Insights and Updates

Readers have kept asking me about my gaokao admission results; I will answer once here. This year I have been admitted to the clinical medicine program (commonly called "Western medicine") at a public medical school in the north, not far from Beijing. I am very…

Zhang Jiapeng (1925–1992) was a researcher at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (now the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences). He studied under famous TCM physicians Ran Xuefeng, Yue Meizhong, and Zhao Xiwu. With over forty years of clinical practice, he excelled at…

Jingu Tongxiao Wan (Sinew-Bone Pain-Relief Pill) is a Chinese patent medicine; as its name suggests, it treats sinew and bone pain. Its ingredients include salvia root (danshen), Clematis chinensis root (weilingxian), Spatholobus stem (jixueteng), cyperus (xiangfu, vinegar-processed), Lindera root (wuyao), gentiana macrophylla stem (qinjiao), rehmannia…

Xinnaojian Jiaonang (or Xinnaojian Pian, Heart-Brain Health) is a patent medicine made from tea extract. The tablets are sugar-coated, appearing brown after coating removal; the capsules contain brown powder, bitter and slightly astringent in taste. Each tablet or capsule contains 0.1g of tea extract (calculated…

Zaizhang Shengxue Pian (Aplastic-Anemia Blood-Generating Tablets) is a Chinese patent medicine. Its composition includes dodder seed (tusizi), red ginseng (hongshen), Spatholobus stem (jixueteng), donkey-hide gelatin (ejiao), astragalus root (huangqi), Chinese angelica (danggui), and glossy privet fruit (nüzhenzi). The tablets are sugar-coated; after the coating is…

Professor Li Zizhi, a disciple of Shi Jinmo and one of the founders of Gansu University of Chinese Medicine, once used a heat-clearing and toxin-resolving method to treat a case of shingles. The case is as follows: Cui, a 65-year-old man, first visited on February…

Soufeng Wan (Wind-Searching Pill) comes from the Ming-dynasty Confucian physician Wu Min's Fushou Jingfang (Essential Longevity Formulas). Its composition: gastrodia tuber (tianma) 96g, scrophularia root (xuanshen) 93g, Dioscorea hypoglauca (bixie, ground into powder) 93g, Eucommia bark (duzhong, wine-fried to remove the threads) 105g, prepared aconite…

"Baijin Wan" (White-Metal Pill) was first recorded in the Song-dynasty physician Xu Shwei's Puji Benshi Fang (Effective Formulas from Universal Aid), which states: "For mania-depression arising from melancholy, with phlegm-saliva blocking the pericardium and the orifices of the heart: 3 liang of alum (baifan), 7…

Professor Zhu Chenyu held that, according to traditional TCM theory, the teeth belong to the kidney and the gums to the stomach; therefore all toothache or gingival swelling and pain should be treated by nourishing the kidney and clearing heat, and by clearing and draining…

Jinshui Liujun Jian (Metal-Water Six-Gentlemen Decoction) comes from Zhang Jingyue's Jingyue Quanshu of the Ming dynasty. Its composition: Chinese angelica (danggui) 2 qian (6g), prepared rehmannia (shudihuang) 3–5 qian (9–15g), tangerine peel (chenpi) 1.5 qian (4.5g), pinellia (banxia) 2 qian (6g), honey-fried licorice (zhigancao) 1…