Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Ⅸ-5Traditional MedicineYuzhong, ChongqingBatch 2 (2008)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The Liu family's pricking-and-ironing therapy began in the Shunzhi reign of the Qing dynasty, when the Liu ancestors moved from Huguang to Chongqing; it has been transmitted for about 350 years through fifteen generations. These fifteen generations left no systematic written works: the two sets of operations — blood-pricking and fire-ironing — were passed down hand-in-hand from master to apprentice within the family. Sha-releasing, sha-scraping, sha-pinching, gan-picking, medicinal needling, fire needling, and bloodletting each had their own pricking positions and depths; the egg-rolling method, lamp-fire burning, ash-bowl pressing, hot-compress application, hot herbal-roll, yellow-wax moxibustion, and fire-wine method of fire ironing each had their own heat sources and insulating materials. Words cannot fully describe these techniques, and apprentices had to practice repeatedly before grasping their subtle measures.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Liu family's pricking-and-ironing therapy comprises two major categories: the blood-pricking technique and the fire-ironing technique. The blood-pricking technique includes sha-releasing, sha-scraping, sha-pinching, gan-picking, medicinal needling, fire needling, bloodletting, and the two-needle-one-cup method. The fire-ironing technique includes the egg-rolling method, lamp-fire burning, ash-bowl pressing, hot-compress application, hot herbal-roll, yellow-wax moxibustion, the fire-wine method, and moxibustion. The Liu family's therapy is distinguished by its theoretical basis, specialized efficacy, clinical targeting, the secrecy of its manipulations, and the local sourcing of its medicinal materials. It is an important component of Chinese folk medicine and a highly effective folk medical craft.

Three needles and one cupping jar

Three needles used together with a cupping jar and extraordinary points, effective for traumatic injury, hemiplegia and brain disorders.

Picking, scraping and pinching the sha

Three superficial bloodletting methods that pick, scrape and pinch the sha points to let stagnation out, most used in hot humid months.

Picking the gan points and medicated needling

Picking targets childhood accumulation, medicated needles carry herbal liquor into the point, and fire needles are used red-hot for cold patterns.

Rolling an egg and the ash bowl

Hot eggs rolled over the painful area and hot wood ash held in a bowl: household materials used as heat sources for warming treatment.

Medicinal moxibustion and plasters

He applies medicinal moxibustion and plasters to chosen points for gynaecological, gastric and liver-kidney complaints, and combines this with viscera massage and special orifice techniques.

Wax moxibustion and lamp-fire cautery

Burning wax and lamp wicks act as the heat source in place of needles, another branch of the warming-heat technique.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The spread of the Liu family's pricking-and-ironing therapy centers on Chongqing and is directly related to the local humid climate of converging rivers, rain and fog, dampness, and muggy heat. People in Chongqing are easily attacked by cold-damp pathogens and tend to excessive dampness; conditions such as sha and gan were common among the populace. Fire-ironing methods such as egg-rolling, ash-bowl pressing, and lamp-fire burning, which use materials at hand, are a direct response to this climate. The therapy arose among the people; in its early years it was mostly applied in the countryside by itinerant doctors, with low fees and quick results, in keeping with a practice style that emphasized secretive manipulation.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The Liu family's pricking-and-ironing therapy is a medical art of the Liu family of Chongqing. It began in the Shunzhi reign of the Qing dynasty, when the Liu ancestors moved from Huguang to Chongqing; it has been transmitted for about 350 years through fifteen generations. The excavation, rescue, and protection of the therapy carry both important academic research value and distinct practical application value. However, its mode of transmission through oral instruction and insight within the family has limited its spread, and the chain of transmission could break at any time; state protection is urgently needed. Liu Guangrui (recorded in the official file of the associated inheritor): Male, of the Han ethnicity, born in May 1956, a native of Chongqing. Using the three-needle-one-cup blood-pricking technique combined with extraordinary acupoints, he achieves good results for various traumatic pain conditions, stroke-induced hemiplegia, and brain disorders; skillfully employing medicated moxibustion and poultice therapy, he applies medicated moxibustion at selected points for gynecological ailments, stomach pain, and liver and kidney diseases, treating internally and externally; he pioneered a remarkable method for regulating qi, guiding stagnation, and resolving blood stasis, and has distinctive research and experience in visceral tuina and acupoint-based manipulation. He is a representative inheritor of Acupuncture (Liu's Pricking-and-Ironing Therapy), a third-batch national-level intangible cultural heritage item.

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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