Chen Xiuhua

01 · Lineage & Regional School

Chen Xiuhua, Female, Han, from Guangdong, is a sixth-batch national representative bearer of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Ⅸ-5). The tradition is documented in Guangdong. Within the regional tradition and school record of Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Guangdong: The Lingnan Chen family needling method has Guangzhou as its main area of distribution and relies on the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine for its transmission, protection, display, and development, with its influence radiating to surrounding areas and even Southeast Asia. The first-generation inheritor Chen Baoshan opened the Great Master Chen Baoshan Medical Hall and practiced medicine under its sign, forming the rudiment of the needling theory; the second-generation Chen Jinchang inherited the family's secret formulas, his medical skill became increasingly refined, and he rose to prominence in Guangdong and Guangxi and the surrounding regions; the third-generation Chen Quanxin devoted himself to research and ultimately formed the system of the Lingnan Chen family needling method. The method has been promoted and applied in 14 medical institutions nationwide and is transmitted and promoted in 8 colleges and universities of Chinese medicine in Beijing, Shanghai, Anhui, and other places. The Lingnan Chen family needling method takes "mutual reinforcement of yin and yang, and free and harmonious flow" as its academic thought, and originates in the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon. Inspired by the Ming dynasty acupuncturist Yang Jizhou's idea of "great and small needling", and based on treatment according to pattern differentiation, it follows the Chinese medical principles of reinforcing deficiency and reducing excess, and quantifies the reinforcement-and-reduction methods into three categories — reinforcing, reducing, and even reinforcement-reduction — and three levels of intensity: light, moderate, and strong. It acts directly on the locus of disease and excels in the qi-guiding method, which derives from the Spiritual Pivot technique of directing the needle to move the qi and honors Hua Tuo's idea that "the needle roams through the lanes"; in clinical practice it employs qi-guiding manipulations such as directing the needle to move qi, pressing and closing, twirling and lifting-thrusting, and guiding along the channel, so as to produce propagated sensation along the channel, swift movement of qi through the channels, passage through the joints, and arrival of qi at the site of disease. At the same time, it upholds tradition while innovating, distilling the Four-Step Method of Needling Practice — bare-hand practice, twirling the needle, perpendicular rotating insertion, and swinging rotating insertion — effectively shortening the period of training and practice.

02 · Mastery & Signature Works

The bearer record for Chen Xiuhua is anchored in the documented technical standards of Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Guangdong. Within the documented technical tradition of Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Guangdong: The Lingnan Chen family needling method is a traditional acupuncture therapy of the Lingnan region and one of the important representatives of the Lingnan school of traditional Chinese medicine. It comprises the flying-needle method, the graded reinforcement-and-reduction method, and the qi-guiding method, and is characterized by rapid needle insertion, minimal pain, light manipulation, quick attainment of qi, flexible reinforcement and reduction, and fine needles. The first-generation inheritor Chen Baoshan opened the Great Master Chen Baoshan Medical Hall and practiced medicine under its sign, specializing in sinew injuries and difficult and complicated conditions, and excelled at point selection along the channels to dredge the channels and collaterals and move qi and blood, forming the rudiment of the needling theory. The third-generation Chen Quanxin devoted himself to research and ultimately formed the system of the Lingnan Chen family needling method. On the basis of inheriting traditional needle-insertion manipulation, the inheritors of the Lingnan Chen family needling method have distilled the rapid rotating insertion method, characterized by "asepsis, no pain, accuracy, and rapid rotation", namely the flying-needle method. Through more than one hundred years of transmission, development, and innovation, the Lingnan Chen family needling method has formed technical operation standards and clinical promotion plans for five conditions, including insomnia and cervical spondylosis, and has become an important component of China's acupuncture schools. The flying-needle method of the Lingnan Chen family needling method represents a major advance in painless acupuncture technique; the graded reinforcement-and-reduction method achieves a leap in the history of standardizing and quantifying acupuncture manipulation; intervention and treatment of people with qi-depression constitution has produced good clinical efficacy, embodying the academic thought of preventive treatment of disease in Chinese medicine, the priority of prevention over treatment, and health preservation. Its medical, scientific, cultural, and social values are remarkable. Representative repertoire, works and technical entries recorded for the project include: "The flying needle": A rapid rotatory insertion method with no pain and fast qi arrival, refined from traditional entry technique. "Graded tonification and drainage": Inspired by Yang Jizhou, tonification and drainage are graded into three classes and three intensities each. "The qi-guiding method": Qi is guided along the channel by needle direction, pressing, twisting and lifting, aiming for sensation to reach the diseased spot. "The four-step needle drill": Empty-hand practice, twisting, vertical rotary insertion and swinging rotary insertion, in sequence, shortening training time.

03 · Transmission & Safeguarding Status

In 2025, Chen Xiuhua was announced in the sixth batch of national representative bearers for Acupuncture and Moxibustion, with Guangdong as the declared area. Within the documented safeguarding record of Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Guangdong: The project was inscribed in the national inventory in 2021 (batch 5), with Guangdong as its declared area, and Guangdong Zhong Hospital (Guangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine University Second Affiliated Hospital, Guangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine University Second Lin ChuangYi College, Guangdong Traditional Chinese Medicine Ke College) as its safeguarding unit. Since the project was inscribed in the national inventory, its declared area and safeguarding unit have carried out documentation, transmission and presentation within the national safeguarding framework. Together, the inventory record and the project archive form the public documentary basis for the bearer’s transmission practice.

04 · Associated Heritage Item Dossier

05 · Fellow National Bearers Lineage

National representative bearers recorded under the same item code, ordered from the first to the sixth batch. Batch order is not a teacher–student relationship.

06 · Archival Sources & Bibliography

1. Chenxiuhua (Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive
2. Chenxiuhua · China ICH Official Archive