Acupuncture is an ancient treatment technique still routinely used in traditional Chinese medicine and also in Western medicine. The Huangdi Nei Jing (Canon of Medicine), compiled between 475 BCE and 23 CE, is the earliest extant medical book in which acupuncture is described. One of its components, Ling Shu (Canon of Acupuncture), describes nine instruments, some of which are still in use. Techniques for making bamboo needles and for casting bronze needles developed during the Shang dynasty (1766–1045 BCE). During the Song dynasty (960–1267 CE), the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1126–1234 CE), and the Yuan dynasty (1267–1368 CE), acupuncture developed widely in China. However, during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912) the practice was banned from general use by decree because it was perceived as suitable for application to the emperor. Although banned, acupuncture continued to flourish in local use. Although acupuncture had been popular among the Chinese-American community for over one hundred years, non-Chinese Americans became more aware of acupuncture after President Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China.
An understanding of the healing art of acupuncture requires familiarity with the concepts of channels and collaterals. In Chinese medicine, channels are the main trunks running lengthwise through the body, and collaterals are their connecting branches. Together they connect the superficial, interior, upper, and lower portions of the human body. Qi (life energy) flows through the channels. The twelve regular channels include the three yin channels of each hand and foot and the three yang channels of each hand and foot. Yin and yang are the two basic, complementary principles of which all phenomena partake: wetness, introversion, and coldness are yin characteristics, for example, and dryness, extroversion, and heat are yang characteristics. The eight extra channels are the du channel, the ren channel, the chong channel, the dai channel, the yinqiao channel, the yangqiao channel, the yinwei channel, and the yangwei channel.
The acupuncture points or acupoints are distributed along the channels and collaterals. The 361 channel points and 231 common points are named in Chinese and also are named using the Roman alphabetical and Western numerical system. For example, the often-used acupoint zusanli, which is along the channel connecting the stomach to the foot, is internationally named "S-36." Acupuncture needles are insertedat the points, and their stimulation releases blocked qi, which in turn leads to healing.
A woman receives acupuncture treatment from a Chinese physician at a hospital in Beijing in 1989. (DAVID & PETER TURNLEY/CORBIS)
In China acupuncture is used to treat diseases in nearly every branch of medicine, whether it is cardiology or dentistry, infectious diseases, or obstetrics. Responding to research, acupuncture techniques have embraced such new technologies as laser and electrical stimulation. In Chinese hospitals that provide acupuncture services, the acupuncture section is always called the department of acupuncture and moxibustion (moxibustion is the burning of medicinal substances, usually herbs, on the acupoints for therapeutic effect). Although the predominant treatment in the department is acupuncture, moxibustion plays an important role. Even as Western medicine becomes more common in China in the twenty-first century, acupuncture continues to be used, especially in hospitals that rely on traditional medicine and also those that combine traditional and Western approaches.
Further Reading
Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. (1978) An Outline of Chinese Acupuncture. Monterey Park, CA: Chan's Corporation.
Cooperative Group of Shandong Medical College and Shandong College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. (1982) Anatomical Atlas of Chinese Acupuncture Points. Jinan, China: Shandong Science and Technology Press.
Geng Junying and Su Zhihong. (1991) Practical TraditionalChinese Medicine and Pharmacology: Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Beijing: New World Press.
Zhang Enqin. (1990) Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Shanghai, China: Publishing House of the Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
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