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Henan Grave Carved with Herbal Prescriptions Draws Hundreds of Visitors Daily
Henan Grave Carved with Herbal Prescriptions Draws Hundreds of Visitors Daily
The grave of a late rural doctor in Henan Province has attracted hundreds of daily visitors after her grandson carved 100 of her herbal prescriptions into the tombstone. Travelers from across China are now flocking to the site to copy the remedies, though family members warn against self-medication and note that more than 200 additional prescriptions remain in private manuscripts.
A rural grave in Henan Province has become an unexpected destination for hundreds of visitors daily after the late doctor’s grandson carved 100 of her traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions into the tombstone. The site, located in Panlongqiao village in Xiping County, draws an estimated 300 to 400 people each day who travel from across China to copy the remedies.
The grave belongs to Yuan Shufang, a practitioner whose work has gained national attention since Dahe Daily first reported on the stone on November 3. The ground in front of the tombstone is now covered with offerings of fruit and flowers, while the surrounding soil has been packed hard by foot traffic, forming a distinct path. Visitors engage in various rituals: some bow with palms pressed together, others photograph every line of text, and many meticulously copy the prescriptions by hand.
The influx of travelers spans multiple provinces. Xiao Sa, a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner from Xuchang with 20 years of experience, traveled with her husband to pay respects. She noted that the remedies are concise and could help patients avoid unnecessary medical costs. The journey has been arduous for some; one man from Guiyang spent nearly three days navigating four or five transfers between trains and buses to reach the site without prior knowledge of its exact location.
Others have come specifically to study the text. A woman surnamed Jiang flew from Zhejiang with her daughter, a third-year medical student. The remedies include treatments for gynecological conditions, prompting the student to bring a notebook to record them. "At first I simply didn't believe there could be someone so selfless, willing to publish a family's inherited remedies for those who come after," Jiang said.
Wang Kezhong, Yuan’s grandson, has issued warnings regarding the use of these carved prescriptions. He emphasized that the stone cannot cure every illness and advised that while practitioners may use them for study, patients must never blindly compound medicine from the inscriptions. "Practitioners can use them to learn together, but patients must never blindly make up medicine from them," Wang said.
Wang also clarified that the tombstone represents only a fraction of his grandmother’s work. He estimates that her handwritten manuscripts contain more than 200 additional prescriptions. "Once we find the original manuscript, we will publish all of it," he stated.
Additionally, Wang corrected misinformation circulating online regarding his grandmother’s appearance. He dismissed photos of an elderly woman with white hair as fake and provided the only color photograph of Yuan that the family has located. Despite the chaos surrounding the grave, Wang expressed hope for his grandmother’s legacy. "So many people coming specially to copy the prescriptions – I believe my grandmother would be very happy in the afterlife," he said.
S. Soerensen--BTZ
