About the Grove 杏林
The legend first
In the third century, a physician named Dong Feng (董奉) settled at the foot of Mount Lu and did something strange: he refused all payment. Cured of a serious illness, you planted five apricot trees on his hillside; a minor complaint, one tree. Years passed, and a grove of a hundred thousand apricots stood around his house. When the fruit ripened he traded it — a bowl of apricots for a bowl of grain — and the grain went to the poor and to travelers. The stories add that a tiger guarded the grove against those who took more than their share (虎守杏林).
Ever since, "the apricot grove" (杏林) has been how Chinese speaks of medicine practiced generously. To praise a doctor, you say the grove is warm with spring (杏林春暖). Lao Xinglin — "the old fellow of the apricot grove" — is this site's storyteller: a kindly veteran doctor who sorts the herbs, brews the tea, and explains things plainly. He is a character, drawn with affection; behind him sits an editorial process that is entirely serious.
What this site is
Two references growing side by side. The materia medica — plain-language monographs on the herbs, classic formulas, and core concepts of Chinese medicine, with the tradition's claims and the modern evidence kept honestly distinct. The practitioner directory — opening soon — for finding licensed acupuncturists and herbalists near you, starting with California.
The rules every page follows
- Sources shown. Traditional claims cite the standard references;
scientific claims cite the actual literature, verified before we cite it — never quoted from memory.
- Tradition and evidence stay labeled. "The tradition says" and "the
research says" are different sentences on every page, and we never blur them.
- No cures promised. This is an educational reference, not a clinic and
not a shop. Where the evidence is thin, the page says so.
- Safety gets the loud voice. Interactions and cautions are never
buried.
Who's behind it
The grove is written and illustrated by its editor with the help of research tools, and every page carries a review date. Corrections are the mail we value most: contact — if a citation, translation, or botanical detail is wrong, tell us and we will fix it and say so.