Insights and Updates

Xuejie was originally called Qilinjie ("qilin's blood") and was first recorded in the mineral and drug section of Lei Gong Paozhi Lun (Master Lei's Treatise on Processing). The Newly Revised Materia Medica (Xinxiu Bencao) listed zike resin together with qilinjie in a single entry, also…

I often have to say "please accept my condolences," because in my work and life I constantly receive obituaries—someone is always telling me that a member of their family has "passed away." At first, death provoked strong reactions in me: I would grieve, feel sorrow,…

There are many illnesses that medicine cannot solve. Neither modern medicine nor traditional medicine can solve all disease problems; there are always medical puzzles beyond what any doctor can solve. As patients, how can we live relatively better when medicine cannot solve our problems? In…

Ruxiang (frankincense) and moyo (myrrh) are resins of two trees of the Burseraceae family—the frankincense tree and the myrrh tree—native to Somalia and Ethiopia in Africa as well as to India. As early as more than 2,000 years ago they were carried along the Silk…

Sanleng, also called Jing Sanleng, is the tuber of Sparganium stoloniferum (family Sparganiaceae). It is odorless with a mild taste; when chewed it leaves a slight numbing, tingling sensation. The best pieces are heavy, firm, and yellowish-white. It is used raw after slicing, or processed…

In July 2012, about two months after my mother passed away, I stayed home by her grave in mourning. Both my father and I were grief-stricken, especially my father, who often lost control; anything that stirred a memory of my mother would bring tears streaming…

My father is now a man in his seventies. Recently, after doctors at home failed to help him with his constipation, he came to stay with me so that I could care for and treat him. Unlike his previous visits, which never lasted long in…

The action of force is mutual; when we influence the outside world, it also influences us. So whether a person can live in this world with little disturbance depends entirely on his own attitude toward the world. Humans are social animals and cannot avoid dealing…

On June 23, 2019, Professor Wang Lei, former vice president of the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and a renowned colorectal-cancer specialist, died of pancreatic cancer after unsuccessful treatment, at the age of 50. Like him, other physicians who were both famous anti-cancer…

As long as a formula treats cancerous tumors, it almost inevitably contains Ezhu (Curcuma rhizome). The zedoary oil extracted from Ezhu is also often used by Western interventional departments in the interventional treatment of liver cancer. Ezhu not only has a direct tumor-killing action but…