On this day, 118 years ago, on December 30, 1907 (November 26, 1907 in the lunar calendar), the Japanese medicine "Qingkuaowan" in the late Qing Dynasty predicted the demise of the Qing Dynasty. On December 30, 1907, an advertisement for "Qingkuai Pills" jointly marketed by Taixin Foreign Bank and Japan's Nikshin Pharmacy appeared in the Hankou Daily. The Chinese pronunciation of this Japanese drug is so similar to "Qingkuaiwan" that it is difficult for later generations not to regard the name of the drug as a prophecy. Coincidentally, on October 10, 1911, the day after the first shot of the Revolution of 1911 was fired in Wuchang, the advertisement for "Qingkuai Pills" appeared in the Hankou Daily for the last time. It was less than four years since the advertisement first appeared. Why can Qingkuai Pills so accurately predict the changes of times, and what drugs are they selling in their Japanese gourd? October 11, 1911, Qingkuai Pills advertised what medicine does Qingkuai Pills sell? Qingkuai Maru is written in Japanese Hiragana as, which is pronounced similar to the Chinese word for "sexual pleasure" and was developed by Japanese drug dealer Takahashi Shengdai Hall. On the "Qingkuai Pills" handkerchief provided to promote the drug, the Japanese pronunciation of the drug can be clearly seen. Takahashi Shengda Hall was founded in Dojima, Osaka by its founder Yasuhiro Takahashi in the fifth year of Yasukawa in Japan (1858). Most of the original drugs developed were drugs for acute diseases. In the eighth year of the Meiji year (1875), Takahashi Takahashi's descendant of Anbinwei Takahashi inherited the family business, and gradually developed a series of drugs such as analgesics, stomach and digestion agents, antidiarrheal drugs, and cardiotonic drugs, including the later "Qingkuai Pills". In the 16th year of Meiji (1883), the pharmacy officially established the name "Shandadang" and opened a pharmaceutical factory. Three years later, the Osaka Pharmaceutical School was founded, which is the predecessor of the Department of Pharmacy at Osaka University today. Today, this long-established pharmaceutical factory still exists. The Takahashi Shengdang at that time has become Shengdang Co., Ltd., and it no longer markets Qingkuai Pills. In the 1907 slogan of Gaoqiao Shengdang at the end of the 19th century, drug dealers explained the name "Qingkuai Pills" like this: "Usually, one or two tablets will have a flavor in the mouth, that is, the aroma will be strong and immediately refreshed. Therefore, the name 'Qingkuai Pills' is really not false. "On December 30, 1907, Qingkuai Pills advertised. From the perspective of efficacy, Qingkuai Pills are similar to another well-known Japanese drug Rindan. They can be used to treat" heatstroke and moderate cold, epidemic cholera, dizzy fainting, drinking phlegm epidemic, insufficient diet, stuffy stomach, nausea and vomiting, mental depression, red and white diarrhea, abdominal pain, miasma, dizziness from ships and vehicles, drunkenness and coma, and physical weakness after quitting smoking, rethinking of smoking, unclear smoking and other critical diseases." It can be seen that "Qing" in the name of the drug refers to clearing heat and relieving summer heat and refreshing taste,"fast" emphasizes that the drug takes effect quickly, and "pill" describes the properties of the drug in a solid form. Even if Chinese characters are also used, the amount of information in Chinese characters far exceeds that in Japanese. The combination of these three characters is of great significance to China people. Although the pharmaceutical company Takahashi Shengdai did not intentionally name the drug, the advertisement of "Qingkuaowan" still reflects the Japanese's ambition to some extent. The ambition of foreign dogs and drug dealers on the trademark Takahashi Shengtang's billboard is the same as the trademark of gentleman with a rolling beard in Rindan, and the drooping dog trademark of Qingkuaimu is very recognizable. However, when Takahashi Shengdang originally advertised the drug, it used not a dog, but a gentleman in a suit who used a hot air balloon to spread leaflets. The original advertisement of "Qingkuai Maru" After the Japanese-Russian War broke out on China's territory, Japan's front line won consecutive victories, and complete occupation of the northeastern region was within reach. The war stimulated demand for drugs, and