TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods

Ⅸ-2Traditional MedicineBaoding, HebeiBatch 4 (2014)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

From 1912 to 1949, some visceral tuina physicians who had formerly served in the imperial court also made their living in this area. In the 1960s, Massage Methods (Anmo Fa) and the Classic of Massage and Tuina (Anmo Tuina Jing) were compiled from the oral recitations of inheritors and published.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

It is also practiced in Tianjin, Beijing, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Shenzhen, Taiwan Province, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region, as well as in a number of other countries. The visceral tuina therapy takes the qi and blood of the five layers (wu dai) as its theoretical core. The five layers are the five strata of skin, flesh, blood, sinews and bones, understood as the states of movement of qi. The visceral tuina therapy consists in perceiving the manifestations of qi in the human body and then applying the techniques of the five layers to “free the central qi”. It emphasizes treatment based on pattern differentiation together with holistic regulation: within specific areas of the abdomen, the stroking-palpation and pressing-palpation methods are used to select the points for treatment, after which the releasing, lifting, evening, attacking and tonifying manipulations are applied to regulate the five layers and set qi and blood in motion, so as to restore the functions of the zang-fu organs. It holds that “though diseases are many, the method is one”; whether a manipulation is effective is judged by the patient's sensations, which may take the form of coolness, heat, numbness, soreness, dampness, distension or pain, and the manipulations are then adjusted according to these sensations. Next, the method of regulating the three passes is applied to the Yuzhen pass, the Jiaji pass and the Weilü pass of the Governor Vessel (du mai) in order to correct imbalance of the spine. Finally, the sinew-relaxing method of the limbs is used to dredge the twelve muscle regions, unblock the channels and collaterals, regulate qi and blood, rouse the yang qi and expel internal pathogens, treating both root and branch, so as to achieve the therapeutic goal. In addition, the visceral tuina art has a special principle of point selection: points are chosen dynamically within a triangular area extending from the navel to a point three cun above it, with lateral extensions of one and a half cun on either side. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the visceral tuina therapy was already circulating in Baoding and the surrounding counties.

Palpating the abdomen

The abdomen is rubbed then pressed to read the state of the five layers — skin, flesh, blood, sinew, bone.

Dynamic point selection

Points are sought inside a triangle from the navel to three cun above it, one and a half cun either side, shifting with the lesion.

Discharging, lifting, evening and attacking, tonifying

Four directional techniques that stir the blood and adjust the five layers, judged by what the patient feels — cold, heat, numbness, aching.

Adjusting the three passes

The three passes at the nape, between the spines and at the coccyx are realigned to finish the treatment.

Limb sinew-relaxing technique

The limbs are finally stretched to free the channels, rouse yang and drive out what lingers inside.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

As a traditional Chinese medical therapy, the visceral tuina therapy has been practiced for more than three hundred years in the urban district of Baoding City, Hebei Province, and the area of Qingyuan County, Gaoyang County, Xiong County, Zhuozhou City and Gaobeidian City.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The visceral tuina therapy has a complete theoretical system and a clear thread of historical evolution, and has been transmitted in an orderly fashion through family inheritance and master-apprentice instruction. In addition, two related abdominal tuina therapies — the viscera-diagram point-pressing therapy and the Duan family visceral massage therapy — are still transmitted in Baoding today. The visceral tuina therapy is an important component of clinical Chinese medicine; it embodies and validates the traditional Chinese idea of the unity of heaven and humanity. In the treatment of multidisciplinary complex conditions it has the advantages of being simple, convenient, inexpensive and empirically effective, in keeping with the international trend toward natural therapies. At the same time, the therapy spans both treatment and health preservation, and therefore has combined socio-economic effects and value for wider application. Wang Hongxing (as recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): male, of the Han ethnic group, born in May 1970, from Baoding City, Hebei Province. The core medical principle of the basic techniques of the visceral tuina therapy transmitted by him is to unblock the channels, regulate the pivot, rouse qi and blood, and support the healthy qi; the basic manipulations include pressing, stroking, kneading, circular moving, releasing, lifting, hooking, attacking and tonifying. He has combined traditional tuina techniques with Western chiropractic science, achieving marked clinical results. He has actively promoted the visceral tuina therapy, frequently giving public-benefit lectures and providing free treatments in communities and schools. His personally taught disciples are three: Li Yong, Zhang Guowei and An Guanghui. He is a representative inheritor of the item Traditional Chinese Medical Therapies (Visceral Tuina Therapy) in the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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