Lei Yunshang Songfen Hall Pharmacy

Lei Yunshang Songfen Hall Pharmacy

Lei Yunshang Songfen Hall Pharmacy is a Suzhou municipal cultural relics protection unit.

Lei Yunshang Songfen Hall Pharmacy is the oldest and most renowned traditional Chinese medicine shop in Suzhou.

In the 12th year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1734), Lei Dasheng (1696–1779, courtesy name Yunshang, art name Nanshan) established Songfen Hall at the entrance of Zhouwangmiao Lane, Tianku Qian, Chuanzhu Lane, inside the old Changmen Gate in Suzhou. In the early years of the Qianlong reign, Lei Yunshang began practicing medicine and set up a clinic within Songfen Hall, integrating medical treatment and pharmacy. Before long, the pharmacy became known as Lei Yunshang Songfen Hall. Lei Yunshang’s uniquely created “Liu Shen Wan” (Six God Pills) was hailed as a national treasure of Chinese medicine. Since its inception, it gained widespread acclaim and was exported to Hong Kong, Japan, and Southeast Asia. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Liu Shen Wan won the National Quality Product Gold Award three times. In June 2008, the production technique of Lei Yunshang Liu Shen Wan was included in the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage Expansion Projects under the category of Traditional Chinese Medicine Preparation Methods. Lei Yunshang Songfen Hall adheres to the creed of “upholding integrity and prioritizing premium quality,” gathering “hundreds of herbs to benefit the people.” Its reputation soared, making it one of the most well-known traditional Chinese medicine enterprises in China, earning the title “Lei in the South, Tong in the North,” with Tong referring to Beijing Tongrentang Pharmacy. After several ups and downs, in 1953 it became one of the first pharmacies in the province to adopt electric mechanical production. In 1956, it implemented public-private partnership. In August 1958, the Lei Yunshang Pharmaceutical Factory was established and gradually incorporated a number of state-owned traditional medicine workshops. In May 1980, it merged with Suzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory No. 2 and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Slicing Factory. In May 1995, it merged with the Medicinal Materials Procurement and Supply Station to form the Suzhou Lei Yunshang Pharmaceutical Group Company. In 1997, China Grand Development Corporation and Suzhou Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. jointly established Lei Yunshang (Suzhou) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., which was renamed Lei Yunshang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. in 2002, becoming an integrated industrial, commercial, and chain enterprise. Its subsidiaries include Changshu Lei Yunshang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Suzhou Lei Yunshang Commercial Co., Ltd., and Suzhou Lei Yunshang National Medicine Chain Head Store Co., Ltd. The national medicine chain stores include “China Time-Honored Brands” such as Songfen Hall, Mutaishan, and Wang Hongzhu. Building on the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese medicine, Lei Yunshang has utilized modern pharmaceutical technology and equipment to comprehensively modernize traditional Chinese medicine. A new factory with multiple modern pharmaceutical production lines was built in the Suzhou National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, covering an area of over 65,000 square meters. It has become a modern research, development, and production base for traditional Chinese medicine that complies with the **Good Manufacturing Practice, as well as a teaching and internship base for several medical universities including Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, and has been recognized as a high-tech enterprise by Jiangsu Province. In 2004, Lei Yunshang Songfen Hall Pharmacy was listed as a municipal-level cultural relics protection unit.