Good medicine is always at your side: Meet Qidali®

Qidali® is the trade name for Jingfang granules and Jingfang liquid preparation. Initially, both products used production approvals from Feixian Yimeng Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory, the predecessor of Shandong New Era Pharmaceutical. Later, Feixian Yimeng Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory transferred the production approval for Jingfang granules to Shandong New Era Pharmaceutical and the production approval for Jingfang liquid preparation to Lunan Houping Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Jingfang granules have since been continuously manufactured by Shandong New Era Pharmaceutical without interruption, but annual sales have been very low, about 2 to 3 million RMB, mainly sold in Linyi. Every spring and autumn during seasonal changes, the company distributes the product free to employees, where it is much loved by staff and their families. When someone has a headache, cold, or fever, taking two sachets of Jingfang granules usually makes them feel better quickly.

In the spring of 2020, the sudden COVID-19 pandemic instantly revealed the value of the long-dormant Qidali®. While reviewing literature on traditional Chinese medicine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 pneumonia, we found that the classical formula Jingfang Baidu San can be used as a preventive medication for populations in epidemic areas, and Qidali® is a modern preparation based on the original Jingfang Baidu San formula. Through study, communication, and exchange with TCM experts, we gradually uncovered the “past and present” of Qidali®. It was surprising — we didn’t realize until we studied it that such a good medicine had been right beside us all along.

Jingfang Baidu San (Qidali®) is a master-level classic prescription, first recorded by Zhang Shiche in the Ming dynasty in the work She Sheng Zhong Miao Fang. After nearly 500 years of transmission and clinical verification, generations of physicians, based on practical experience, have given it very high praise: “a miraculous remedy for seasonal colds,” “a universal remedy for epidemics,” and “for early warm-disease symptoms of unknown origin, first treat with Jingfang Baidu San.” By reviewing the literature, our research team gradually recognized the clinical value of Qidali®: it not only treats various colds and helps prevent epidemics, but also shows very notable efficacy for toothache, breast nodules, skin diseases, headaches, and bodily aches — as if Qidali® could cure every ailment, which seems almost miraculous!

To better understand the effects of Chinese medicine on the novel coronavirus, my company’s research team and I brought Qidali® (Jingfang granules) and Qidacing® (Chaiyin oral liquid/granules) and visited universities including Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. We consulted and learned from TCM scholars, gradually deepening our understanding of TCM theory, improving our recognition of epidemic diseases, and increasing our knowledge of the classic formula Qidali®.

Regarding the understanding of epidemics, I personally agree with the description in the Treatise on Epidemics: “Not wind, not cold, not heat, not dampness — it is an unusual qi in heaven and earth that affects people.” For preventing and treating epidemics, one direction targets the source of infection and the other targets the person. Jingfang granules target the latter, so their antiviral activity outside the body is not prominent. But the greatness of Chinese medicine is that it truly centers on the person and adapts the unchanging to meet changing circumstances: as long as a person’s own immunity is strong and we are sufficiently healthy, the virus has no effective means against us — people and viruses can coexist peacefully. As said in the Huangdi Neijing, “When zhengqi (righteous qi) is preserved within, pathogens cannot invade.” Qidali® works by significantly enhancing the body’s immunity (equivalent to what TCM calls zhengqi). Once a person’s immunity improves, related diseases can be resolved accordingly, which helps explain why Qidali® has such broad effects and can be said to “cure many ailments.”

Jingfang Baidu San (Qidali®): the two characters “baidu” (expel toxins) are its essence, and TCM’s understanding of “toxin” is broad. Qidali® has a very good effect on relieving drunkenness and clearing the head. In TCM it is believed that “alcohol produces damp-heat,” and after drinking alcohol damp and heat toxins form in the body; taking Qidali® can quickly relieve drunkenness and clear the head. Many friends were initially skeptical about Qidali®’s ability to relieve drunkenness, but after taking it on the spot, those with low alcohol tolerance experienced immediate effects, and heavy drinkers reported significantly reduced or disappeared discomfort after drinking.

Since February 2020 I personally have been taking Qidali® consistently, at least two sachets a day and sometimes six or seven sachets, with a cumulative consumption of over one thousand sachets. In the past year I have not caught a cold, through the company’s Energy Medicine Center instrument examinations, and after comparing the February and October examination data I found that the health of my respiratory system, integumentary (skin) system, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems had all improved to a considerable degree.

Based on my understanding of Qidali®, I recommended it to colleagues and friends around me, and they have used it to resolve many ailments. One friend’s toothache was cured two hours after taking it; a colleague resolved an acute whole-body eczema episode after a week of using only Qidali®; a person troubled by chronic eczema for many years recovered after taking Qidali® for one month… There are many such cases — Qidali®’s remarkable effects have exceeded imagination.

There are tips for taking Qidali®: it is important to induce sweating, so it must be taken hot and early enough to work up a sweat — sweating produces a more than proportional effect. At the same time, elderly people or those who are constitutionally weak can combine it with Jianben® Ginseng Guben Oral Liquid (a modified Renshen Baidu San formula). Ginseng Guben Oral Liquid has the effect of supporting and consolidating the root (fuzheng guben); using the two together can expel pathogens while protecting zhengqi, further regulating the body’s immunity.

Through nearly a year of personal use and exchanges with experts and scholars, I have developed a new understanding of Qidali® and a deeper appreciation of TCM’s holistic and systematic theories. Recently, the Pharmacology Center of Lunan Pharmaceutical Group has conducted several animal experiments on Qidali® regarding anti-thrombosis, treatment of pulmonary nodules, and tumor alleviation, all of which showed good results. I believe that through our continued efforts and research, more discoveries will be made about Qidali®’s efficacy and indications. Especially notable is its outstanding performance in modulating and enhancing human immunity, which resonates with the TCM concept of ying-wei qi; I look forward to using Qidali® to deepen our understanding of ying-wei qi and to allow more classic TCM formulas to benefit patients and society more widely.

Appendix 1: List of exchanges between the research team and TCM experts (2020)

Appendix 2: Author Biography

Zhang Guimin, a native of Tancheng, Shandong Province, is an applied engineering and technology researcher. He serves as the Party Secretary, Chairman, and General Manager of Lunan Pharmaceutical Group and receives a special government allowance from the State Council. He has been selected for the National “Hundred, Thousand, Ten Thousand” Talents Program, recognized as a National Outstanding Young and Middle‑aged Expert with Remarkable Contributions, named a National Outstanding Science and Technology Worker, honored as a Contemporary Chinese Inventor, designated a Taishan Industry Leader, awarded the title of Outstanding Engineer of Shandong Province, acknowledged as a High‑End Think Tank Talent of Shandong Province, and bestowed the title of Model Worker of Shandong Province. He has received one Second Prize in the National Technological Invention Awards, five Second Prizes in the National Science and Technology Progress Awards, one China Patent Gold Award, and six Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Awards. In 2018, he was awarded the Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Scientific and Technological Innovation.                                                              

Reposted from the Lunan Pharmaceutical Group official account.