Mongolian Medicine
01 · Historical Records
The Huangdi Neijing (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor) already contains records on the origins of moxibustion therapy; the Sanguo Zhi: Wei Shu (Records of the Three Kingdoms: Book of Wei) and other books record the use of moxibustion by northern peoples; the classic Tibetan medical work the Four Medical Tantras contains records of 'Mongolian moxibustion'; and the Jinlan Xunjing Quxue Tu, written by the Yuan-dynasty acupuncturist Hutaibilie, describes methods of point selection for moxibustion — showing that the northern peoples, including the ancestors of the Mongols, began using fire moxibustion to treat disease at least as early as the Qin and Han dynasties.
02 · Core Techniques & Process
Mongolian wula moxibustion has a long history. The Mongolian people have revered fire since ancient times: fire represents life and bestows wealth, happiness, and health on people, so the prevention and treatment of disease and the continuation of the people alike are inseparable from fire; fire treats all cold-natured diseases. In ancient times, fire was mostly produced by striking flint with a fire steel; wula moxibustion is derived from this practice. The operating method of Mongolian wula moxibustion is to mix wula grass (Carex meyeriana) with brick tea or alkali blocks, pound the mixture into a woolly consistency, and form it into cone-shaped moxa sticks for later use. The methods of applying moxibustion include direct moxibustion and indirect moxibustion. The material for wula moxibustion, wula grass, has the effects of improving the movement of hi and blood, dispelling badgan-hi pathogens, and drying 'yellow water'; alkali blocks are hot in nature and have the function of dispelling damp-heat, resolving food stagnation, detoxifying, and counteracting acid; brick tea has the effects of aiding digestion, resisting aging, and killing bacteria and reducing inflammation. Therefore, wula moxa sticks made of wula grass, alkali blocks, or ground brick tea can be used to iron-moxibuste the acupoints, guarding the vital passes of the vessels, preventing disease pathogens from roaming through the channels, relieving pain, settling hi, aiding digestion, breaking up xiphoid-process masses, removing scabies, abscesses, and the necrotic flesh of old sores, reducing swelling, drying up 'yellow water,' guarding the portals of the viscera, causing the gastric fire to rise, and keeping the mind clear. It can treat scabies and abscesses, masses, vessel diseases, badgan disease, yellow-water disease, hi disease, urinary retention, edema, and other diseases. As living conditions improve, people's demands for medical care continue to rise. When choosing medical methods, people value not only therapeutic results but also increasingly favor approaches that are natural, safe, and diverse.
Preparing the Ula moxa cones
Ula grass is mixed with brick tea or alkali and pounded into floss then shaped into cones, each component lending its own action.
Four grades of direct moxibustion
Direct moxibustion places the cone on the point and is graded as deep, burning, roasting or light moxibustion.
Indirect moxibustion with barriers
Indirect moxibustion inserts ginger, garlic or a pad of Ula floss between cone and skin to moderate the heat.
Seventy-one fixed points
Of seventy-one fixed points, twenty-nine lie on head and limbs, twenty-two on the abdomen and twenty on the back, alongside non-fixed points.
What the moxa cones accomplish
The cones are applied to guard the channels, relieve pain, settle the wind, aid digestion, dry yellow water and raise the gastric fire.
Three generations of the practice
The moxibustion has reached the third generation under Fuyulan, with steady year-round demand for treatment.
03 · Regional Records & Related Items
Mongolian wula moxibustion is a therapy in which a lit wula moxa cone is used to iron-moxibuste the patient's local area; it is mainly distributed in Inner Mongolia and the provinces and regions of Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, and Xinjiang. Direct moxibustion means the moxa cone is applied directly on the acupoint; it can be further divided into deep moxibustion, burning moxibustion, roasting moxibustion, and mild moxibustion. Indirect moxibustion includes ginger-interposed moxibustion, garlic-interposed moxibustion, and moxibustion with a wula-grass velvet pad interposed. The acupoints used in wula moxibustion are divided into fixed and non-fixed points; there are 71 commonly used fixed points, of which 29 are on the head and limbs, 22 on the abdomen, and 20 on the back.
Other submitting regions for the same item: Mongolian Medicine · Mongolian Medicine · Mongolian Medicine · Mongolian Medicine · Mongolian Medicine.
04 · Cultural Value & Contemporary Safeguarding
This heritage item has been transmitted for three generations, reaching the current representative inheritor Fu Yulan, and every year patients come in an unbroken stream seeking treatment. The broad transmission and practice of Mongolian wula moxibustion is of positive significance for the development and revitalization of ethnic medicine, and has strong scientific research value and contemporary practical value.
05 · Associated Representative Bearers
Representative bearers recorded under this item, organized by national nomination batch:
- Baojinshan 04-1949
- Baosiqin 05-2960
- Wangbuhe 05-2961
- Hudalai
- Fuyulan
06 · Authoritative Sources & Bibliography
Sources
China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (ihchina.cn)
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