Insights and Updates

Qingjing San comes from Fu Qingzhu Nüke (Fu Qingzhu’s Gynecology) and is a formula by Fu Qingzhu for treating advanced menstruation in women. It is composed of: Digupi (Lycii Cortex) 5 qian (15 g); Mudanpi (Moutan Cortex), Chao Baishao (white Paeoniae Radix, dry-fried), and Shudihuang…

Lingzhu Erchen Jian comes from volume 51 of the Jingyue Quanshu (Complete Works of Zhang Jingyue) by Zhang Jingyue, the outstanding Ming-dynasty physician. Its composition is: Zhuling (Polyporus) 1.5 qian; Baizhu (Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma) 1–2 qian; Zexie (Alismatis Rhizoma) 1.5 qian; Chenpi (Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium)…

Qiwei Baizhu San comes from the Xiao’er Yaozheng Jue (Key to Therapeutics of Children’s Diseases) and is an experienced formula of Qian Yi, the great Song-dynasty pediatrician. It is built on Sijunzi Tang (Four-Gentlemen Decoction), with the addition of Huoxiang Ye (Agastaches Folium), Muxiang (Aucklandiae…

Daige San comes from volume 4 of the Yi Shuo (Medical Expositions) by Zhang Gao (Southern Song dynasty), a famous physician of the Xin’an medical school (cited from the Leibian). It is composed of Qingdai (Indigo Naturalis) and bang-fen (clam shell powder) in a 1:10…

Zhang Xichun was a great master of the integrated Chinese-Western medicine school during the Republican era. In his Yixue Zhongzhong Canxi Lu (Record of Mediating Chinese and Western Medicine) there is a formula called Yipi Bing (Spleen-Benefiting Cake) that looks less like a Chinese-medicine prescription…

Bulaowan (Ageless Pill) comes from volume 5 of the Wei Shi Jia Cang Fang (Wei Family’s Secret Prescriptions). This book was compiled by the Song-dynasty physician Wei Xian, who gathered medical prescriptions from three generations—his grandfather, his father, and himself—and it contains many proven, effective…

There have been quite a few big news stories lately; the one that caught my attention most was about the mathematician Yitang Zhang—because my son’s dream is to become a mathematician. This Chinese-American mathematician, who rose to fame only late in life, quoted a line…

Recently, possibly because of the weather, or possibly because I was struck by an influenza virus, my tonsils became red and swollen again and my nose was blocked. Swallowing brought a stabbing pain in both my throat and my ears, together with tinnitus, a ringing…

When I was a child in the countryside, huge rats were everywhere. But in today's countryside, large rats have nearly vanished; only the house mouse, far smaller than the old rats, remains. Why? Did food shortage make rats smaller?Actually this is natural selection (or artificial…

If you have flat feet and suffer from collapsed medial arches, when you enter a doctor's office they will, per modern guidelines, recommend special shoes to improve symptoms, or suggest surgery to relieve the pain.This is correct and standard from modern medicine's standpoint, but actually,…