Takahashi Shengdang decided to enter the China market. After making this important decision, Takahashi Shengadang's first move was to reward foreign dogs as image spokespersons. Takahashi Shandaido's reward advertisement The person in charge of Takahashi Shandaido published the "Preface to the Reward Dog" in the "Osaka Daily Shimbun", explaining the following reasons why foreign dogs were used as a trademark image: After the Meiji Restoration, Western things gradually entered Japan. Takahashi Sundo believes that foreign dogs are stronger than Japanese native dogs in terms of physique, survival ability, reproduction ability, sensitivity, etc. As a member of a nation that despised failed dogs, Takahashi Sundo believes that if Japanese native dogs cannot evolve into Western dogs, they will die out. Driven by this metaphorical business strategy, Takahashi Shengtang finally selected a basset dog named "Little Turtle". Little turtle's former owner was agronomist Miken Ashiatsu. The year before Little Turtle was selected, he went to China as a second lieutenant in the army and died on the frontline highland. Xiao Gui's image helped Qingkuai Pills open up the domestic market in Japan, and also helped the drug go abroad. But the dog seems to have transferred all its luck to Takahashi Shengdai Hall. After the owner passed away, the turtle lacked care and finally died in the year of the collapse of the Qing Dynasty. In 1905, little turtle appeared in the Japanese advertisement for Qingkuaimu. Why was it Hankou? The trigger for the fall of the Qing Dynasty began in Wuchang, and the advertisement for "Qingkuai Pills" was mainly published in Hankou Daily. Is this a coincidence or a historical necessity? Looking at the development trajectory of Japanese businessmen in China may help us find out. In the early days of Japanese doing business in China, Shanghai, which was more open and economically developed, was the place where Japanese businessmen were most concentrated. Among these Japanese businessmen coming to China, Osaka people account for a high proportion. Since Emperor Kotoku moved the capital of Namba in the mid-seventh century AD, Osaka gradually developed into a commercial center. In modern times, wholesale trade, foreign currency exchange and futures trading helped Osaka become an economic city. In the 20th year of Meiji in Japan (1888), the Osaka Trading Company "Yoshida" opened a company in Pidgin near Yan 'an Road in today's Shanghai, becoming a pioneer in Osaka merchants' trade in China. From then on, Osaka businessmen began to rely on the "Yoshida" and began to develop in China with Shanghai as the center. In the early days of entering Shanghai, Japanese merchants mainly focused on retail trade. In the later period, they created a large department store model, gradually expanding their business scope from daily groceries to tobacco cosmetics. However, due to many reasons such as insufficient funds, limited number of commodity varieties, and narrow service scope, Japanese merchants coming to Shanghai do not have an advantage in competition with Western merchants. On October 19, 1896, Japan forced the Qing government to sign the "Special Agreement on Japanese Concession at Treaty Ports" and demarcated the concession in Hankou on July 16, 1898. Japanese businessmen who had lost their business in Shanghai gradually moved to the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Hankou eventually became the most active area for Japanese businessmen in China. Leading companies in Sino-Japanese trade such as Mitsui & Co., Yokohama Maskini Bank, and Nippon Mail Shipping Co., Ltd. All use this area as the main center of activity. The shift in focus of Japanese businesses in China is well reflected in the Qingkuaimu advertising. The relationship between total distribution and sub-distribution could no longer be seen in the 1909 Qingkuaowan advertisement. In the 1907 advertisement, the general distribution office of Qingkuaowan was located at the Pharmaceutical Department of Rixin Foreign Trading Company at No. 100 Zhongshi, Fada Road, Shanghai, while Taixin Commercial Bank located in Longwangmiaohe Street, Hankou was only a distribution point. This total sales status was intentionally or unintentionally weakened in subsequent advertisements. In 1911, when the Qing Dynasty was about to end, the advertising simply no longer marked the distribution address, acquiescing to