Insights and Updates

Recently, an unspeakably tragic incident occurred in Chongqing: an emotionally overwrought young mother threw her young child from a high-rise building, killing the child on the spot. Before the incident, the mother was completely in a manic state. Videos circulating online show that people on…

Shizhen Guoyi Guoyao (2003, 14.12) once published an experiential formula for treating insomnia in the elderly. It is an augmentation of the "Suanzaoren Tang" (Sour Jujube Seed Decoction) from Jingui Yaolue (Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet). The formula is: Bulbus Lilii (baihe) 30 g,…

On April 2, 2024, Juan Mora, a Venezuelan elder, died at the age of 114. He was the world's oldest living male certified by Guinness World Records in 2022—since women live longer on average than men, he is also the oldest male known worldwide. Mora…

The late veteran TCM physician Professor Zhao Xinbo had his own set of mature experiential formulas for treating liver cirrhosis, excerpted below. Early-stage cirrhosis patients presenting with a dropping pain in the hypochondrium, a swollen and hard liver, bitter mouth, yellow urine, and a little…

In Qianjin Yaofang (Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold) there is a formula called "Muli San" (Oyster Shell Powder), composed of Oyster Shell (muli), Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae (baizhu) and Radix Saposhnikoviae (fangfeng) in equal parts. Grind together into a powder; each time take 1 qian…

Between Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace and Bayi Lake in Yuyuantan there is a jade-belt-like river about ten kilometers long: that is the Kunyu River. The Kunyu River is part of the Jingmi Diversion Canal, which supplies drinking water to the residents of Beijing,…

The great scientist Isaac Newton, the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, and the film star Marilyn Monroe all experienced abandonment in early childhood, and were tormented all their lives by a profound sense of abandonment. Newton eventually developed schizophrenia; Schopenhauer had a very typical bipolar tendency; and…

"Duanke Tang" (Thirst-Stopping Decoction) comes from Jifeng Puji Fang (Rooster-Wind Prescriptions for Universal Relief). It is composed as follows: Mume flesh (wumei rou) 2 liang (60 g); Radix Ophiopogonis (maimendong), Radix Ginseng (renshen), Radix Glycyrrhizae (gancao), Poria (fuling) and Radix Puerariae (gegen), each 1 liang…

In Yixue Gangmu (Outline of Medicine) there is a very simple proven formula called "Guzhong Wan" (Center-Securing Pill), composed of Rhizoma Atractylodis (cangzhu) and Semen Myristicae (roudoukou) in equal parts. Preparation: powder the above herbs, use rice gruel as the excipient, and form into pills…

In Taiping Shenghui Fang (Imperial Grace Formulary of the Taiping Era) there is a formula called "Chen Jupi San" (Aged Tangerine-Leaf Powder), composed as follows: aged Tangerine Peel (chen jupi, i.e. Chenpi) 30 g, Myrobalan peel (hezi pi) 15 g, red Poria (chi fuling) 15…