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Eastern Wisdom · Reading Room

Four centuries of Chinese medicine, practised in Makati today.

Six essays on the long tradition that sits beneath our clinic — meridians and qi, pulse and tongue, the kitchen apothecary, a Binondo-to-Makati lineage, and the integrative model that we believe serves the patient first.

Old wooden apothecary drawers in a Binondo Chinese herbal shop.
Eastern Wisdom · 01

A Short History of Acupuncture in the Philippines

From Binondo apothecaries to PITAHC accreditation — how zhen jiu arrived on the galleons, quietly endured through Spanish colonial medicine, and is now a regulated practice under the Department of Health.

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A classical meridian chart showing the twelve main channels on the human body.
Eastern Wisdom · 02

Understanding Meridians: The Map Under the Skin

What the twelve main channels mean and why they matter — the circulation of qi through Lung, Large Intestine, Stomach, Spleen, Heart, and the rest of the paired rivers inside us.

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A physician's three fingers resting on a patient's wrist in the classical pulse position.
Eastern Wisdom · 03

Pulse and Tongue Diagnosis — A Patient's Guide

What the physician is reading in that silent minute — twenty-eight pulse qualities, tongue body and coating, and what a Makati consulting room hears before it speaks.

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Goji berries, sliced astragalus root and fresh ginger on a white ceramic plate.
Eastern Wisdom · 04

Goji, Astragalus, Ginger: The Kitchen Apothecary

Three herbs a Chinese-Filipino lola always had on hand — gou qi zi, huang qi, sheng jiang — and how they move quietly between soup pot and pharmacy shelf.

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A black-and-white family portrait of a Chinese-Filipino physician and family in 1940s Binondo.
Eastern Wisdom · 05

Binondo to Makati: Four Generations of a TCM Family

Dr. Chua's clinic lineage from 1940s Chinatown to today — a great-grandfather's Ongpin Street apothecary, a grandfather's post-war practice, and a family that kept the needles sharp.

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A TCM physician and an MD reviewing a patient's imaging scans together at a desk.
Eastern Wisdom · 06

Why We Practise Alongside Western Physicians

The integrative model that serves the patient first — how Dr. Yabut's MD training sits beside Dr. Chua's pulse reading, and why no honest clinic pretends one tradition is enough.

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Editorial Note
The Huangdi Neijing is two thousand years old, and the body it describes is the same body that walks into our Legazpi Village clinic on a Tuesday morning. What changes is the weather, the work, the food, and the imaging machines next door. Our job is to carry the old reading carefully into the new room — and to write honestly about what we find when we do.
— Dr. Evelyn Chua, Founder & Senior Physician, Synergy Meridian Clinic
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A tradition is best met in person.

Our initial consultation includes a full pulse and tongue reading, a written impression, and a treatment plan paced to your life. HMO-friendly receipts supplied on request.

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