Insights and Updates

Recently I have been working on my new website www.zhiyuanzhai.com, intending to use it to systematically organize and present my articles. I have not designed a new website for nearly ten years, and many skills have faded. I recall that around the year 2000, when…

Since last year, one of my right-side molars has been giving me trouble; food and water that are too cold or too hot both cause it pain, as do sour and spicy foods. Recently I plan to book a dental appointment to deal with this…

The first chapter of the Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon), titled "Shanggu Tianzhen Lun" (On the Innocence of Antiquity), takes up human mental hygiene from its very opening. In this chapter, the Yellow Emperor asks his teacher Qi Bo: "I have heard that people…

Over the past two years I have grown very fond of biology and often read various biological works. As I read, I increasingly feel that biology can be even more inspiring than philosophy. According to biologists, life on Earth began with single-celled organisms. Over billions…

On the day of my son's coming-of-age ceremony, I went to his school. During the three pandemic years the school was strictly managed; this was only the second time since he entered high school that we had been allowed into the school for a public…

Without my noticing, I have been writing on the official account for eight years, having composed more than two thousand original articles in all. Many have already been deleted, and others will be deleted. Because when I began writing, my thinking was immature and my…

In Lan Shi Mi Cang (Secrets from the Orchid Chamber), there is an empirical formula of Li Dongyuan for treating urinary retention called Zishen Tongguan Wan (Kidney-Nourishing Passage-Restoring Pill). It is composed of Huangbai (Phellodendri Cortex, peeled) 1 liang (30g), Zhimu (Anemarrhenae Rhizoma, washed in…

Goiter is a common condition. In mild cases, only an enlargement of the thyroid gland in the neck is noticed; the swelling is soft rather than hard, and may be accompanied by nodules. When the goiter is very large, symptoms such as a sensation of…

The Ming-dynasty physician Qin Changyu (courtesy name Jingming), in his work Bing Yin Mai Zhi (Treatment of Disease According to Cause, Symptom and Pulse; for an introduction to Qin Changyu and his works see my article The Late-Ming TCM Master Qin Jingming and His Work…

The Qing-dynasty famous physician Cheng Guopeng (courtesy name Zhongling), in his work Yixue Xinwu (Medical Mind Awakening), has a chapter titled Shuizhong Xinwu (Mind Awakening on Edema), which specifically discusses the treatment of edema disease and is of considerable reference value.Cheng Guopeng divided edema into…