TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods

Ⅸ-2Traditional MedicineJinzhongshilingshi, ShanxiBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Mogu Zhengji (bone-palpation spine-correcting) technique originated in the Lingshi area of Jinzhong, Shanxi, and was worked out by several generations of the Guo family in their local clinical practice treating spinal injuries. This line of practice is connected with the Jin merchants: in the Jinzhong region, exchange banks and armed escort bureaus were dense, merchants traveled far and wide, many suffered lumbar and spinal strain or injuries from falls, and those seeking bone-setting came in an unbroken stream. Moreover, lying between the Taihang, Taiyue and Lüliang mountain ranges, the area allowed local access to medicinal materials such as Forsythia fruit, codonopsis, bupleurum and Scutellaria, so knowledge of medicinals and bone-setting came to be combined in one. In modern and contemporary times, this set of manipulations shifted from family transmission to open apprenticeship, with Guo Hua as its representative, radiating south and north to the Yuncheng and Linfen areas, and now reaching Heilongjiang, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other places.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Mogu Zhengji technique is a distinctive set of spine-correcting manipulations, developed and formed under the guidance of traditional Chinese medical theory, on the basis of inheriting traditional bone-injury treatment, through long-term summarization and clinical practice. Centered on the spine, it uses manipulations that restore displaced spinal joints so that the qi and blood of the Du meridian flow freely, the channels and collaterals open, and yin and yang are harmonized, thereby achieving the elimination of pain. It radiates south and north to the Yuncheng and Linfen municipalities and surrounding areas of Shanxi Province. Bone injuries are a common and frequently occurring disease; with limited medical conditions, once a fracture occurred it was very difficult to obtain treatment. Moreover, the Jinzhong region of Shanxi is the birthplace of the Jin merchants, where exchange banks and armed escort bureaus were numerous and the Jin merchants traveled far and wide, creating considerable demand for bone-setting diagnosis and treatment. At the same time, Jinzhong in Shanxi lies between the three great mountain ranges of Taihang, Taiyue and Lüliang, and is rich in more than three hundred medicinal materials in ten major categories, including Forsythia fruit, codonopsis, bupleurum and Scutellaria, providing a good material foundation for the practice of traditional medicine. Traditional Chinese orthopedic science is an important component of the traditional medicine of the Chinese nation, and bone-palpation spine correction is an important manipulation within it. Its main contents are: the practical technique of using bone palpation to examine and diagnose spinal conditions precisely; the use of specific manipulations such as pushing, pulling, squeezing, pressing, rotating and shifting to effectively treat various spinal diseases without injections, medicines, surgery or any pain; and the use of the three-in-one consolidation therapy of exercise, dietary therapy and medicinal therapy to maintain and repair the condition so that it does not recur. From examination and diagnosis through clinical treatment to consolidation and adjunct therapy, it forms a self-contained, integrated spinal correction system with the characteristics of being professional, safe, efficient and rapid. The Mogu Zhengji technique has had a positive impact on enriching the traditional Chinese medical system of orthopedics and traumatology and the medical service system, and on raising the health level of the general public, especially the broad rural masses.

Palpating the spine

Running the hand along the spinous processes to find displacement, tenderness and gaps — the diagnostic first step, needing no instrument.

Pushing, levering, squeezing, pressing, rotating, moving

Six adjusting techniques chosen according to the direction and degree of displacement, correcting the joint without anaesthetic or surgery.

Freeing the flow along the du mai

How relief is explained — with the joints restored, qi and blood move along the du mai and yin and yang come back into balance.

Measures to keep the gain

Exercise, dietary advice and herbal support after adjustment, the school's own means of keeping a correction in place.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Mogu Zhengji technique is concentrated mainly in the Lingshi County area of Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province, and its distribution covers the jurisdictions of Jinzhong, Taiyuan and Lüliang municipalities, including Taigu County, Pingyao County, Jiexiu City and Xiaoyi City. The Mogu Zhengji technique is the clinical experience and medical insights that several generations of the Guo family continuously explored, studied and organized through local clinical practice in spinal injuries; its efficacy is remarkable, its characteristics distinct, and its folk and regional character pronounced.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

In recent years this heritage project has also spread widely in Heilongjiang, Guangdong, Zhejiang and other places. At present, the Mogu Zhengji technique is transmitted and promoted mainly by the inheritor Guo Hua. The Mogu Zhengji technique has been sustained among the people through family transmission, and many of its treatment experiences and methods await systematic summarization, organization and excavation, so as to make a greater contribution to safeguarding people's health.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods (Jinzhongshilingshi, Shanxi) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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