Fangcheng Yudanshen

Fangcheng Yudanshen

　　Fangcheng Yudanshen is a specialty of Fangcheng County, Nanyang City, Henan Province. Yudanshen, commonly known as blood ginseng, is a type of the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Danshen. It is characterized by thick roots, a deep purple-red color, high quality, and excellent therapeutic effects. Fangcheng Danshen is a protected geographical indication product.

　　Fangcheng was historically known as Yuzhou and lies at the junction of the northern subtropical and southern warm temperate zones, the Tongbai Mountain Range and Funiu Mountain Range, the Huai River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin, the Nanyang Basin and the Huang-Huai Plain, as well as the North China Platform and the Qinling Trough. The 250-kilometer-long Tongbai Mountains and the 400-kilometer-long Funiu Mountains converge here, extending over 1,000 kilometers within the county, forming a semi-enclosed mountainous barrier that has created abundant medicinal herb resources, making Fangcheng a “natural medicine treasury” rich in Chinese herbs. There are currently over 800 species of wild medicinal herbs found within the region.

　　The wondrous landscapes of Li Mountain nurture rare herbs, and authentic Danshen fragrances spread far and wide. Fangcheng is renowned for producing high-quality Danshen with remarkable therapeutic efficacy. According to the Qing Dynasty’s *Fangcheng Annals* (compiled in the 30th year of Kangxi’s reign and published in the 36th year): “The vast territory of Fangcheng is comparable to ancient Yuzhou, its celestial division lying upstream along the Tongbai Mountains and the Huai River. Its peaks are interconnected, streams meander around, and the land is richly undulating and fertile. The area produces superior varieties of platycodon, papaya, isatis root, and Danshen—truly an authentic place, esteemed by physicians... During the Jin Dynasty, it was called ‘Yudanshen’.” A folk rhyme says, “The king of Danshen grows in Yuzhou, with fine quality and excellent effect. Stored in pharmacies in Shanghai and Wuhan; shipped by waterways, it travels abroad,” which praises the virtues of “Yudanshen.”

　　Fangcheng Danshen resembles ginseng in shape but has a red skin color like cinnabar. The medicinal material is dense and solid, with a thick skin, fine woody core, minimal fiber, and a radial chrysanthemum-like fracture pattern when broken. Tests conducted by the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, the National Ginseng and Deer Antler Product Quality Inspection Center, and Guangzhou Baiyunshan and Hutchison Whampoa Chinese Medicine Co., Ltd., showed the following content levels: tanshinone I at 1.182%, cryptotanshinone at 1.9235%, tanshinone IIA at 0.6503%, salvianolic acid B at 9.9214%, and tanshinol at 2.4%. In 1991, it won a silver award at the Zhongjing Cup International Expo, in 2001 it was recognized as a branded product at the International Agricultural Expo, and in 2003 it received certification as a province-level pollution-free production base, pollution-free product, and national geographical indication protected product.