Acupuncture Now

Ancient chinese acupuncture is an art that was in existence from over 3000 years ago. The philosophy of the birth of such remedies is connected to an important discovery in the history of China. Approximately 8000 years ago a Taoist by the name of Fu Hsi formulated the first two symbols that depict a broken and an unbroken line. These lines were symbolic of creation and reception and the interaction of these two lines represented life. This theory called Yin and Yan is the backbone of all Chinese medical remedies including ancient chinese acupuncture.

Excavations have unraveled many objects from the old and new Stone Age in China. Interestingly enough, while the new Stone Age artifacts consisted of knives made of stone for medical procedures, the medical instruments unraveled from the new Stone Age period consisted of stones that had been carved in to hair thin needles. These were called Bien. It is believed that ancient chinese acupuncture gained popularity in China during the period of the Yellow Emperor by the name of Huang Di (2697-2597). Though hieroglyphic evidence shows that ancient chinese acupuncture not only utilized the bien stone but also developed bronze needles as well. The Warren States era (421-221BC) though unraveled four gold needles and five silver needles in an ancient tomb. This period also boasts of the Nan Jing which is a book that attributes to eight extra meridians found in the body.

The most noted text of ancient chinese acupuncture is reputed to be; the “Systematic Classics of Acupuncture and Moxibustion” written by Huang Fu Mi (260-265AD). But it was later on that ancient chinese acupuncture would experience a crucial transition. During the Tan dynasty (618-907) and many texts thereafter, acupuncture became a formal branch of medicinal education in China. During this time many acupuncture schools appeared and it became an essential chapter in the imperial medical bureau. The Ming dynasty (1568-1644) too enlightened the advancement of ancient chinese acupuncture.

Between the Ming Dynasty and all the way up to the 1960’s, ancient chinese acupuncture and other traditional medicinal practices took a backseat. Western medicines gained more popularity and were given preference over traditional cures. They were viewed at the time as being ‘primitive’ and ‘harmful’. This gave birth to the emergence of ‘barefoot doctors’. These doctors practiced ancient chinese acupuncture on a small scale in villages and thus helped keep alive this magnificent ancient medical discovery. After the 1970’s though people started to appreciate the merits of ancient Chinese acupuncture and research it. This therefore led to the modernization of an ancient scientific discovery.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 3:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.