Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Ⅸ-5Traditional MedicineChina Association of Acupuncture and MoxibustionBatch 1 (2006)Newly Added Item

01 · Historical Records

In the Northern Song dynasty, the medical official Wang Weiyi verified the indications of the acupoints and standardized their locations, wrote the Illustrated Manual of Acupuncture Points on the Bronze Figure (Tongren Shuxue Zhenjiu Tujing) and had it promulgated nationwide, and cast bronze figures — lifelike in form and ingeniously constructed — as teaching tools, giving great impetus to and promoting the development of acupuncture scholarship. From the Ming and Qing dynasties onward, acupuncture theory carried the past forward and opened up the future; techniques and instruments were continually improved, schools contended, famous masters emerged in succession, and excellent works appeared without end, and acupuncture therapy achieved still greater development. Because acupuncture therapy has unique advantages, a broad range of indications, rapid and marked efficacy, simple and easy operation, economical medical cost, and very few side effects, as early as the Tang dynasty Chinese acupuncture and moxibustion had already spread to Japan, Korea, India, the Arab regions, and other countries and regions, where it took root and flourished, giving rise to some acupuncture medicines with foreign characteristics.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Acupuncture and moxibustion are a unique medical method created by the ancient working people of China, with a long history. For thousands of years, people have used metal needles or moxa cones and moxa rolls to insert needles and apply moxibustion at specific points of the human body to treat disease and relieve pain, and from this created the distinctive theory of the channels, collaterals, and acupoints of the human body, becoming a singular flower of Chinese medicine and enjoying high prestige in the world. As early as the Neolithic Age, people used 'stone needles' (bian shi) to prick parts of the body to treat disease. The Classic of Mountains and Seas says: 'There is a stone like jade that can be used as a needle' — the earliest record of stone needles. Moxibustion therapy arose after the discovery and application of fire. The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon of the Qin and Han period says: 'When cold is stored, it produces diseases of fullness; the appropriate treatment is moxibustion', referring to the art of moxibustion; it describes in detail the forms of the nine needles and records extensively the theory and technique of acupuncture and moxibustion. By the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, acupuncture therapy was already quite mature; many physicians skilled in acupuncture appeared, among whom Bian Que, recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, was one of the representative figures. Bian Que is honored as the 'ancestor of Chinese medicine'; his miraculous needling that revived the dead and his moving deeds of healing the living have been praised by later generations for ages. To this day, memorials such as the Que King Temple and Que King Shrine, as well as various folk traditional sacrificial activities commemorating Bian Que, are still preserved in Neiqiu, Hebei, and other places. The Cauterization Canon of the Eleven Vessels of the Foot and Forearm and the Cauterization Canon of the Eleven Yin and Yang Vessels, excavated from the Han dynasty tomb at Mawangdui in Changsha, Hunan, and the Book of Vessels (Mai Shu), excavated from the Han dynasty tomb at Zhangjiashan in Jiangling, Hubei, all record the courses of the channels and their principal diseases. From the Western Han dynasty tomb at Shuangbaoshan in Mianyang, Sichuan, a small black-lacquered wooden human figure was excavated; its front and back surfaces are marked with crisscrossing channel pathways, and it is the earliest physical model of the human channels discovered in China to date. By the Sui and Tang dynasties, acupuncture and moxibustion had developed into a specialized discipline: works on them multiplied in number, their content was rich and varied, acupuncture was formally included in the national medical education curriculum, and the Imperial Medical Office established official titles such as Erudite of Acupuncture, Assistant Instructor of Acupuncture, Acupuncture Master, Acupuncture Artisan, and Student of Acupuncture. In long-term medical practice, acupuncture and moxibustion formed the channel theory composed of the fourteen channels, the eight extraordinary channels, the fifteen divergent collaterals, the twelve channel divergences, the twelve sinew channels, the twelve skin regions, and the grandchild and floating collaterals, together with the knowledge of the 361 acupoints, the extraordinary points, and the principal diseases of the acupoints; they discovered the laws of the specific connections between specific parts of the human body, created the doctrine of the channels and collaterals, and thereby produced a complete system of methods for treating disease.

The three-passage method

He Puren formulated the idea that most illness is stagnation of qi and that treatment should pass it in three ways, and his three methods became an important doctrine after 1950.

