Home » Supplement » Education
Smiling and being happy is best medicine, says doctor
By Hardik Mhatre |
October 31, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IT was last Christmas holidays and we had finished sightseeing in Lijiang, Yunnan Province. Since our flight was in the evening, our tour guide recommended we visit Dr Ho in Baisha Village. Like most kids, I was not at all keen on visiting a doctor during holidays when we all were perfectly healthy.
Outside Dr Ho's clinic was a sign that read: "Clinic of Chinese herbs in Jade Dragon Mountains of Lijiang." We were offered a place to sit and given leaflets about the doctor's work and achievements. The walls were covered with postcards, newspapers clippings, acupuncture charts and thank-you letters. The place looked dull, quite different to what I'd imagined a famous doctor's clinic would be like.
Dr Ho welcomed us warmly asked where we come from. He then told us how he suffered during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) and had to return to his hometown as he was severely ill.
There he studied plants and made herbal medicines. He cured his own illness and treated others free of charge.
He mentioned that he has no regrets in life as he turned every hardship to his advantage. He showed us his skin which looked young and wrinkle-free at the age of 90. My parents asked him to suggest some herbs for me. He checked my pulse and diagnosed, without knowing my health background, that my immune system is weak. I was surprised.
He entered a room full of gunny bags filled with herbs and selected some for us.
I asked him how he runs the clinic. He said, "The clinic runs with the help of donations from foreigners who come to study and visitors. I don't have much money but I am happy."
This doctor was full of energy and optimism and advocates a simple life. He advised us to "keep smiling and be happy," saying that's the secret of life.
We said goodbye and offered a donation. As we were leaving, the 90-year-old doctor astonished us by saying "See you after 10 years … I will be here."
The visit taught me that life is full of possibilities and what we demand of life depends on our sense of values.
Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival traditionsDylan Yin
With the change of tree foliage, autumn has arrived. Fall is a time to celebrate the harvest season around the world.
From the Mid-Autumn Festival in our host country of China to Thanksgiving in the United States, many different cultures celebrate harvest-related holidays during this time. Though practices differ, people around the world do share many things in common - family reunions, festive food and their gratitude - for abundance, health and happiness.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated in China, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines. Even though practices are different by region, it is a time for family members and friends to come home from afar.
As expressed in the most auspicious holiday word í??2 (tuan yuan, meaning "being round") in Chinese, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a celebration of family reunions and togetherness. The full moon, mooncakes and sharing festive food are all viewed as round shapes - a symbol of harmony, happiness and wholeness.
In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival - also known as the Mooncake Festival - dates all the way back to the Zhou Dynasty from 3,000 years ago.
The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, a date when the Chinese people believe the moon is at its fullest. Gathering under the harvest moon to appreciate it, families and friends eat round fruits and mooncakes - sweet round cakes primarily filled with lotus seed paste.
They also listen to their grandparents tell tall tales of legends about the Jade Emperor, the jade rabbit and the immortal Chang'e.
In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated with square mooncakes. Legends of the banyan tree are told and lion dances performed.
In the Philippines, people play a dice game to highlight the celebration of the holiday.
In South Korea, people celebrate Chuseok - also known as Korean Thanksgiving - on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. For three days, Korean families celebrate the holiday by displaying and eating festive rice cakes called songphyun, which are made of rice, beans, sesame seeds and chestnuts. Families pay respect to ancestors by visiting their tombs and thanking them for their blessings on a good harvest. Like in the Chinese culture, roundness symbolizes wholeness and togetherness.
In addition to the Mid-Autumn Festival, many other harvest holidays celebrated throughout the world.
Dylan Yin is a Grade 6 student at Shanghai American School.
Outside Dr Ho's clinic was a sign that read: "Clinic of Chinese herbs in Jade Dragon Mountains of Lijiang." We were offered a place to sit and given leaflets about the doctor's work and achievements. The walls were covered with postcards, newspapers clippings, acupuncture charts and thank-you letters. The place looked dull, quite different to what I'd imagined a famous doctor's clinic would be like.
Dr Ho welcomed us warmly asked where we come from. He then told us how he suffered during the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976) and had to return to his hometown as he was severely ill.
There he studied plants and made herbal medicines. He cured his own illness and treated others free of charge.
He mentioned that he has no regrets in life as he turned every hardship to his advantage. He showed us his skin which looked young and wrinkle-free at the age of 90. My parents asked him to suggest some herbs for me. He checked my pulse and diagnosed, without knowing my health background, that my immune system is weak. I was surprised.
He entered a room full of gunny bags filled with herbs and selected some for us.
I asked him how he runs the clinic. He said, "The clinic runs with the help of donations from foreigners who come to study and visitors. I don't have much money but I am happy."
This doctor was full of energy and optimism and advocates a simple life. He advised us to "keep smiling and be happy," saying that's the secret of life.
We said goodbye and offered a donation. As we were leaving, the 90-year-old doctor astonished us by saying "See you after 10 years … I will be here."
The visit taught me that life is full of possibilities and what we demand of life depends on our sense of values.
Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival traditionsDylan Yin
With the change of tree foliage, autumn has arrived. Fall is a time to celebrate the harvest season around the world.
From the Mid-Autumn Festival in our host country of China to Thanksgiving in the United States, many different cultures celebrate harvest-related holidays during this time. Though practices differ, people around the world do share many things in common - family reunions, festive food and their gratitude - for abundance, health and happiness.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated in China, South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines. Even though practices are different by region, it is a time for family members and friends to come home from afar.
As expressed in the most auspicious holiday word í??2 (tuan yuan, meaning "being round") in Chinese, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a celebration of family reunions and togetherness. The full moon, mooncakes and sharing festive food are all viewed as round shapes - a symbol of harmony, happiness and wholeness.
In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival - also known as the Mooncake Festival - dates all the way back to the Zhou Dynasty from 3,000 years ago.
The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese lunar calendar, a date when the Chinese people believe the moon is at its fullest. Gathering under the harvest moon to appreciate it, families and friends eat round fruits and mooncakes - sweet round cakes primarily filled with lotus seed paste.
They also listen to their grandparents tell tall tales of legends about the Jade Emperor, the jade rabbit and the immortal Chang'e.
In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated with square mooncakes. Legends of the banyan tree are told and lion dances performed.
In the Philippines, people play a dice game to highlight the celebration of the holiday.
In South Korea, people celebrate Chuseok - also known as Korean Thanksgiving - on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. For three days, Korean families celebrate the holiday by displaying and eating festive rice cakes called songphyun, which are made of rice, beans, sesame seeds and chestnuts. Families pay respect to ancestors by visiting their tombs and thanking them for their blessings on a good harvest. Like in the Chinese culture, roundness symbolizes wholeness and togetherness.
In addition to the Mid-Autumn Festival, many other harvest holidays celebrated throughout the world.
Dylan Yin is a Grade 6 student at Shanghai American School.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