Hankou's main distribution status. The Qing Dynasty is over, and the Qingkuaiwan is not finished. Contrary to the fate of the Qing Dynasty, Qingkuaiwan ushered in its spring only after the fall of the Qing Dynasty. Especially after the start of the First World War, as European countries were busy with war, the export of western medicine was extremely limited. The Japanese government began to encourage domestic western medicine production, and the pharmaceutical industry gradually flourished, quickly filling the gap in the China western medicine market caused by the withdrawal of the West. In the two years from 1916 to 1918, Shanghai alone quickly added more than ten Japanese-funded pharmacies, including Middle East Pharmacy and Wanchuntang Pharmacy. Among the new pharmacies during the same period, only Xinyi Pharmacy of the Netherlands funded Western countries. Japanese western medicine mostly uses the banner of traditional Chinese medicine "Han Fang", and its names end with "Wan","Tang" and "Dan", which are easy to understand and accept by China. Qingkuai Wan uses the most popular mint flavor at that time, and the price is not expensive-when it first entered the China market in 1907, the large package sold for 25 cents, the medium package sold for 10 cents, and the small package only cost five cents, so it sells very well in China. Tariff and trade data for the fourth year of the Republic of China show that among the drugs imported by China from Japan in the previous year (1914), Rindan and Qingkuai Pills alone reached 95,094 grams of Guanping silver. Calculated based on the value of one Guanping silver at that time, the total import value of these two drugs reached 150,000 silver yuan. In addition to welcoming the tastes and economic purchasing power of China, Qingkuai Wan's advertising also makes great efforts to target the consumer psychology of China. When it first entered the China market, advertisements strongly emphasized that they were a must-have for home and travel: "All society is a beautiful lady, a virtuous lady, a gentleman who serves the public, a lively young man, a strong soldier, a sensitive worker, a passionate artist, a gorgeous famous prostitute, always asking for attention, and you can be in your arms." After praising the various schools of China society, the advertisement focused on the convenience of carrying Qingkuai Pills. Advertisements in 1909 and 1911 focused on its high quality, low price, and curative effects. In 1920, when the Qingkuai pill advertisement appeared again in the Hankou Daily, the advertising style became completely different from before the Republic of China: "The speed of the train, the world and nine states, arrived in an instant, just like the treatment of Qingkuai pill and the internal organs, became popular in an instant. Based on this comparison, it is suitable to match. I tell you that you should take this Qingkuai pill often. Pay attention, pay attention." The advertisement for Qingkuai Pills in Shengjing Daily in 1920 is worth mentioning that the Hankou Daily, which published the advertisement for "Qingkuai Pills", was a newspaper with official colors. On October 15, 1902, Hankou Daily was founded by Zhejiang businessman Song Weichen. It initially published content related to the implementation of the New Deal by the Qing government. In early 1904, it was taken over by Zhang Zhidong and became an official newspaper. The newspaper is printed on sixteen-karat paper and has a total of eight pages. Traditional characters are printed vertically. Each piece sells for ten wen. It is distributed throughout Hubei Province. It also has newspaper sales outlets in Tianjin, Chongqing, Shanghai, Changsha and Hong Kong. The main content is advertising. The advertisement for "Qingkuai Pills" has long occupied a place in the lower left corner of the second page of the newspaper. Hankou Daily, an official newspaper in the late Qing Dynasty, acquiesced in the long-term appearance of the drug name "Qingkuaipan", which sounded very ominous, to a certain extent, distanced the relationship between "Qingkuaipan" and the prediction of the demise of the Qing Dynasty. Later generations of the drug name cried out. The legend of the Empress Dowager Cixi also collapsed. On the other hand, it may be precisely because of the insensitivity of the Qing Dynasty officials that the prediction of "Qingkuaowan (End)" eventually became reality.