BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The finals of 2021 "Revitalization Cup" traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) industry vocational skills competition of Jiangxi Province kicked off in its Zhangshu City, a renowned capital of Chinese medicine, on October 13.
With rises and falls of the knifes, Radix Paeoniae Albas, a medical herb in TCM, were cut into pieces of the same size and alongside the stirring of the medicine spatulas, the fragrance of medical herbs overflowed, demonstrating the superb processing skills and profound knowledge of 122 TCM industry technicians that participated in the finals from all over the province.
The competition, which contains both trials and finals, is dedicated to promoting TCM culture, inheriting and developing TCM processing techniques and growing the TCM processing talent team of Jiangxi Province.
During the 2-day long finals, three competition occupations were established, namely, Chinese medicinal materials net selection, moisturizing and cutting technician, Chinese medicinal preparation technician and Chinese medicinal mixture technician to appraise the competitors' abilities to identify medical herbs, cut decoction pieces, and prepare "Shui-fan-wan", which refers to pills aggregated with water or diluted honey excipient, techniques of roasting and knowledge of TCM processing theory.
The winners of the finals will receive a professional technician qualification certificate issued by the Jiangxi Province Human Resources and Social Security Department. The top 3 contestants for each competition occupations will also be awarded the honorary titles such as "Jiangxi Province Technical Expert", "Jiangxi Province Youth Post Expert", and "Jiangxi Province Women Achievement Model".
With around 1,800 years of history, the TCM industry in Zhangshu City is reputed for its unique medical herb processing skills. Regardless of whether the Chinese medical herbs are fried, soaked, broiled or baked, sun-dried, cut, or concealed, their processing skills in Zhangshu have been very sophisticated and different from other places. In Zhangshu, the processing tools, softening treatment, cutting of decoction pieces and processing methods of medical herbs, as well as "heat control" and application of auxiliary materials also boast distinctive local characteristics and have made vital contributions in improving the efficacy of drugs, increasing the cure rate of diseases, and expanding the scope of drug use.
In 2009, Zhangshu TCM processing techniques were included in the fourth batch of national intangible cultural heritage project list. (Edited by Duan Jing with Xinhua Silk Road, duanjing@xinhua.org)
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