Written by Dr. Shouchun Ma

Translated by Lenna Xie

秋夫治鬼
一一故事新编 （闲云）
古有名医，名秋夫，医术高超，远近闻名。
一日半夜，听门外有哭泣之声。诉腰痛难忍，请秋夫为之治疗。秋夫开门，不见人影。正在奇怪，只听见一个声音说道，我是鬼，无形无影。秋夫正色道，我是人医，不能治鬼，请勿打扰！良久，一个声音凄楚啜泣而去。
一连三日，秋夫动了恻隐之心，问，你无形无影我怎么治疗？鬼说，你是名医，一定能夠想出常人想不到的办法。
秋夫苦思，终得一法，鬼再至时，问其名，遂将其名写在纸条上，贴在扎好的稻草人身上，祭奠后照腰痛法为其扎银针治疗。
次日，一翩翩公子登门道谢，谓腰痛已愈，感激不尽。秋夫正欲询问，公子忽然不见。此后秋夫治病如有神助！
此故事根据《太平广记》秋夫治鬼新编。
闲云谓，为中医者，不仅要博，而且要思，要悟，悟是最高层次。有谓“博极则心灵自啟，思极则神鬼皆通”（马寿椿）

Chinese Fable — Qui Fu Treatment Ghost

A long time ago, there was a famous Chinese doctor, named Qui Fu. His healing ability was so widely known that patients travelled from around the world to seek his treatment.

One night, Qui Fu heard a sobbing sound and voice crying for his help to alleviate severe back pain. However, when Qui Fu opened his door, he saw no one.

To his surprised, he heard a voice utter: “I am a ghost. You can’t see me but please help me.” Qui Fu replied: “I treat human beings – not ghosts. Please leave me alone” and went inside his house. The sobbing sound continued for quite a while, but then subsided.

Three days later, he again heard the sad moaning of the ghost and asked:” I am a human being and you are a ghost. I even cannot see you. How then can I treat you?” The ghost said that you are an ingenious doctor and surely haves some extraordinary power to heal me. After mulling over the ghost’s predicament for several days, Qui Fu contrived a method for treating the ghost.

When the ghost returned, he obtained his name and then constructed a straw man bearing the ghost’s name.  After a ceremonial ritual, he used his needles to perform acupuncture on the straw man’s body as though he were treating a human. The following day, a man appeared at his door. He told him that his back pain was gone and expressed deep gratitude for the treatment. Before Qui Fu could ask for his identity, the man disappeared before his eyes.

From then, Qui Fu became even better doctor, healing patient as though he had been endowed with magical powers.

The moral of the story:  A traditional Chinese doctor not only needs to have conventional knowledge, he must also profoundly comprehend his knowledge and most important, apply his knowledge wisely. Then, he can even cure a ghost.

© Ma’s Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, 2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.

Chatting about Tea

Written by Dr. Ma, Shouchun

Translated by Jenny Zhang

Tea is part of Chinese culture. There are so many papers that can be written about tea. What I’m talking about is based on my own experience and understanding. It is neither contained in a book, nor built upon a particular theory.

Tea has chi, which is nourishing portion of qi that makes up the air water that we drink, and taste. Its chi is fresh and light, which can boost your mental clarity, soothe your mind, and nourish your eye. Its taste is bitter and convergent. In addition to curing diarrhea, drinking tea can help one to stay hydrated.

Therefore, timing is essential to tea consumption. In order to get chi from tea, it is good to drink it three to five minutes after the start of infusion. If you wait too long, the taste still stays, but chi is gone.

Adding a little of goji berries and dry chrysanthemum in your tea can bring significant benefits to your eyes. When you have a headache, you can drink one or two cups of hot tea which warms up your whole body and cause slight sweating, then your headache will ease quickly. This is only for occasional headaches, not ones caused by brain tumors.

In the morning, if you want to cheer up and to be clear-minded, or prepare for a long drive, don’t eat porridge or drink milk, don’t eat too much. You can stay energized throughout the day by having one cup of hot tea, two slices of bread and one egg.

There are many varieties of tea. Which one is better? You don’t have to look for an answer from books, because you will be dazzled by what you read and still cannot decide which one is good for you. One simple method can help you to figure it out: the best tea for you is the one you feel the most comfortable. You don’t have to go to the bathroom frequently, and can sleep well at night.

In short, I hope this chat can help you. There are a lot of ways to stay in good health. The old sayings is “knowledge getting from books might be perfunctory and depthless, but experiences can help you to have profound and thorough understanding about your body and health”.

闲云闲聊茶叶

马寿椿

一味茶叶可以写出无数篇论文，因为它是中国文化的一部分。
闲云聊茶，只谈自己的认知和体悟，它書未载，或未专论。
茶有气和味，其气清轻，上达于恼，清利头目。其味苦涩，收敛，除了能止腹泻外，还可使水饮留滞体内。
因此，泡茶，三、五分钟为好，取其气。久泡则气散而只留下味。
茶叶明目的功效非常显著，若欲明目，加一点枸杞、菊花更好。
头痛时，喝一、二杯热茶，若能全身发热，微汗出，头痛很快缓解。此指一般头痛，不包括脑瘤等。
若欲振奋精神，清醒头脑，或驾车远行，早上不要喝粥或牛奶，不要吃得过饱。只一杯热茶，两片面包，一个鸡蛋足矣。可保持全天精力充沛。
茶有很多品种，哪种好？不必看书，眼花缭乱还是决定不了。只一个方法，很简单，你喝哪种茶最舒服，不必频频上厕所，晚上睡得好觉。
简单数语，希望对你有帮助。
养生的很多东西，“书上得来终觉浅，欲知此事要躬行”！

© Ma’s Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, 2026. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.