Miao medicine (bone wound and snake wound therapy)

Name of China's national intangible cultural heritage: Miao medicine

Applicant: Leishan County, Guizhou Province

Item No.: 975

Project No.: IX - 15

Time of publication: 2008 (second batch)

Category: traditional medicine

Region: Guizhou Province

Type: new item

Applicant: Leishan County, Guizhou Province

Protection unit: Leishan County Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center

Brief introduction of Miao medicine (bone wound and snake wound therapy)

Applicant: Leishan County, Guizhou Province

Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture is the main settlement of Miao compatriots, with a total of more than 1.7 million Miao people, accounting for one fourth of the total population of the Miao people in China. Miao nationality is known as "every herb is medicine, and everyone can cure". There are many popular sayings among Miao people, such as "Miao medicine for thousands of years, Miao medicine for thousands of years", "three thousand Miao medicine, and eight hundred Prescriptions". There are unique ways and methods for disease etiology, diagnosis, medication, drug naming, processing, and health care, forming a theoretical system of two principles, five meridians, three or sixteen major diseases, seventy-two diseases, one hundred and eight minor diseases, and forty-nine diseases. Miao doctors master more than 200 kinds of diseases, which are widely involved in internal medicine, external medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, orthopedics and so on. Among them, the external treatment has its own characteristics, such as fumigation, egg rolling, water melting, stepping on the share, tendon picking, foaming, fire needle, lighting explosion, scraping and so on. It is very effective in the treatment of orthopedics, knife and arrow wounds, snake and insect bites.

Miao doctors are experts in the treatment of bone grafting and snakebite. In 2006, the Health Bureau of Leishan County in Guizhou Province organized a survey of 113 Miao doctors, of which 47 were good at treating upper and lower limb bone, rib, skull, clavicle and other traumatic fractures, 15 were good at treating snake bites, and 6 were able to treat both kinds of injuries.

Miao doctors in Shuizhai village of Fangxiang township have been practicing medicine for 24 years. They are good at treating fracture and snake bite with ancestral secret recipe. The cure rate of fracture is 90.4%, and the cure rate of snake bite is 84.9%. Miao doctors in Jiayong village of Yongle Town are good at treating upper and lower limb bone and rib fractures with ancestral secret prescriptions, with a cure rate of 89.3%.

The inheritance of the therapy of bone injury and snake injury of Miao nationality is mainly in two ways: ancestral and teacher teaching. Because there is no written language in Miao nationality, most of the Miao doctors are illiterate or semi illiterate, which increases the difficulty of inheritance. The inheritance spectrum is incomplete, and the treatment of bone injury and snake injury in Miao nationality is in an endangered state. Therefore, more efforts should be made to support rescue and research.