Insights and Updates

Forbearance is the breadth of a great person, the very root of the noble; not forbearing over small matters turns them into great ones; not forbearing over good deeds ends in regret. Father and son who forbear not lose kindness and filial piety; brothers who…

"Wujin Wan" (Black-Gold Pill) comes from Readily Available Formulas Explained (Cheng Fang Bian Du). Its composition is: xiangfu (Cyperi Rhizoma) 4 liang (120 g); niuxi (Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix) 1 liang 5 qian (45 g); guigui (cinnamon bark), wulingzhi (Trogopterori Faeces), yanhusuo (Corydalis Rhizoma), danggui (Angelicae…

"Fushen Wan" comes from the Tang-dynasty physician Sun Simiao's Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold (Qianjin Yaofang); in Collected Effective Prescriptions (Jiyan Fang) it was renamed "Xuanbu Wan." Its composition is: huangqi (Astragali Radix), gualou (Trichosanthes), maimendong (Ophiopogonis Radix, heart removed), fushen (Poriae Sclerotium Pararadicis),…

Guilong Chuanke Ling is a modern Chinese patent medicine preparation. Some manufacturers make it as Guilong Chuanke Ling capsules, others as tablets; both dosage forms are available in pharmacies or online drugstores. They have the same composition and the same effects, and patients may choose…

"Qingjin Dan" (Gold-Clearing Elixir) comes from The Systematic Treatise on the Causes and Symptoms of Diseases (Sanyin Jiyi Bingzheng Fang Lun). Its composition is: xingren (Semen Armeniacae; peeled, tip removed, then stir-fried yellow with oyster shell powder and the powder discarded) 1 liang (30 g),…

Since I wrote that I am preparing for next year's college entrance examination (gaokao), many parents have messaged me asking how I prepare and hoping I would share my revision experience for their children to learn from. Because such requests are numerous, today I write…

These past few days at home I have been grinding through solid-geometry problems, and it has made my head ache. Solid geometry demands a great deal of spatial imagination, and my work over the years has had almost nothing to do with that, so I…

From mid-to-late August, the idea began to form in my mind of once again studying the basic subjects—mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology—thoroughly from the ground up, and of raising my English reading and writing to a level where I could read English-language professional books, so…

The Yizong Jinjian (Golden Mirror of the Medical Orthodoxy) contains an external formula called "Fujin Shengji San." Its composition is: Ercha (catechu), Ruxiang (Olibanum), Moyao (Myrrh), Xuejie (Draconis Sanguis), and Han Sanqi (Sedum Notoginseng), each 3 qian (9 g), Bingpian (Borneol) 1 qian (3 g),…

Ganpikang Jiaonang is a Chinese patent medicine. Its herbal composition is: Chaihu (Bupleurum), Huangqi (Astragalus), Baishao (White Peony), Qingpi (Green Tangerine Peel), Baizhu (White Atractylodes), Fuling (Poria), Jineijin (Chicken Gizzard Lining, stir-fried), Sanqi (Pseudoginseng), Jianghuang (Turmeric Rhizome), Yujin (Curcuma), Shuizhi (Leech), Banlangen (Isatis Root), Xiongdan-fen…