Insights and Updates

The toad, also called laihama, is the whole body of Bufo gargarizans (Chinese large toad) or Bufo melanostictus (black-spectacled toad) of the Bufonidae family, found everywhere in China. It dwells in moist grass and is common at night or after rain, feeding on various harmful…

The centipede, also called Wugong (Wugong, Tianlong, Baijiao, Baiwuchong), is the whole body of Scolopendra subspinipes and Scolopendra multidens of the Scolopendridae family. Centipede has a very long history of medicinal use. Shennong Bencao Jing (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica) includes centipede, holding that it "maintains…

The leech (mahuang) is a Chinese herb commonly used in oncology. Whether leech should be used in tumor patients is controversial in academic circles. Some scholars believe hirudin carries the risk of promoting hematogenous metastasis of cancer cells, while others believe leech helps improve tumor…

The scorpion is a venomous insect, but it has also been a Chinese herb used clinically from ancient times to the present. Not only did the ancient Chinese like to use scorpion medicinally, modern pharmaceutical manufacturers do too; Cuban blue scorpion venom (escorazul) is an…

Dilong, commonly called earthworm (qiuyin, qushan, chongshan), is found everywhere. From ancient times to the present, Chinese people have used earthworm medicinally. The earliest Chinese pharmacopoeia, Shennong Bencao Jing (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica), classified it as a lower-grade herb; lower-grade herbs "eliminate cold and heat…

Some talented young people in Chinese medicine have asked me to share my experience of self-protection in medical practice. I am a practitioner who took up Chinese medicine late, essentially self-taught. I have practiced Chinese medicine for more than ten years; my virtue is thin…

Yesterday evening, the son-in-law of a patient with reflux esophagitis came to me to adjust the prescription for his father-in-law. I had previously prescribed five doses of Chinese herbs for the old man, and they heard the effects were quite good; only the problem of…

Honeysuckle (Jinyinhua) is the flower bud of Lonicera japonica, Lonicera confusa, Lonicera hypoglauca, and Lonicera fulvotomentosa of the Caprifoliaceae family. On the market, honeysuckle is further divided into two types, Jinyinhua and Shanyinhua (wild honeysuckle); the flower buds of Lonicera confusa and Lonicera fulvotomentosa are…

These days I have been busy. To finish some important work, I spend whole days immersed in piles of medical materials, reading and organizing the literature, with no time to sit quietly and write a proper article. My daily posts feel like mere perfunctory updates,…

Dingyu Lizhong Tang comes from the Yizong Jinjian. It is built on the Lizhong Wan formula of the Shanghan Lun by adding dingxiang (Clove) and wuzhuyu (Evodia), and changing the pill to a decoction. It consists of six herbs—dingxiang, wuzhuyu, dangshen (Codonopsis), chao baizhu (fried…