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Dr. Xu: A Chinese Medicine Novel

Chapter 50 Find Out Who He Is · Nov 09, 2026

↩︎ “PUA” as an accusation. The Chinese dialogue repeatedly uses PUA, an English acronym that has acquired a wider meaning in Chinese slang: psychological or emotional manipulation, including at work. It is translated here with “manipulation” and related forms so the repeated accusation remains recognizable. Leo and his sister apply that label to Evan’s behavior; Ben disputes their reading. The expression itself does not settle what happened. Source: Language Log — PUA, part 2.↩︎ Nanzhongyi. This is the Chinese abbreviated name of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, retained from earlier chapters. The university’s charter gives that short name alongside its full English name. Leo is trying to reconcile Evan’s apparent new-graduate status with the ability he has just witnessed. His view of what graduates can know is his own; neither the abbreviation nor the institutional source verifies the fictional doctor’s qualifications or skill. Source: Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine — University charter, article 2 (in Chinese).↩︎ Learning beside a master. Clinical mentorship in Chinese medicine can involve observing consultations, recording and studying prescriptions, and learning how a senior practitioner reasons through a case. “Copying prescriptions” here means that kind of training, not stealing another doctor’s work. Ben distinguishes learning through one’s family from having a personal master, and his comments remain uncertain. They do not establish that every graduate must enter such an arrangement. Source: National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine — Clinical mentorship education measures, articles 3, 6 and 15–16 (in Chinese).↩︎ Siwu Tang. Often called Four Substances Decoction in English, this is a traditional formula classified as supplementing blood, with the associated aim of regulating blood in Chinese medicine’s functional vocabulary. It has appeared earlier in the novel. Ben invokes it here as the limit of Evan’s former repertoire, rather than proposing it for the pregnant patient. This reference supplies no new prescription, ingredients, or instructions for her case. Source: Hong Kong Baptist University — Si Wu Tang, formula F00073.↩︎ An established public-sector post. Bianzhi refers here to an authorized position within China’s public-institution staffing system, distinct from simply having work in a private clinic. The public system has formal arrangements for posts, recruitment, employment, pay, and benefits. For Little Octopus’s mother, such a post is part of judging a prospective partner’s security. Her changing opinion reflects the scene; it does not establish Evan’s future employment or income. Sources: Ministry of Justice — Regulations on Personnel Management in Public Institutions, chapters II–IV and VII (in Chinese); National Health and Family Planning Commission — County public-hospital reform casebook, printed p. 175, point 4 (in Chinese).↩︎ The Liver and a woman’s constitution. Evan invokes a traditional gynecological saying that gives the Liver a foundational role in women’s physiology, particularly through its associations with blood and the regulation of qi. “Exuberant” and “constraint” belong to that theoretical vocabulary. The capitalized Liver denotes the traditional functional system, beyond the anatomical organ. His generalizations about women and emotion remain his speech; “low spirits” is not a psychiatric diagnosis, nor does “harm” report a liver-function test. Source: Tan Cheng and Li Xiaojun, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine — The origins and clinical uses of “women take the Liver as their foundation,” pp. 30–31 (in Chinese).↩︎ Blood, Liver fire, and vomiting. This continues the traditional pregnancy model discussed earlier: blood is directed toward nourishing the pregnancy, and the balance of blood, qi, and yang is understood to change. Liver fire is a heat-pattern term; attacking the Stomach describes disruption of its normally downward movement. Evan links that model to emotion and vomiting. The explanation does not add a new examination or replace the deficiency-and-cold diagnosis he has already given. Sources: Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine — Gynecology syllabus, chapter 10, printed p. 175 / PDF p. 177 (in Chinese); WHO — International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Chinese Medicine, entries 1315 and 1317.

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