Insights and Updates

Today is my 45th birthday; after this day I enter my 46th year (47 by nominal Chinese age). Yesterday, a judge from the Beijing Financial Court sent me the final-instance judgment in the subrogation-recovery dispute between me and an insurance company. The final instance upheld…

In Yixue Rumen (Introduction to Medicine) there is a folk prescription called "Zhugan Wan" (Pig-Liver Pills), specifically for abdominal masses (zhengjia) with stabbing pain. The pills are prepared as follows: take one whole pig liver (i.e., one entire lobe) and 50 Ba Dou (croton) seeds;…

In Zabing Yuanliu Xizhu (Lamp-Holding at the Source of Miscellaneous Diseases) there is a formula called "Chen's Sangjian Decoction" (Chen's Mulberry-Tip Decoction); in Leizheng Zhicai (Treatment Patterns Organized by Categories) it bears the alternative name "Sangjian Decoction." Its composition is: Nen Sangzhi Jian (tender mulberry…

In Stephen Chow's comedy film Kung Fu Hustle, there is a shot in which, as the Landlady chases Stephen Chow, they pass a huge billboard advertising a product called "Ganji San," which the ad says treats pediatric ganji (infantile nutritional impairment). Ganji is a traditional…

Yanling Yishou Dan (Life-Extending and Longevity-Promoting Pellets) comes from Cixi Guangxu Yifang Xuanyi (Selected Discussions on the Medical Prescriptions of Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu). Its composition is: Fushen (Poriae cum Pini Radis), 15 g; Yuanzhi (Polygalae Radix), 9 g; Hang Baishao (white Paeonia…

Early this morning, I opened the "E-Zhaotong" system to check my admission status and found that it had changed from "institutionally pre-admitted" to "admitted," indicating that I have been admitted this year to the institution I applied to in the national college entrance examination. I…

In Dantai Yunan (Jade Records from the Cinnabar Terrace) there is a formula called Jiedu Decoction (Detoxification Decoction). Its composition is: Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix), Huanglian (Coptidis Rhizoma), and Huangbo (Phellodendri Cortex), each 1 qian (3 g); Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma), Lianqiao (Forsythiae Fructus), Tianhuafen…

Throughout the summer vacation, I spent essentially every day at the National Library of China. I would arrive at the new building shortly after eight in the morning to queue up; when the library opened at nine, I would rush into the reading room at…

Laryngeal cough (hou yuan xing kesou) is a disease characterized by paroxysms of intolerable throat itching and incessant dry cough; it is a common clinical condition. In the early 1980s, the famous otolaryngology TCM physician Professor Gan Zuwang first proposed this disease name in his…

How should cancer patients eat? Many patients have asked me this; today I write an article specifically to set out my personal views on the question. First, all cancer patients should avoid foods high in carcinogens and those that may trigger poisoning or allergy risk,…