TCM Chat ⁽⁹⁶⁾

A patient once said to me that doctors need medical virtue, and patients also need "patient virtue." It is a fine saying. In our cancer circle, an old brother known as "Shengdi Mei Ya" once wrote an article titled, I believe, "Being a Good Patient."…

Today the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party closed. Though I do not care about politics, deep down I truly hope our China can become stronger. I believe that only when our country grows strong will Chinese civilization stand tall once more among the…

The debate between Chinese and Western medicine has a long history. As early as the Meiji Restoration in Japan, a controversy arose between kampo physicians (TCM) and Dutch-style physicians (Western medicine). With the arrival of Western civilization—especially the influence of anatomy brought by the Dutch—the…

This is some of what I tell my students in class; I now set it down as an essay for everyone's correction. First, the doctor treats the patient, not the disease. So the first checkpoint in treating illness is treating the person (bian ren lun…

I never imagined that one day I would become depressed. I was a born optimist; my older brother once called me a blind optimist, which shows how sunny my outlook was when young. But now I must admit: I am depressed. The enormous workload means…

The late renowned Shanghai physician Qiu Peiran once said that doctor-patient mutual alignment is an important guarantee of therapeutic effect, and he wrote a long article describing it in detail. The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon), the classic of TCM, also repeatedly stresses the…

Once, when invited to see an out-of-town patient, I met a family member over seventy. During our conversation, the older man told me: "My only hope is to ease my wife's suffering. Her cancer is already at an advanced stage; to demand that doctors cure…

The Japanese say that the secret not handed down in TCM lies in dosage. The dosage of Chinese herbs determines clinical efficacy, yet dosage is hard to master. Once a doctor prescribed a formula; the patient took it as directed with no effect. Growing impatient,…

Beijing's healthcare reform has finally begun: registration fees have been abolished and a medical service fee introduced, though the internet is full of curses. My title and content may both attract abuse, but I do not care. For Chinese medicine to advance, we must respect…

Li Dongyuan, a great physician of China's Jin-Yuan period, took on a disciple named Luo Qianfu. When accepting the disciple, Li asked Luo: "Have you come to learn medicine as a money-making trade, or to learn medicine as a way to transmit the Way?" Luo…