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The history
In the classics of two thousand years ago, it was frequently cited that the acupuncture instruments were made of stone and were named bian stone. For example in Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals, there is a paragraph in historical records for 550 BC saying : " Praise pleasant to hear that does an ill turn is worse than advice unpleasant to hear that acts like a stone. " Fu Qian in the second century explained that " stone " here meant hum stone. Quan Yuanqi who lived around the 5th - 6th centuries pointed out : " bian stone is an ancient appliance for external treatment and was known by three names :
In fact, they are the same thing. Because there was no iron casting in ancient times, the needles were made of stone. " This is correlated with the fact that the stone instruments were extensively used in the primitive society. Primitive period in China was divided into two stages, the Old Stone Age ( from remote antiquity to 10,000 years ago ) and the New Stone Age ( from 10,000 - 4,000 years ago ) . In the Old Stone Age the ancestors knew how to use stone knives and scrapers to incise an abscess, drain pus and let blood out for therapeutic purposes. With the accumulation of experiences the indications of the treatment by bian stone were gradually increased. In the New Stone Age because of the improvement in their technique of stone manufacturing, the ancient people were able to make bian stone as a special tool with more medical usage. In China, a bian stone needle was discovered in the New Stone Age ruins in Duolun County of Inner Mongolia. At one end, it is oval shaped with a semicircular edge used for incising boils and abscesses, and at the other end, it is pyramid shaped with a square base used for bloodletting. Two more bian stones were discovered as funerary objects in a late New Stone Age grave in Rizhao County of Shandong Province. They are 8.3 cm and 9.1 cm in length respectively, with three - edged and cone - shaped ends used for bloodletting and regulating qi circulation. The discovered relics of bian stone have provided powerful evidence that acupuncture originated early in the primitive society. According to the records of Chapter 12 of Plain Questions ' . " The treatment with bian stone needle was originated in the East Coast of China where the inhabitants lived on fishery, and moxibustion was originated in the north where the people subsisted on animal husbandry. Because it was cold and windy in the northern areas, people had to warm themselves by fire. Living in camps and subsisting on milk, they easily suffered from abdominal pain and distension by cold, suitable to be treated by heat. Through long - term accumulation of experiences, moxibustion therapy and hot compression were created. THE ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF ANCIENT ACUPUNCTURE AND MOXIBUSTION. From the twenty - first century B.C. when China entered the slave society to 476 B.C., Chinese history went through the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou dynasties and the Spring and Autumn Period. Three thousand years ago in the Shang Dynasty the hieroglyphs of acupuncture and moxibustion appeared in the inscriptions on bones and tortoise shells. Because of the development of bronze casting techniques there appeared bronze medical needles. But bian stone was still used as the main tool for treating diseases. During this period the philosophical thinking of yin - yang and five elements was formed, and in the field of medicine the ancient physicians had a preliminary understanding of pulse, blood, body fluid, qi, shen ( manifestations of vitality ) , essence, five sounds, five colors, five flavors, six qi, eight winds, etc., as well as the ideology of relevant adaptation of the human body to natural environment. Thus germinated the sprout of the basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine. From the Warring States Period ( 475 B.C. - 221 B.C. ) to the Qin. Dynasty ( 321 B.C. - 207 B.C. ) and to the Western Han Dynasty ( 206 B.C. - A.D. 24 ) , it was the establishing and strengthening stage of the feudal system in China. With the introduction and application of iron instruments, hum stone needles were replaced by metal medical needles. This broadened the field of acupuncture practice, bringing about a development of acupuncture by leaps and bounds. As recorded in the book Miraculous Pivot, there were nine kinds of metallic needles at that time with different shapes and usage. They are named as nine needles including the needles for puncturing, surgical incision and massage as well. In 1968, in Mancheng County, Hebei Province, an ancient tomb of the Western Han Dynasty buried in 113 B.C. was excavated. Among the relics, there were four golden needles and five decaying silver ones. These discoveries demonstrate the original shapes of the ancient needles. The doctors of this period treated diseases with multiple techniques. For example, the famous doctor Qin Yueren ( or named Bian
Que ) who lived in about the Fifth to fourth century B.C., had a good command of medical knowledge in various clinical branches ; he treated patients by needling,
moxibustion, herbal decoction, massage and hot compression. He rescued a critically ill prince by acupuncture, and this story went down in history.
