TCM Chat ⁽⁹⁶⁾

In ancient Chinese medicine, the transition between summer and autumn is called late summer (changxia), a season when diarrhea easily occurs. The Suwen's "Jin Gui Zhen Yan Lun, Chapter 4" states: "Thus in spring one is prone to nasal bleeding; in midsummer to chest and…

Patients and families often ask me about the efficacy of folk remedies. Usually behind each remedy lies a miracle story of a cancer patient's recovery, but in my ten-plus years of practice I have never seen a single verified case of anyone reproducing such a…

Zhang Zhongjing was a famous physician of the late Eastern Han dynasty, yet the Sanguozhi (Records of the Three Kingdoms) and the Hou Hanshu (Book of the Later Han) mention not a word about him, while Hua Tuo, a contemporary, has a biography. Thus almost…

Professor Hu Xishu wrote a short essay titled "On Formula Patterns." The essay is concise and to the point, and captures the crux of TCM clinical practice. Old Master Hu said: "In TCM pattern differentiation, we do not differentiate only the six meridians and eight…

The development of TCM is not the achievement of one age, let alone of one person. Neither Yi Yin nor Zhang Zhongjing could have completed such a thing alone. It came from experience, so TCM is, simply put, empirical medicine, worked out in the struggle…

The classical-formula school of TCM attaches particular importance to formula patterns (fangzheng) and herb indications (yaozheng). Of course, many in the classical-formula school have a regrettable habit: they revere only the limited ancient formulas recorded by Zhang Zhongjing and dismiss effective later formulas, which is…

How can the clinical cure rate of TCM be raised? Although opinions differ, one point is commonly esteemed: the importance of TCM pattern differentiation and treatment (bianzheng lunzhi). But when it comes to pattern differentiation, the TCM world has had many disputes since ancient times,…

Professor Liu Fangbo believes that the most effective way to raise the clinical efficacy of physicians is to start from "formula-pattern" (fangzheng); I agree with this view. The key to TCM pattern differentiation and treatment is "for this pattern, use this medicine" and "treat according…

Anthropologists study the coprolites (fossilized feces) of ancient people to learn their diets. Coprolites contain many things—pollen, plant crystals, feathers, bones, hair, eggshells—which help us understand what our ancestors ate day to day. Beyond doubt, the diet of early humans was far broader than that…

From time to time people ask me how one should study TCM. I am flattered that these readers think me qualified to offer guidance; some even hope I would launch online courses to teach TCM. But I am well aware of my own limited ability,…