Acupuncture and Moxibustion

01 · Historical Records

The Lingnan Chen family needling method takes "mutual reinforcement of yin and yang, and free and harmonious flow" as its academic thought, and originates in the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon. Inspired by the Ming dynasty acupuncturist Yang Jizhou's idea of "great and small needling", and based on treatment according to pattern differentiation, it follows the Chinese medical principles of reinforcing deficiency and reducing excess, and quantifies the reinforcement-and-reduction methods into three categories — reinforcing, reducing, and even reinforcement-reduction — and three levels of intensity: light, moderate, and strong. It acts directly on the locus of disease and excels in the qi-guiding method, which derives from the Spiritual Pivot technique of directing the needle to move the qi and honors Hua Tuo's idea that "the needle roams through the lanes"; in clinical practice it employs qi-guiding manipulations such as directing the needle to move qi, pressing and closing, twirling and lifting-thrusting, and guiding along the channel, so as to produce propagated sensation along the channel, swift movement of qi through the channels, passage through the joints, and arrival of qi at the site of disease. At the same time, it upholds tradition while innovating, distilling the Four-Step Method of Needling Practice — bare-hand practice, twirling the needle, perpendicular rotating insertion, and swinging rotating insertion — effectively shortening the period of training and practice.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

The Lingnan Chen family needling method is a traditional acupuncture therapy of the Lingnan region and one of the important representatives of the Lingnan school of traditional Chinese medicine. It comprises the flying-needle method, the graded reinforcement-and-reduction method, and the qi-guiding method, and is characterized by rapid needle insertion, minimal pain, light manipulation, quick attainment of qi, flexible reinforcement and reduction, and fine needles. The first-generation inheritor Chen Baoshan opened the Great Master Chen Baoshan Medical Hall and practiced medicine under its sign, specializing in sinew injuries and difficult and complicated conditions, and excelled at point selection along the channels to dredge the channels and collaterals and move qi and blood, forming the rudiment of the needling theory. The third-generation Chen Quanxin devoted himself to research and ultimately formed the system of the Lingnan Chen family needling method. On the basis of inheriting traditional needle-insertion manipulation, the inheritors of the Lingnan Chen family needling method have distilled the rapid rotating insertion method, characterized by "asepsis, no pain, accuracy, and rapid rotation", namely the flying-needle method. Through more than one hundred years of transmission, development, and innovation, the Lingnan Chen family needling method has formed technical operation standards and clinical promotion plans for five conditions, including insomnia and cervical spondylosis, and has become an important component of China's acupuncture schools. The flying-needle method of the Lingnan Chen family needling method represents a major advance in painless acupuncture technique; the graded reinforcement-and-reduction method achieves a leap in the history of standardizing and quantifying acupuncture manipulation; intervention and treatment of people with qi-depression constitution has produced good clinical efficacy, embodying the academic thought of preventive treatment of disease in Chinese medicine, the priority of prevention over treatment, and health preservation. Its medical, scientific, cultural, and social values are remarkable.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

The Lingnan Chen family needling method has Guangzhou as its main area of distribution and relies on the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine for its transmission, protection, display, and development, with its influence radiating to surrounding areas and even Southeast Asia. The first-generation inheritor Chen Baoshan opened the Great Master Chen Baoshan Medical Hall and practiced medicine under its sign, forming the rudiment of the needling theory; the second-generation Chen Jinchang inherited the family's secret formulas, his medical skill became increasingly refined, and he rose to prominence in Guangdong and Guangxi and the surrounding regions; the third-generation Chen Quanxin devoted himself to research and ultimately formed the system of the Lingnan Chen family needling method. The method has been promoted and applied in 14 medical institutions nationwide and is transmitted and promoted in 8 colleges and universities of Chinese medicine in Beijing, Shanghai, Anhui, and other places.

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04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

It has Guangzhou as its main area of distribution and relies on the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine for its transmission, protection, display, and development, with its influence radiating to surrounding areas and even Southeast Asia. The second-generation Chen Jinchang inherited the family's secret formulas, his medical skill became increasingly refined, and he rose to prominence in Guangdong and Guangxi and the surrounding regions. The fourth- and fifth-generation inheritors have further transmitted and promoted this heritage project through various means. The heritage project has been promoted and applied in 14 medical institutions nationwide, with an annual outpatient volume of more than 300,000 visits; intangible cultural heritage workstations have been established in Guangdong and Guangxi and other places, where 68 apprentices have been trained; more than 30 national and provincial training classes have been held, training more than 50,000 acupuncture technical personnel who are spread across more than 30 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). At the same time, through the introduction of intangible cultural heritage into campuses, the method has been transmitted and promoted in 8 colleges and universities of Chinese medicine in Beijing, Shanghai, Anhui, and other places. After more than one hundred years of transmission, development, and innovation, this needling method has now been compiled into technical operation standards and clinical promotion plans for five conditions, including insomnia and cervical spondylosis, and has become an important component of China's acupuncture schools. Its flying-needle method represents a major advance in painless acupuncture technique, and its graded reinforcement-and-reduction method achieves a leap in the history of standardizing and quantifying acupuncture manipulation; intervention and treatment of people with qi-depression constitution has produced good clinical efficacy, embodying the academic thought of preventive treatment of disease in Chinese medicine, the priority of prevention over treatment, and health preservation. Its medical, scientific, cultural, and social values are remarkable.

05 · Associated Representative Bearers

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

• Wang Xuetai 01-0210
• He Puren 01-0211
• Liu Guangrui 03-1445
• Guo Chengjie 05-2944
• Li Ding 05-2945
• Shi Xuemin 05-2946
• Tian Conghuo 05-2947
• Zhang Jin 05-2948
• Lu Yanyao 05-2949
• Jin Ying 05-2950
• Huang Longxiang
• Han Shanming
• Chen Xiuhua
• Zhao Shibi
• Cheng Hongfeng
• Yang Jinsheng

06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography

1. Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Guangdong) · China ICH Official Project Archive

Sources

China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)

Read the official ihchina.cn record ↗