Transmission of
Traditional
Chinese
Medicine
Handcrafted Water Pills
Traditional
Craftsmanship
Pills include honey pills, water pills, water-honey pills, concentrated pills, etc. Today, we will focus on the handcrafted water pills.
Water pills are made from medicinal powder and water, processed through a special technique. They have the advantages of convenient consumption and precise efficacy.
With the advent of machine pill-making, handcrafted water pills have become increasingly rare, but they can still be observed being made at the Xiangtan City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.
Some friends might ask, with such advanced machine pill-making technology, do we still need to make handcrafted water pills?
Director of the Pharmacy Department at Xiangtan City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, renowned pharmacist Luo Lixia, says: Absolutely necessary!
“On one hand, the patients we encounter often have complex and variable conditions, and handcrafted water pills allow us to formulate and adjust medications according to symptoms at any time; on the other hand, as practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, we have the responsibility to pass down the traditional craftsmanship of handcrafted water pills that has been developed over thousands of years.”
So how is the handcrafted water pill made? Let’s enter the preparation room of Xiangtan City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital to learn about the method of making handcrafted water pills.
“A brush, a tray, a can of clean water, and a plate of powder can make handcrafted water pills.”
The pharmacist first uses a spray bottle to spray water onto the tray, moistening its surface.
Then, an appropriate amount of medicinal powder is evenly sprinkled over the moistened area of the tray.
Gently rub the tray to ensure the medicinal powder adheres evenly,
then quickly sweep the powder from one end of the tray to the other with a brush,
spray water again,
and gently rub the tray to stick the remaining powder to the moistened area,
repeating this process 3-4 times to form small pill granules.
This is the first step of making handcrafted water pills: Shaping.
Shaping is a prerequisite for forming the pills, and the amount and looseness of the medicinal powder used for shaping determine the quality of the finished pills. The principle of shaping is generally simple, but it requires strong personal skill and relies entirely on experience to successfully shape the pills.
The pharmacist holds the tray tightly with both hands, relying on arm strength to rotate it back and forth, causing the pill granules to rotate within the tray. During this process, water and powder are added, and techniques such as kneading, rolling, slapping, bumping, and flipping are alternated to gradually make the granules round and compact until all the medicinal powder is added to the granules, forming appropriately sized pills.
Coating, which means after the pills are formed, a small amount of clean water is added and kneaded to coat them until the surface is smooth, round, and firm, and then they are immediately dried.
The drying temperature for the pills should gradually increase from low to high, generally controlled at 60-70°C. For materials rich in mucilage, resin, oils, or volatile oils, the temperature should be below 60°C. During the drying process, frequent turning is necessary to avoid uneven drying.
Handcrafted
Water Pills
The handcrafted water pills are a traditional Chinese medicine preparation technique that embodies the essence of individualized treatment and syndrome differentiation in TCM. Their size can be adjusted freely, and the loss rate of medicinal powder is lower, especially in the production of small-dose pills, where they have irreplaceable advantages. Compared to machine-made pills, they have a lower density, making it easier to control the dissolution time, particularly suitable for patients with weak digestive functions.
Introduction to the Preparation Room
The preparation room at Xiangtan City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital has a history of over 50 years and currently has 12 types of traditional Chinese medicine preparations approved by the Hunan Provincial Drug Administration, including capsules, powders, syrups, tinctures, and mixtures.
In 2010, a new preparation room was built with excellent facilities and testing equipment. In 2022, the hospital established a modern provincial-level regional preparation center with a building area of over 4000 square meters.
The preparation room will always adhere to the philosophy of “quality first” to produce good medicines.
——Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparation
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Article | Li Jianjun
Images | Publicity Department
Edited by | Wu Ting Reviewed by | Cao Shen Wang Bo
Luo Lixia
