Your Guide to Traditional Chinese Medicine
Learn TCM concepts, herbs, acupoints, and wellness practices — explained in plain language.
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TCM Basics
Core concepts like Yin-Yang, Five Elements, Qi, and the organ systems.
🌿Chinese Herbs
A growing database of commonly used Chinese medicinal herbs.
📜Herbal Formulas
Classic and modern herbal combinations explained.
📍Acupoints & Meridians
Explore key acupuncture points and meridian pathways.
👁️TCM Diagnosis
The four diagnostic methods: inspection, auscultation, inquiry, and palpation.
🍵Wellness & Prevention
Seasonal tips, lifestyle advice, and preventive care from a TCM perspective.
Featured Articles
Yun Qi Theory (五运六气): Chinese Medicine's Calendar of Climate and Epidemics
Yun qi — 'five movements and six qi' — is the most ambitious theory in the Neijing: it uses the sexagenary calendar to predict each year's climate tendencies and the diseases likely to follow. Liu Wansu built a school on it; modern researchers argue about it. An honest introduction to TCM's most controversial theory.
Pu Ji Fang (普济方): The Largest Formulary Ever Compiled
Compiled in the early 1400s under Zhu Su, the Prince of Zhou, the Pu Ji Fang collected more than 61,000 prescriptions — the biggest formula book in Chinese history, and a library of a thousand years of clinical practice compressed into one Ming dynasty project.
Tianzhu (BL10): The 'Heavenly Pillar' That Holds Up Your Head
Tianzhu (天柱, BL10) sits below the occiput on the Bladder meridian — the pillar of the neck. It is a first-line point for stiff necks, occipital headaches, desk-worker neck tension, and the modern complaint of neck-driven insomnia.
Latest Articles
Qi Ji (气机): The Dynamic of Rising, Falling, Entering, Leaving
Chinese medicine pictures qi not as a substance sitting still but as a traffic system — ascending, descending, entering, exiting. When that movement jams, reverses, or collapses, illness follows. Understanding qi ji (the qi dynamic) explains why TCM treats bloating, hiccups, prolapse, and stuck moods the way it does.
classicsZun Sheng Ba Jian (遵生八笺, 1591): The Ming Dynasty Manual for the Art of Living
Gao Lian's Zun Sheng Ba Jian — 'Eight Treatises on Following the Principles of Life' — is the largest lifestyle-medicine book of the Ming dynasty: seasonal regimens, diet, tea, sleep, exercise, incense, and the philosophy of living well. It reads like a 1591 manual for everything this website covers.
acupointsYingxiang (LI20): The 'Welcoming Fragrance' Point for a Blocked Nose
Yingxiang (迎香, LI20) sits right beside the nostril, and its name says what it does — restore the ability to smell. It is the first-choice acupoint for nasal congestion, allergic rhinitis, and sinus pressure, and one of the easiest points to self-massage.
wellnessEating Vegetarian the TCM Way: What Plant-Based Diets Get Right and What They Miss
TCM is neither pro- nor anti-vegetarian — it asks whether your particular body is being nourished. The Neijing's famous line 'grains for nourishment, fruits for support, livestock for benefit, vegetables for supplement' holds the framework. Here is how vegetarians avoid the blood- and yang-deficiency traps.
formulasShao Yao Gan Cao Tang (芍药甘草汤): Two Herbs, One Leg Cramp Remedy
Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang is the smallest formula in the Shang Han Lun — just peony and licorice in equal parts. Zhang Zhongjing used it for calf cramps so severe the patient could not stretch; Song dynasty doctors nicknamed it 'the walking-stick-discarding decoction.' It is still the go-to TCM prescription for muscle spasm.
wellnessWhy You Crave Sugar: A TCM View on the Sweet Tooth
In Chinese medicine the sweet flavor belongs to the Spleen — a little strengthens digestion, but constant sugar cravings are usually read as a Spleen crying for help, not a weak will. Here is the TCM logic behind sugar cravings and what to do about it without white-knuckling.