hand. When I was extracting the concentrated liquid, I didn't control the heat properly and the bottom of the pot became scorched. The master immediately dumped the entire pot and prepared a new batch of pills at his own expense. .”

Apprentice Mao Manfeng has just finished making a batch of handmade pills for two or three-year-old children. "Has it been concentrated? The child does not eat much. If it is not concentrated, it may not be able to achieve the medicinal effect. This should be noted." The master made a point and the apprentice suddenly realized.

"Usually, when medicine is made by machine, the loss is more than by hand. We think it is not a big deal. But the master does not allow it. He teaches us to bake the medicinal powder at a certain temperature, then dehydrate it and then beat it. Keep baking and beating to reduce the loss to Almost zero." Zhou Xinbiao said that the master is old, but he always has a strong balance in his heart. He often says, "No one can see the cultivation, but God knows the intention." He always requires his disciples to use precise materials and improve their craftsmanship.

Ge Ding, a young Chinese medicine practitioner from Tianjin, has been learning Pan Wan from Master Ding for several years. "Every time Xiaoge comes to Hu Qingyutang for consultation, he will ask me for advice on techniques and techniques. For example, how to make black tin pills and three yellow treasure wax pills. These are pills on the verge of being lost."

As long as someone asks for advice with an open mind, Ding Guangming will give it a try. The bags are taught to each other. To help the world and save people, he is willing to teach no matter how difficult it is.

In November last year, the team of Hu Qingyutang’s hand-made pan pills was strengthened again. Three young Chinese herbalists became apprentices to Ding Guangming at the Chinese Medicine Culture Festival. Two of them are post-2000s graduates who have just graduated, and are as young as Ding Guangming when he entered Hu Qingyu Hall. Every weekend or lunch break, they would learn skills from their master.

"Sometimes after practicing with the master for a long time, I can't straighten my waist, and there are blisters on the tiger's mouth." Xu Jiabin, a Chinese herbalist, spreads his hands, and there are calluses of different shades on his hands. However, after work, the old man would also browse short videos on his mobile phone. "There are still people who use this method to shake medicine plaques!" Ding Guangming discussed the pros and cons of the two methods of shaking plaques with his post-2000 apprentice.

In the annual National Traditional Chinese Medicine Skills Adjustment Competition, most of the top ten are disciples of Hu Qingyutang. Hu Qingyutang accounts for half of the number of senior technicians of traditional Chinese medicine in Zhejiang Province. "All my apprentices are more promising than me. My earliest apprentice, Zhu Yijun, has a skill master studio and was rated as an industrial craftsman in Hangzhou." When talking about his beloved apprentice, Ding Guangming's eyes are brighter than "Liu Shen Pill" .

Slowly, Ding Guangming’s working hours turned into two days off. Every working day, after lunch at the workplace, Ding Guangming goes to the nursing home to visit his wife. When the heat was at its peak, he took slow steps and his shiny head gradually disappeared into the bustling Hefang Street.

After his death, Hu Qingyutang’s pharmaceutical workshop is still flourishing, and the inheritance of the quintessence of traditional Chinese medicine is becoming more and more profound.

Character introduction

Ding Guangming

The 17th Hangzhou City Moral Model (Civilian Hero), Hu Qingyutang National Intangible Heritage Inheritor of Traditional Chinese Medicine. He joined Hu Qing Yu Tang in 1966 and has been engaged in handmade pan pill production for more than 50 years.