The subtle-passage method

One of the three methods: superficial needling with a fine needle and light twisting, sparing the upright qi in mild patterns.

The forceful-passage method

For stubborn obstruction and severe patterns, coarser needles and stronger stimulation are used to break through blockage, calling for careful recovery afterwards.

Needling for breast hyperplasia

Guo Chengjie pioneered needling treatment and research on breast hyperplasia and worked on the substance of the meridians and on how needling adjusts immunity.

Cataloguing the Ming and Qing literature

His Treasure House of Acupuncture for the Ming and Qing catalogues the literature of the period, and he wrote several manuals on needling tools, songs and fire needling.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Acupuncture and moxibustion are composed of 'needling' (zhen) and 'moxibustion' (jiu) and are one of the important components of traditional Chinese medicine. Their content includes acupuncture theory, acupoints, acupuncture technique, and related instruments. In the process of their formation, application, and development they bear distinctive cultural and regional characteristics of the Chinese nation, and they are a precious heritage produced on the basis of Chinese culture and scientific tradition.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

To date, acupuncture and moxibustion have spread to more than 140 countries and regions of the world and have played an enormous role in safeguarding the life and health of all humanity. Acupuncture and moxibustion are a body of scientific and cultural knowledge that grew up in the specific natural and social environments of successive Chinese dynasties. They embody the distinctive spirit, thought, and cultural essence of the Chinese nation, incorporate extensive practical observation, knowledge systems, and techniques and skills, concentrate the powerful vitality and creativity of the Chinese nation, and are the crystallization of the wisdom of the Chinese nation as well as a treasure of all human civilization; they should receive better protection and utilization. He Puren (official archive record of associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1926, from Laishui, Hebei. Through many years of clinical experience he summarized the academic thought of 'most diseases involve qi stagnation; treatment uses the three openings', creating the distinctive 'He's Three Openings Method', namely the subtle opening method, the warm opening method, and the strong opening method. Its core lies in, according to the different pathogenesis, employing different needles and manipulation techniques to achieve the goals of unblocking the channels, harmonizing qi and blood, and curing disease. The Three Openings Method has been widely studied, promoted, inherited, and used by the medical community, becoming one of the important academic ideas in the field of acupuncture after 1950. The Acupuncture Treasure House: Ming and Qing Volumes, collated by He Puren, systematically collects, organizes, and studies acupuncture documents and materials from the Ming and Qing dynasties onward. He Puren traveled to more than ten countries and regions for exchange and lecturing. His works include Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Pain, Needles and Needling Techniques, Clinical Application of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Songs, Illustrated Manual of the Filiform Needle Therapy, Illustrated Manual of Fire Needle Therapy, and others. Representative inheritor of the first national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage project acupuncture and moxibustion; professor and chief physician of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated with Capital Medical University, and master's supervisor; senior adviser of the China Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion and president of the Beijing Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. Guo Chengjie (official archive record of associated inheritor): Professor and chief physician. He began studying medicine under a master in 1946, graduated from the Xi'an Qinling School of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1949, and graduated from the TCM specialty program of the Shaanxi Advanced Studies School of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1953. He was skilled in treating difficult conditions such as post-stroke sequelae, facial paralysis, hysteria, insomnia, bi syndrome, and irregular menstruation; he pioneered the acupuncture treatment and research of mammary hyperplasia at home and abroad, and also made breakthroughs in research on the substance of the channels and the regulation of the body's immunity by acupuncture. He published two monographs, served as chief editor of four national higher-education textbooks of traditional Chinese medicine and reviewer of three, and published thirty-six papers. Male, Han ethnicity, born in December 1921, died in May 2017, from Fuping County, Shaanxi. Representative inheritor of the fifth national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage project acupuncture and moxibustion. He successively won five provincial- and ministerial-level awards, four departmental- and bureau-level awards, and one gold award at a science and technology achievement exhibition, and trained more than two thousand acupuncture professionals. He was named to the second cohort of masters of traditional Chinese medicine by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, and the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine; an instructor of the national program for inheriting the academic experience of veteran TCM experts of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine; a famous veteran TCM doctor of Shaanxi named by the Shaanxi Provincial Department of Personnel, Department of Health, and Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine; and an advanced worker and model laborer of Shaanxi.

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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