Acupuncture and Moxibustion

Ⅸ-5Traditional MedicineChina Academy of Chinese Medical SciencesBatch 5 (2021)Extension Item

01 · Historical Records

The first-generation inheritor Cheng Xusheng was a xiucai (licentiate) of the late Qing dynasty who studied the art of medicine deeply, abandoned the Confucian path, and turned to medicine. The second-generation inheritor Cheng Shennong inherited the family instructions, was enlightened by his father, began practicing medicine under his own name at the age of nineteen, and accumulated rich acupuncture theory and clinical experience; he created the acupuncture pattern-differentiation treatment system of 'principle, method, prescription, point, and technique' (li fa fang xue shu) and was the founder of this heritage project.

02 · Core Techniques & Process

Cheng-style acupuncture has a complete knowledge system and a stable practice path. Based on the theory of channels and collaterals of traditional Chinese medicine, it carries through the unity of principle, method, prescription, point, and technique on the basis of pattern differentiation and treatment — namely 'inferring principles from reasoning about patterns, establishing methods according to patterns, determining prescriptions according to methods, matching points by clarifying their nature, and applying techniques following established norms'. It advocates pattern differentiation by channel attribution, that is, analyzing the patient's symptoms and signs according to the course and distribution of the channels and the viscera they connect with, thereby determining the pattern of a certain channel or of the viscera it connects, and using channels to govern points. According to the nature and location of the disease, the Three Powers needling method (sancai zhen fa) is applied: through probing for points with finger movement, the finger-solid and wrist-empty needle-holding method, the Three Powers needle-insertion method, the tremor qi-inducing method, and the flying-rotation reinforcing-reducing method, with the three powers integrated, so as to regulate the body's state of balance and achieve the goals of health maintenance and treatment. It has a complete knowledge system and a stable practice frequency. The Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Zhongguo Zhenjiu Xue) edited by Cheng Shennong has always been authoritative teaching material for acupuncture education in China and has extremely high international influence.

The three-tier needle method

Five linked manipulations — locating the point by hand, the firm-finger loose-wrist hold, the three-tier insertion, tremor to summon qi and the flying-rotation for tonifying or draining.

Reasoning from principle to formula

The school follows principle, syndrome, method, point and manipulation in strict order, so each step determines the next.

Syndrome differentiation by channel

Symptoms are analysed by the course and connections of the channels to decide which channel and zang-fu is involved, and points follow the channel.

The textbook tradition

The textbook he edited remains the standard teaching text for acupuncture in China and is widely known abroad.

Five generations of teaching

The line runs five generations, now extending to overseas disciples and to postgraduate research.

03 · Regional Records & Related Items

Cheng-style acupuncture is a body of traditional medicinal knowledge and practice concerning acupuncture and moxibustion, and a typical representative of the acupuncture schools of traditional Chinese medicine. Originating in Huaiyin, Jiangsu, and matured in Beijing, it has a history of more than a century; it has been transmitted through five generations with a clear lineage, and is now current in Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Hainan, and in the United States, Australia, and elsewhere.

Other submitting regions for the same item: Acupuncture and Moxibustion · Acupuncture and Moxibustion · Acupuncture and Moxibustion · Acupuncture and Moxibustion · Acupuncture and Moxibustion · Acupuncture and Moxibustion · Acupuncture and Moxibustion · Acupuncture and Moxibustion.

04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding

The third and fourth generations are mainly groups engaged in work related to Cheng-style acupuncture; the fifth-generation inheritors, in addition to domestic apprentices, include newly added overseas disciples of transmission. Cheng-style acupuncture is inherited and developed mainly in the Dongcheng and Haidian districts of Beijing. Its modes of transmission mainly include family inheritance, institutional education, and master-apprentice inheritance. Relying on the 'Academician Cheng Shennong Inheritance Studio' of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, the 'Postdoctoral Studio for the Inheritance of the Famous TCM Expert Cheng Shennong', the 'Master of TCM Cheng Shennong Inheritance Studio' of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the 'Famous Scientist Cheng Shennong Academic Thought Inheritance Base' of the China Association for Science and Technology, and the 'Cheng Shennong Inheritance Studio of the Torch Transmission 3+3 Project' of the Beijing Municipal Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, more than one hundred representative inheritors and academic successors have been trained. At present, research on the inheritance of Cheng-style acupuncture, mainly at the graduate level, is also carried out at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences and Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Cheng-style acupuncture possesses a unique theoretical system, diagnostic and treatment experience, and characteristics of manipulation, and has high cultural and academic value. By regulating the body's state of balance to achieve the goals of health maintenance and treatment, Cheng-style acupuncture has important medical value and social value, will effectively raise the health level of the population, and contributes to the building of a 'Healthy China' in the new era. Wang Xuetai (official archive record of associated inheritor): Male, Han ethnicity, born in 1925, from Yi County, Liaoning. Through nearly sixty years of acupuncture practice, Wang Xuetai did extensive excavation and collation work on channel theory, needling knowledge, moxibustion technique, and ancient moxibustion methods. He participated in many international acupuncture conferences, expressing views on acupuncture research methods and mechanisms of action, acupuncture education and legislation, and acupuncture development strategy and trends, paving the way and building bridges for the wide international dissemination of Chinese acupuncture. He led the compilation of the traditional Chinese medicine section of the Chinese Thesaurus and was chief editor of works including the Handbook of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, The Complete Work of Chinese Acupuncture, Encyclopedia of Chinese Medicine: Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Dictionary of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Illustrated History of Acupuncture, Outline of Acupuncture History, and Medical Cases of Contemporary Famous Chinese Acupuncturists. Representative inheritor of the first national-level batch of intangible cultural heritage project acupuncture and moxibustion; senior researcher of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, member of its academic committee, senior adviser of the China Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, and lifetime honorary president of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies. Since the end of the 20th century, Wang Xuetai's research focus has gradually shifted to the development strategy of acupuncture, and he has called for the development of acupuncture to attach importance to protecting and carrying forward its traditional medical characteristics.

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 ↗

This static English edition is rendered at the edge for search engines, AI crawlers and readers without JavaScript; it mirrors the bilingual dossier. 阅读中文版，或返回英文名录。