Malia's note: After reading a recently published article through the New York Times entitled, Does Your Language Shape How You Think?, Shawn and I have recently reopened and rehashed a discussion that has continued off and on since our days as OM stu… more »

By Eric Brand China is a large country with a diverse ecosystem and a long history of trade in medicinal products. China’s early development of a common written language and efficient transportation routes allowed herbs to be employed in regions far… more »

By Eric Brand Human placenta, known in Chinese medicine as Zi He Che, is not permitted for use as a dietary supplement in the United States. The official FDA position on Zi He Che is that human placenta is not a food or a dietary ingredient. They s… more »

By Eric Brand I want to share a few links that are pretty interesting. This article is scientific paper that provides a comprehensive overview of complex aspects of herbal quality control. While it is far from the simple and traditional method of b… more »

Jade Windscreen (Yu Ping Feng San) is an interesting formula because it has variations in its official dosage and classification. There is also disagreement about the earliest source text for this formula. Some sources list the 1347 CE text Dān X… more »

Eric's note: The other day one of our readers spontaneously sent me the following essay that relates to Chinese medical translation. I have a lot of thoughts on translation myself and I will probably follow up with another blog on language and terminol… more »

By Eric Brand Pictured above is a very interesting specimen of Bai Zhu. In comparison to the standard product, this item is much more yellow, pliable, sweet, and aromatic. Standard Bai Zhu in its unprocessed state is usually less yellow and more gr… more »

By Eric Brand At this point, regular readers have nearly certainly deduced that I am a nerd. I love nothing more than spending my free time reading random articles and books about herbs, and the only real limitation is that I don’t have much in the… more »

By Eric Brand In yesterday's blog I touched on the subject of classical formulas. When students first learn about classical formulas, we often have to memorize their indications for exams; these indications seem obscure and different than typical pa… more »

By Eric Brand I recently had the pleasure of translating a weekend course for Prof. Huang Huang from the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. Organized by Sharon Weizenbaum, the course was set in a beautiful location in the forests of Amherst, MA… more »

By Eric Brand Many of my former acupuncture students took their CA board exams the other day, and I’d like to congratulate them on this important milestone. The exams are something of a completion ritual after a long haul, and I vividly remember the… more »

Yesterday I posted some concerns by Shawn and Malia, two of our Blue Poppy Customer Service reps. They were horrified by some of the unethical and even illegal behaviors that seem to be out there among members of our profession. Their concerns echo a co… more »

By Eric Brand Several different processing methods are used for Man Jing Zi (Viticis Fructus). Historically it has been processed with a wide range of methods: soaked in wine, steamed, stir-fried, boiled in wine, steamed with wine and then stir-frie… more »

What in heaven's name could I say more about any of the following. I think your experience speaks for itself. Hi Bob, Malia and I [Shawn Kirby, Malia Kirby, practitioners on staff here at Blue Poppy] had a discussion recently and thought we wou… more »

By Eric Brand We are having a beautiful summer in Colorado, and yesterday by my house I saw two young deer with magnificent antlers forming. The antlers were still in their young, velvet stage so the two bucks were still getting along, foraging for… more »

By Eric Brand He Huan Hua (Albizziae Flos) is a medicinal that was first explicitly recorded in the literature in the Qing dynasty (1644-1911 CE). The bark has a much more extensive history of use, and was explicitly listed in Sun Si-Miao’s Tang dyn… more »

By Eric Brand We just got the Blue Poppy office hooked up with an incredible online resource for Chinese medical research. Essentially we got a private version of the institutional software system that Chinese universities use, which contains 98% of… more »

By Eric Brand I'll be doing a free lecture on granules here at Blue Poppy next Monday, August 9th at 5:00 pm. All are welcome, it is totally free and casual. We'll go until about 6:30 pm or whenever the class can get me to shut up. The location is… more »

By Eric Brand True to my herb nerd nature, as a matter of course I feel the need to check out the herb shops in every place that I go. Over the years I’ve found some real gems that are worth sharing, and even though my experience is naturally a bit… more »