Insights and Updates

A major exam is finally over. While reviewing before the exam, my mood was tense and the pressure high; I kept hoping the exam would end soon, planning to relax properly for a few years afterward and take it easy in the days ahead. But…

Dongdi Sanhuang Tang is recorded in Wenbing Tiaobian (Systematized Identification of Warm Diseases). It is composed of "Maimendong (Ophiopogonis Radix) 8 qian, Huanglian (Coptidis Rhizoma) 1 qian, Weigenzhi (fresh Phragmitis Rhizoma juice) half a wine cup (added), Yuanshen (Scrophulariae Radix) 4 qian, Huangbai (Phellodendri Cortex)…

The word yuanfen (fate/destined affinity) appears with very high frequency in Chinese. We often say that whether a man and a woman become husband and wife depends on yuanfen; whether two strangers become close friends depends on yuanfen; teachers and students have their yuanfen, and…

I do not like rushing about, especially not traveling fully kitted out during a pandemic, but for the past week or more I have been traveling everywhere. During a pandemic, eating, drinking, toileting, and sleeping away from home all require great care; if there were…

These days, under the guidance of a respected elder (a TCM chief physician), I have carefully reviewed my insights from treating cancer over the years and written an outline-style summary. Under his guidance, this manuscript went through more than a dozen revisions before it was…

Because I am away on business and it is inconvenient to use a computer, new articles will not be updated from today through this weekend. Your understanding is appreciated! Zhou Zhiyuan November 3, 2021

The daughter of an osteosarcoma patient had been troubled for years by gynecological bleeding of unknown cause, which had resisted treatment. Because I had treated her father, she asked me to try prescribing a formula for her. During the inquiry, the patient reported that for…

After lunch, I went for another walk to the Medicine King Temple on the hill behind the neighboring village. Last night an autumn wind blew through, and my hometown felt as if it had entered autumn overnight; yellow leaves covered the hills and plains. Beijing…

I have been back in the village for eleven days; city life is growing more and more distant. The countryside at this season is sparsely populated; walking in the fields, I rarely meet anyone. Many returnees might feel sad at this sight, but I do…

On an after-dinner walk, I ran into Uncle Zhongde, who was herding his ducks into an abandoned greenhouse in the village. A few years earlier, on a sudden whim, the village party secretary spent village money to build two greenhouses in our village; they have…