Insights and Updates

Huanglian Ejiao Tang comes from Zhang Zhongjing's Shanghan Lun. In the chapter on Shaoyin disease pattern differentiation and treatment, a line reads: "In Shaoyin disease, after two or more days, if there is vexation in the heart and inability to lie down, Huanglian Ejiao Tang…

Danggui Liuhuang Tang is a classic formula from the "Spontaneous Sweating" chapter of Lanshi Micang (Orchid Chamber Secret Storage). The original text describes its effect in a single sentence: "Danggui Liuhuang Tang is the sovereign medicine for night sweats." Night sweats refer to sweating during…

Qingzao Jiufei Tang (Dryness-Clearing Lung-Rescuing Decoction) is a celebrated Chinese medicine formula for respiratory diseases. It comes from Yimen Falü (Medical Principles and Laws) by Yu Chang, a famed physician of the early Qing. Yu Chang (style name Jiayan, hao Xichan Laoren) lived from the…

Today my child started school. After breakfast, I cycled with him to the school gate, only to be told parents were not allowed in. My son scanned his health code and went in, so I took the opportunity to drop by the National Library. I…

Because of the pandemic, we reduced contact with the outside world and gained a lot of extra time. To add pleasure to life and to lower the chance of catching COVID-19 at supermarkets and markets (we have not been to a supermarket for seven months,…

To understand the Medical Sage Zhang Zhongjing, one must set him against his contemporaries. His exact birth and death years are unknown, but one thing is certain: he was a physician of the Jian'an era. Zhang was already practicing medicine at the start of the…

The Qixi Festival, when everyone shows off their love, also happens to be my mother's birthday. The date is so special that I could not forget it even if I tried. Every Qixi, I miss my mother deeply, her image filling my mind. Although she…

On August 24, the weather was fine, and we made a spontaneous decision to go on a long ride. We set our destination at Yanchi Town, 62.4 kilometers from home, making for a round trip of 124.8 kilometers. Yanchi is a very remote town in…

Zen Master Hakuin was the restorer of the Rinzai school in Japan. Near the temple where Hakuin practiced lived a family with a young unmarried daughter who had an illicit affair and bore a child. This enraged her parents, and her father pressed her to…

In the twinkling of an eye, from sowing to harvest to pulling out the now-old stalks, I have completed a full season of vegetable growing. During this time, our family of three has also built the exercise habit we had wanted to build for years…