The century old golden snake Time passes, but the original intention is still there

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-01-31

The century-old golden snake Time passes, but the original intention is still there

Golden Snake, founded in 1906 in the 32nd year of Guangxu, has a history of 117 years as a national old brand. "Golden Snake", a name that has accompanied the growth of many Shantou people, has become a unique memory of the older generation of the city. More than a century has passed, and the former factories are silent, standing in the early winter sun, and in some places they look more like ruins. But through the light and shadow, you can still imagine the hot work scene of the year, and you can vaguely smell a faint fragrance of ointment in the air.

Memories] There are many stories of a century-old brand, and the ups and downs of a century.

Tracing the origin of "Golden Snake Ointment", we must start from the 32nd year of Guangxu (1906). Lin Yabao, the founder of the Golden Snake, was born in Qiankeng Village, Jiexi, Chaoshan District, Chaoshan District, southeast coast of Guangdong Province in the late Qing Dynasty, and inherited the official position of Zhaowu Duwei Wupin after adulthood. Influenced by his father, Lin Yabao has been studying the secret recipes of ancient Chinese medicine since he began to study medicine, and at the same time absorb the knowledge Chinese of Western medicine. There are often villagers in the mountains who are bitten by snakes and insects, and their ancestors have been free of charge to give medicine to the good deeds, Lin Yabao inherited the ancestral industry for the villagers ** snake insect poisoning, and at the same time taught the ancestral snake fist to the villagers, used to strengthen the body, famous in the Chaoshan area. The ancestors have passed down the "detoxification ointment" of Hua Tuo, a famous doctor in the Eastern Han Dynasty in the Han Dynasty, and a generous external medicine record composed of 38 flavored medicines, which has been transformed into a secret recipe of snake oil ointment. Lin Yabao adjusted and modified the secret recipe of snake oil ointment handed down from his ancestors, and prepared the secret recipe of golden snake ointment, golden snake grass ointment, golden snake ointment, etc., and opened a pharmacy in the old house of Qiankeng Zhai in Jiexi in 1906 in Guangxu 32 years, the store number is "Golden Snake", the golden snake is a pharmacy in the front store and the back factory, the front store sells medicine, and the back field makes ointment, employing more than 10 people to carry out workshop-style production. Golden snake ointment with 30 flavors of Chinese herbal medicine on its secret recipe, the preparation method is cumbersome, the process is complex, but it has a miraculous effect on scalds, burns, chilblains, chapped, among which the golden snake ointment uses 36 flavors of Chinese herbal medicine, for rheumatism and bone pain, muscle and bone pain, waist bone sting, bruises, small sores and pain, itching, mosquito bites, boat and car sickness, dizziness and stomach pain. Lin Yabao has also been giving golden snake oil ointment and golden snake ointment to the villagers, preparing five snake wine for the villagers for bruises, etc., and preaching it to his sons, and also established the family snake fist as the seventy-two moves of the golden snake to teach his sons to strengthen their health.

The second generation of Lin Xiurong was born in the eleventh year of Guangxu in the late Qing Dynasty (born on March 10, 1885) since childhood, and followed his father to learn to make golden snake ointment, and brought the products and secret recipes to No. 190 Anping Road, Kaibu District, Shantou (now Shantou Small Park Anping Road store), opened the first store of Golden Snake, sold golden snake ointment, golden snake grass ointment business for a living, and then married a wife and had children (Lin Xiurong's wife Li Chan was born on June 2, 1890).

Lin Xiurong inherited his father's golden snake ointment, the secret method and production process of the golden snake ointment, and developed the golden snake oil, golden snake oil cream and other simplified secret recipes, golden snake oil oil has the effect of reducing swelling and relieving pain, killing insects and itching, refreshing the mind, the product is selling well, and the second store is located at No. 26, Yongtai Road, Jinping District, Shantou City (now Shantou Small Park Yongtai Road store);* During the period, many people in the Chaoshan area left their hometowns, carrying "city baskets" on their shoulders, wearing single clothes and water cloths to "go to the South Seas", thus bringing the golden snake ointment to the "South Seas" area.

Lin Xiurong's first sales of the Golden Snake store is in the core of the small park, with the opening of Shantou as a treaty port, the downtown of the small park is thriving, and the golden snake ointment, golden snake ointment and other products sell well in Southeast AsiaIn June 1939, due to the Japanese invasion of Shantou, the Golden Snake was also damaged in the sales store, and the situation was chaotic at that time, and in January 1940, Lin Xiurong and his eldest son also left Annam (Vietnam) to sell Golden Snake products, and lost contact with each other.

After the war, Li Chan and his second son Lin Shuxiong (the third generation of the Golden Snake, born on July 25, 1930), Li Chan and his son repaired the Golden Snake store, and continued to operate and sell Golden Snake oil ointment, Golden Snake grass paste, Golden Snake purple paste, Golden Snake grass oil and other products in the store for a living, business is still hot, and opened the third store (now Shantou Shangping Road store) at No. 2, Jixiang Street, Shangping Road, Jinping District, Shantou City, where the model of the front store and the back factory has been formed** The three stores were sold until 1953, after the public-private partnership, so the family heirloom golden snake products could only be sent to the street for use, because of the remarkable effect, loved by people, so the formula has been retained to this day.

In the 80s, Lin Shuxiong's eldest son Lin Jianmin went to Macau to develop, operated and sold golden snake ointment in Macau, and then transferred to Hong Kong to develop real estate, the second son Lin Jianwei (descendant of golden snake ***, born on March 7, 1966) changed his name to Yongsheng grocery store at No. 190, Faping Road, Kaibu District, Shantou City, and continued to operate daily necessities such as golden snake ointment and golden snake grass ointment, because people's demand for golden snake ointment is increasing, and Shantou Henry was formally established in 97 years Thus began the formal and legal production of golden snake ointment and golden snake ointment.

Inheritance] Focus on the manufacture of ancient methods and ancient recipes, and the original intention remains the same.

The golden snake has been produced in the traditional way, the boiling medicine is an iron pot firewood, an open flame in an earthen oven, like the folk "pot medicinal tea", the ointment is also boiled with an open flame, the wooden stick is stirred, it is still a workshop-type production, and there are less than 10 employees. After experiencing war and social turmoil, Lin Jianwei and his masters have continuously improved the process through perseverance and innovation, and passed down the secret recipe and production process of this golden snake ointment. The refining of Golden Snake Paste has strict standards for the selection of raw materials, feeding time, and configuration procedures, and the refining time of each time cannot be less than one month. The strict ratio of each ingredient, coupled with the unique production process, makes the golden snake oil ointment effective quickly and long-lasting. While actively developing new products, we also study and improve the composition of the old product Golden Snake Ointment, so that the compatibility of materials is more reasonable. The process is also continuously improved, according to the characteristics of snake oil, the traditional fire decoction method is changed to the ultrasonic extraction method to make snake oil, so that the active ingredients are fully retained, and then the liquid medicine is added in the form of semi-products, so that the treatment of water and fire burns, dry cracks and chilblains is more significant. The reason why the golden snake has endured is that the formula and process have been perfected day by day. Golden Snake also continues to introduce new technologies and new equipment, vigorously transform and expand the production site, from the former handicraft workshop production to a modern production enterprise.

As a product adhering to traditional craftsmanship and modern technology, it can be inherited to this day, which is not easy to do, but also has its reason. Following the ancestral teachings, the Golden Snake uses snake oil and snake venom as the main raw materials, and focuses on the use of ancient methods and recipes to make it. The golden snake has quietly gone through a hundred years, and this skill has also been well inherited and developed in Shantou.

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