The traditional Chinese herbal medicine will be developed free of
pollution in future, according to the recently concluded
Tongrentang
Medicine Modernization Seminar.
Currently, Tongrentang has established seven large herbal
medicine-planting bases aimed at solving such problems as pesticide
residue, heavy metal traces exceeding the set standard and illegal
culling or digging up of natural resources.
The seven bases are: north China's Jilin Province producing
ginseng; Hebei Province producing root of membranous milk vetch,
Chinese thorowax, Radix Isatidis, Schizonepeta
tenuifolia, bitter almond, and Violo philippica; Shanxi
Province producing codonopsis pilosola, central China's
Hubei Province producing Poris cocos; Henan Province
producing Cornus officinalis; east China's Zhejiang Province
producing Paeonia lactiflora; and Anhui Province planting
varieties of medicines.
The seven bases will be built far from residential and industrial
areas, according to the leaders in charge of Tongrentang medicine
production. During the process of planting, the use of pesticides
will be strictly controlled to guarantee the quality of Tongrentang
medicine for export.
With the improvement of public awareness of environmental
protection, the number of animal-related medicines is falling, such
as tiger bone and musk. China has banned the use of the two
materials in medicine manufacturing. Tongrentang revealed that it
would establish a deer-raising base in Changping, in suburban
Beijing. Experts said that the success in raising musk, one of the
deer family, will guarantee the production of traditional Chinese
herbal production.
Tongrentang was founded in 1669 and appointed to be a pharmacy for
royal kinsmen in the Qing Dynasty in 1861. It has been famous for
its long history of more than 300 years and its distinctive method
of pharmacy -- unique composition, high quality, good workmanship,
and remarkable curative effort -- both at home and abroad.
(china.org.cn by Li Jingrong, August 30, 2002)