TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods

Ⅸ-2Traditional MedicineSichuanBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

When applying the pestle needle, a special set of pestle-needle instruments is used. Its academic thought derives from the ancient Yi (Changes) learning of Xi (Fuxi) and Huang (the Yellow Emperor); its pattern differentiation, establishment of method, selection of acupoints, and arrangement of arrays are largely imbued with the meanings of the Zhouyi, the Yinfu jing, principle, qi, image, and number.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Li Zhongyu's Pestle-Needle Therapy is a method of treatment that uses a special instrument called the pestle needle (the Qiyao Hunyuan Chu, the Wuxing Santai Chu, the Jingang Chu, and the Kuixing Bi), applying different hand techniques such as point tapping, lifting and lowering, opening and closing, rotation, and separation and regulation at the acupoints commonly used in acupuncture and moxibustion as well as at the special acupoints of pestle-needle therapy. This therapy is a distinctive method of TCM treatment inherited from the family's secret transmission and developed by Li Zhongyu, a renowned veteran physician and chief physician at the Teaching Hospital of Chengdu University of Chinese Medicine; it is therefore called Li Zhongyu's Pestle-Needle Therapy and has now been passed down to the seventeenth generation. Pestle-needle treatment first employs the doctrine of the viscera and bowels and the meridians, using the four diagnostic methods in combination to examine the condition, carrying out pattern differentiation according to the eight principles and analysis of the syndrome, and clarifying the cause and mechanism of disease, the viscera and bowels involved, and the conditions of exterior-interior, cold-heat, deficiency-excess, and the relative urgency or chronicity of the root and the branch. A corresponding point-combination prescription is then made, and the pestle needle is applied according to that prescription, either reinforcing or draining, so as to free the meridians, regulate qi and blood, and bring yin and yang back into relative balance. The pattern-differentiation thought of pestle-needle therapy is the same as that of the Huangdi Neijing and the Nanjing, yet with differences within the similarity: first, it uses no medicinals, but neither does it reject them; second, although it belongs to acupuncture-moxibustion therapy, it does not insert metal needles or stone probes beneath the acupoints, so there is no pain of broken skin and injured flesh and no worry of scar or infection, making it easy for patients to accept, with neither women nor children feeling fear, and thus easy to promote; third, its selection of acupoints is precise and appropriate, relying mainly on the source, network, transport, and alarm points, the 'river chariot' points, and the eight arrays, with 'tianying' (natural reaction points) as the guide, making it easy to learn and master. Li Zhongyu's Pestle-Needle Therapy takes the treatment of clinical disease as its mode of practice, with its principal medical objects being patients with common, frequently occurring, and difficult conditions such as sports-trauma injuries, cerebrovascular disease, osteoarticular disease, otorhinolaryngological disease, respiratory disease, and sub-health states.

The seven-luminaries mingled-original pestle

One of the pestles, shaped like seven uneven stars, tapped at varying angles and pressures according to the condition.

The five-star three-terrace pestle

A heavier pestle, used on the thick musculature of the back and waist where the lighter ones cannot reach.

Point tapping

The fundamental action — tapping the point and its surroundings, with rate and force adjusted to supplement or drain.

Lifting, pressing, opening, closing, rotating, separating

Five further actions, combined with supplement and drain, complete a treatment alongside tapping.

Arranging points in eight formations

Points are taken chiefly from the yuan, luo, shu, mu and river-vein sets and eight formations, following heaven and responding to it.

Pattern differentiation before prescribing points

The four examinations first settle position, nature, organ and priority, and only then are points chosen and supplement or drain applied.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Li Zhongyu's Pestle-Needle Therapy originated in Chengdu, Sichuan, and is now transmitted and practiced with the Teaching Hospital of Chengdu University of Chinese Medicine (Sichuan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine) as its center. Practitioners within the hospital include more than 160 medical, teaching, and nursing personnel, and ten second-level work stations have been established in various locations to bring the pestle needle down to the grassroots level. In earlier years it was a secret family transmission; in modern times it shifted to transmission mainly through master-apprentice teaching, when the veteran Chengdu physician Li Zhongyu publicly taught the art after inheriting it from his family. The transmission team has held successive domestic and international training classes, each with more than 200 students, many of them from grassroots hospitals; after studying, they can carry out non-invasive pestle-needle treatment locally, reducing the financial burden on patients in their areas.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

Family transmission in the early period has gradually developed into a mode of transmission based mainly on master-apprentice teaching. At present, the main body of practitioners of this heritage project includes more than 160 medical, teaching, and nursing personnel; transmission and practice are concentrated mainly at the Teaching Hospital of Chengdu University of Chinese Medicine (Sichuan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine) in Sichuan Province, with 10 second-level work stations located throughout the region jointly transmitting and developing it. The transmission and innovation of Li Zhongyu's Pestle-Needle Therapy has advanced the clinical application of this non-invasive pestle-needle therapy, which bears the traditional characteristics of Chinese medicine, as well as the vigorous development of the cause of Chinese medicine in Sichuan. It has expanded the role and strengths of Chinese medicine in transmission and innovation, and has greatly reduced the financial burden on grassroots patients. The transmission team has held successive domestic and international pestle-needle training classes, training more than 200 students per class and promoting this diagnostic and therapeutic technique, producing notable benefits in cultural, medical, social, and other respects.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

TCM Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods (Sichuan) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗

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