Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) began to sprout from ancient Shennong and has a history of about 5,000 years in Qing Dynasty. Why did government-run pharmacies flourish only in the Song Dynasty? Why did it decline after the Ming Dynasty? There are actually many subjective and objective reasons for this.
The reform promoted Huo Zhi's trade. The first pharmacy was formally established in the Northern Song Dynasty.
In the first year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1068), Zhao Yong of Song Shenzong succeeded to the throne and appointed Wang Anshi for political reform. Young crops law, farmland water conservancy law, tax law to protect Party A, land equalization law and tax collection law are all familiar to everyone. In fact, there is also a market change law that is easily overlooked but has a great influence on the establishment of government-run pharmacies.
According to the laws of People's Republic of China (PRC), the drug trade is controlled by the government, and the operation of drugs is a government patent, and private self-made operation is not allowed, with the purpose of stabilizing prices, prospering the market and increasing taxes. After the success of this method in the capital city of Bianliang, it was extended from north to south to Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and other places. Although the government controlled the drug trade, it supported government-run businesses, which led to a great increase in commodity exchange, exchanges between North and South businessmen, the gathering of East and West businessmen, the expansion of cities and the surge in population. Like the capital of song dynasty, it has become an international metropolis with prosperous business and numerous tours.
People-to-people exchanges have promoted economic development and increased taxes, but objectively, they have also increased the possibility of epidemic diseases. Under this background, in the ninth year of Xining (1076), the government-run pharmacy was first established. At that time, it was called cooked pharmacy or pharmacy, equipped with medical officers, who also diagnosed and prescribed prescriptions for patients.
Selling medicine has benefited a lot. Where there is a market, there is a market.
There are two reasons for the government to set up the official pharmacy bureau: first, to prevent drug dealers from controlling the pharmaceutical market speculatively; Second, epidemic prevention benefits the people. Generally speaking, the poor can afford drugs and treat diseases, so the drug price is lower than that of private pharmacies 1/3.
Because it is not for profit, the quality of drugs is reliable, but the business is booming and the cost is recovered in a short time. "Xining, the Institute of Cooked Medicine of Taiyi Bureau, started in June of the ninth year and collected more than 25,000 yuan of interest in June of the tenth year, double the interest." "Double interest" means that income equals input. In view of the fact that the poor have no money to buy medicine, they "allow counties to exchange real estate medicinal materials with the same value", which is well received by local people and further stimulates the business expansion of official pharmacies.
In the view of Taifu Temple, "selling medicine has great benefits and should be promoted all over the world. Where there is a market, it should be placed in the office. " In the fourth year of Song Huizong Zhenghe (1 1 14), Shangshu Province told Song Huizong: "The official drug administration has made too many profits, which goes against the meaning of medicine benefiting the people." Song Huizong ordered the reduction of drug prices, renamed Huimin Bureau as Medicine Huimin Bureau, and renamed Harmony Bureau as Medicine Bureau, highlighting the word "Huimin".
Supervision of pharmaceutical officials over production officials and soldiers.
The reason why the official drug administration can benefit the people all over the world and fill the government treasury in a short time lies in its complete organization, standardized management, clear authority and clear rewards and punishments.
In the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhou Mi served as the supervisor of pharmacy for five years. In his book "Return to the Heart and Miscellaneous Knowledge", there is such a record: "At the pharmacy Huimin Pharmacy, there was a pharmacy preparer who supervised the production process, and a supervisor supervised the import and export of finished materials and attendance assessment. Sales are supervised by officials. " Officials and practitioners of the official drug administration are competent. Set up a "medicinal material identification officer" to identify the origin, authenticity and quality of medicinal materials, ban or burn unqualified medicinal materials, and ensure the quality of medicinal materials from the source.
In order to avoid fraud, the court sent civil and military officials and soldiers to supervise and manage the pharmacy and sales of Huimin pharmacy, and was responsible for guarding, patrolling and escorting. The emperor once issued a decree that anyone who makes counterfeit drugs or forges prescriptions and official seals should be dealt with in accordance with the "Forgery Regulations". Those who practise fraud in the identification and inspection of medicinal materials and fail to pass the drug inspection shall be dismissed; Whoever steals drugs at risk commits theft; You should be responsible for compensating the moldy losses caused by improper storage. Those who have contributed to the pharmacy can be promoted in advance.
During the Song Dynasty, Taiping Huimin Hutchison Bureau compiled the world's first official standard for patented drugs, Taiping Huimin Hutchison Bureau Prescription, which had a great influence on later generations.
The Yuan Dynasty inherited the system of the Song Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty abolished the official system.
As early as the 14th year of Li Zong in the Southern Song Dynasty (1237), Mongolia, the later Yuan government, set up Yanjing and other 10 official pharmacy bureaus, each with 500 ingots of official silver as the unit, and sent imperial doctors to take charge of pharmacy affairs. Yuan Chengzong timur distributes official books according to the number of local families. In the third year of Emperor Chengzong Dade (1299), Huimin pharmacies were established all over the country. At this time, Huimin pharmacy was really extended to all parts of the country, and a good doctor was selected to preside over the pharmacy. Some scholars have commented that it is "wide in scope and large in scale, which is beyond the reach of previous dynasties."
At the beginning of Ming Dynasty, Emperor Hongwu ordered Nanjing, Beijing and counties all over the country to set up Huimin pharmacy. Ming Xuanzong also sent letters to all localities to repair the premises of drug stores during the slack season, and sent officials from the supervision and inspection department to inspect all localities. After the middle of Ming Dynasty, politics became increasingly corrupt. During the Wanli period, the imperial court and eunuchs set up a "royal pharmacy" in partnership to manage precious medicinal materials, which had a great influence on the government-run pharmacy, and the government-run pharmacy became an institution for "diagnosing diseases and selling medicines". For example, in the twenty-first year of Jiajing (1542), when the epidemic disease was prevalent in Shi Jing, both Thai hospitals and Huimin pharmacies distributed it in Chengmen and other places according to prescriptions.
Later, in order to solve the problem of too many officials and too big bureaucracy, the government began to reduce the local official system and stopped providing subsidies to Huimin pharmacies. Pharmacies are self-financing and self-supporting, and they have gone downhill. Especially after the pharmacy was no longer listed as an official establishment in Qing dynasty, Huimin pharmacy disappeared, but its influence did not end. Many time-honored brands we are familiar with now are actually related to the official drug administration-Jinan Hongjitang, which was established in the 33rd year of Guangxu, was established on the basis of the official drug administration in Shandong.