The outstanding medical doctor Zhang Zhongjing also mentioned the methods of acupuncture, moxibustion, fire needling, warm needling, etc. in his book Treatment on Febrile and Miscellaneous Diseases. He stressed very much on combining acupuncture with medicinal herbs as well as applying the treatment according to the differentiation of symptom complex. During this period the basic theories of acupuncture and moxibustion had already been formed, but the locations and names of acupuncture points were neither unified nor systemized. A bamboo scroll of medicine of the Eastern Han Dynasty which was excavated from Wuwei County in Gansu Province, mistook Zusanii to be located " five cun below the knee. ' ' Hua Tuo located Back - Shu points as " one cun bilaterally along the spine, " with a great difference in locations and names of the points when compared with other books. Because the earliest acupuncture books contained mistakes and differences, and had missing information, the famous medical doctor Huangfu Mi compiled the book Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion in 256 - 260 by collecting the materials of acupuncture and moxibustion from the ancient books Plain Questions, Canon of Acupuncture and Essentials of Points, Acupuncture and Moxibustion. The book consists of 12 volumes with 128 chapters, including 349 acupuncture points. He edited and arranged the contents according to the following order : the theories of Zang - Fu, Qi and Blood, channels and collaterals, acupuncture points, the pulse diagnosis, manipulating techniques of acupuncture and moxibustion, and their clinical application in various branches of medicine. It is the earliest exclusive and systemized book on acupuncture and moxibustion that has been one of the most influential works in the history of acupuncture and moxibustion. During the Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties ( 265 - 581 ) , the chaos was upheaved by wars. The physicians advocated acupuncture and moxibustion therapy very much because of its convenient use in times of turmoil, and the masses of Chinese people also knew something about moxibustion therapy. The famous doctor Ge Hong wrote the book Prescriptions for Emergencies to popularize medical knowledge, especially the therapeutic Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion methods of acupuncture and moxibustion. From the Jin Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Xu Xi ' s family were expert in the art of healing for several generations, including Xu Qiufu, Xu Wenbo and Xu Shuxiang, all well known in the history of acupuncture and moxibustion. In this period there appeared more and more monographs on acupuncture and moxibustion, and charts of acupuncture points, such as Acupuncture Chart from Lateral and Posterior Views and Diagrams of Meridians and Points. During the Sui ( 581 - 618 ) and Tang dynasties ( 618 - 907 ) , China was undergoing the process of economical and cultural prosperity of the feudal society. The science of acupuncture and moxibustion also had great development. The famous physician Zhen Quan and his contemporary Sun Simiao both had good command of the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine and made deep study on acupuncture and moxibustion. The Tang government, in the years around 627 - 649, ordered Zhen Quan and the others to revise the books and charts of acupuncture and moxibustion. Sun Simiao compiled Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies ( 650 - 652 ) , and A Supplement to the Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold ( 680 - 682 ) . in which a great deal of clinical experiences in acupuncture treatment of various schools was included. He also designed and made Charts of Three Views, in which " the twelve regular meridians and the eight extra meridians were illustrated in various colors, and there were altogether 650 points. They are the earliest multicolored charts of meridians and points, but have been lost. In addition, Yang Shangshan of the Tang Dynasty compiled Acupuncture Points in Internal Classic, which revised the relevant contents of Internal Classic ; Wang Tao wrote the book The Medical Secrets of An Official, in which a host of moxibustion methods of various schools were recorded. During this period there appeared monographs on the treatment of special diseases, for example, the book Moxibustion Method for Consumptive Diseases written by Cui Zhidi, in which moxibustion treatment of tuberculosis was described. It has been found that the earliest block - printed edition of acupuncture and moxibustion is A New Collection of Moxibustion Therapy for Emergency, which appeared in the year 862, specially describing the moxibustion therapy for emergencies. In the seventh century, acupuncture and moxibustion had already become a special branch of medicine, and those specialized in this Field were entitled acupuncturists and moxibustionists. During the Tang Dynasty, the Imperial Medical Bureau responsible for medical education was divided into four departments of medical specialties and one department of pharmacology. And the department of acupuncture was also one of them, in which there were I professor of acupuncture, I assistant professor, 10 instructors, 20 technicians and 20 students. The acupuncture professor was in charge of teaching the students the meridian - collaterals and acupuncture points, pulse diagnosis, and manipulating methods of needling. In the Five Dynasties ( 907 - 960 ) , Liao Dynasty ( 916 - 1125 ) , Song Dynasty ( 960 - 1279 ) , Jin Dynasty ( 1115 - 1234 ) and Yuan Dynasty ( 1206 - 1368 ) , the extensive application of printing technique greatly promoted the accumulation of medical literature and speeded up the dissemination and development of Chinese medicine and pharmacology. Supported by the Northern Song government, the famous acupuncturist Wang Weiyi revised the locations of the acupuncture points and their related meridians, and made a supplement to the indications of acupuncture points. In 1026, he wrote the book Illustrated Manual on the Points for Acupuncture and Moxibustion, which was block printed and published by the government. In 1027, two bronze figures designed by Wang Weiyi were manufactured, with the internal organs set inside and the meridians and points engraved on the surface for visual teaching and examination. These achievements and measures promoted the unification of the theoretical knowledge of acupuncture points and meridians. The famous acupuncturist Wang Zhizhong of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote the book Canon on the Origin of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, in which he laid stress on practical experiences including folk experiences, exerting a great influence on later generations. The famous doctor Hua Shou of the Yuan Dynasty did textual research on the pathways of meridians and collaterals as well as their relationship with acupuncture points. In 1341 he wrote the book Exposition of the Fourteen Meridians, which further developed the theory of meridians and acupuncture points. In this period there were plenty of famous doctors who were good at acupuncture and moxibustion. Some of them laid emphasis on the theory and technique of a particular aspect. So different branches of acupuncture and moxibustion were formed. For example, the publication of Canon of Acupuncture and Moxibustion for Children ' s Diseases ( lost ) , Moxibustion Methods for Emergencies, The Secret of Moxibustion for Abscess and Ulcer and so on, showed the deep development of acupuncture and moxibustion into various branches of the clinic. Xi Hong of the early Southern Song Dynasty, who was from a famous acupuncturist family, particularly stressed the manipulating technique of acupuncture. And his contemporary Dou Cai wrote a book entitled Bian Que ' s Medical Experiences, in which he highly praised the scorching moxibustion, and even gave a general anesthesia to avoid pain while applying scorching moxibustion. At the same time, Yang Jie and Zhang Ji observed autopsies, and advocated selecting acupuncture points in the light of anatomical knowledge. He Ruoyu and Dou Hanqin of the Jin and Yuan dynasties suggested that the acupuncture points should be selected according to ziwuliuzhu ( Chinese two - hour lime on the basis Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches ) . In the Ming Dynasty ( 1368 - 1644 ) acupuncture and moxibustion were worked up to a climax that many problems were studied deeper and broader. There were more Famous doctors specialized in this Field. Chen Hui of the early stage of Ming Dynasty, Ling Yun of the middle stage, and Yang Jizhou of the later stage, all were known far and wide in China, and exerted a tremendous influence upon the development of acupuncture and moxibustion. The main accomplishments in the Ming Dynasty were :
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THE ORIGIN OF ACUPUNCTURE AND MOXIBUSTION.
Acupuncture and moxibustion are an important invention of the Chinese nation that originated as early as in the clan commune period of the primitive society. The activities of human beings appeared in China about 1,700,000 years ago. It was about 100,000 years ago that China entered the clan commune period that lasted till 4,000 years ago. In the ancient literature there were many legends about the origin of acupuncture and moxibustion such as Fu Xi ' s creation of the therapeutic techniques with stone needles, and Huang Di ' s invention of acupuncture and
moxibustion. The above mentioned Fu Xi and Huang Di in legend actually are the representatives of the clan commune of primitive society.