Who invented acupuncture china

Why did acupuncture, unlike any other healing system, appear only in ancient China and nowhere else in the classical world? Many aspects of Chinese culture, including technology, geography, philosophy and social relations, contributed to the invention and development of acupuncture. However, recent archeological findings challenge standard theory of Chinese Medicine origin.

Evidence indicates that the identification of the meridians actually predated the appearance of acupuncture, and was a crucial precondition for its invention and the discovery of the various acupoints. Discussion: There is clear evidence of a shamanic culture existing in early Asian civilization, and many shamanistic practices are believed to lie at the foundation of Chinese Medicine.

No mention of either acupuncture or acupoints has been found in any prior medical documents. The first discussion of the meridians, however, occurs in a collection of much earlier texts, The Ancient Medical Relics of Matvangdui?????

Furthermore, these texts refer only to the use of moxibustion, the application of heat, along the general pathways of the meridians to stimulate the flow of Qi. They make no mention of either acupuncture or specific acupoints. This suggests that the ancient Chinese were familiar with moxibustion and the meridians well before they started to use acupuncture.

Extensive further evidence, both classical and modern, exists to support this theory. Conclusion: We can clearly summarize that we can trace the origins of Chinese Medicine back to the past of shamanistic beliefs and practices, but Chinese Medicine at present develops into verified clinical practice. It is not merely a healing art, but the expression of thousands of years of Chinese culture. Most researches emphasize Chinese Medicine effectiveness on particular diseases at some point.

Secondary interest of researchers is concern to find how TCM Traditional Chinese Medicine can benefit health, which conditions it can treat and how it works. Very few researches published scientific articles about TCM origins - when, and more importantly, why the ancient Chinese began to treat diseases by puncturing the body with bare needles or use herbs to relieve sickness.

On the other we have two additional Chinese Medicine theory of development such as 1. Scientific theory of identification of the meridians which actually predated the appearance of acupuncture Figure 1 [1]. Sacrificial elements were of utmost meaning in the ancient China. Figure 2: Oracle shell with inscriptions. The status of individuals in ancient China was determined by the perceived degree of his or her association with the supernatural.

In ancient China, supernatural capabilities were common to virtually all Chinese medical doctors. They all had supernatural capabilities that were all documented in medical texts. However, in most cases those abilities were not given prominent attention by most researchers. Shang dynasty?? There is clear evidence of a shamanic culture existing in early Asian civilization, and many shamanistic practices are believed to lie at the foundation of Chinese Medicine. By the sixth century B.

Shamanism dates back thousand years and is considered as oldest spiritual and healing practice known to humankind. Virtually all cultures around the world evolved from shamanic cultures Figure 3. Figure 3: Oracle bones pit at Yin. Most shamans begin their spiritual paths during a life-threatening illness, having a spiritual journey and communicate with the spirits and ancestors that become the source of their powers. After recovering from the illness, they go through a ceremonial practice of cleansing.

Archaeological excavations have found records of the shamanistic use of divination dating from the time of Shang dynasty. Invention of acupuncture and moxibustion originated during clan commune period of the primitive society. The activities of human beings appeared in China about 1,, years ago. It was about , years ago that China entered the clan commune period which lasted till 4, years ago.

In the ancient literature there were many legends about the origin of acupuncture and moxibustion such as Fu Xi's?? Yellow Emperor invention of acupuncture and moxibustion. However those two legends actually represent the clan commune of primitive society effort to explain acupuncture and moxibustion and to rise it on cultural pedestal [2].

Originally shamans had two ways to communicate with divine ancestors: in mystical practice, involving dances and trances; and the second is the method of the oracle bones, a rational way. It is clear that the origins of Chinese Medicine extend far into the past and lie firmly rooted somewhere in the midst of their shamanistic beliefs and practices [3].

Archaeological evidence testifies to the ancient use of acupuncture. Excavations from the Stone Age reveal that cattle bones - and, later, turtle shells - were used for medical practice as well. Medical advice was among the more prominent requests made of diviners. During the Shang dynasty the Chinese pictographic writing system is invented. Early character writing has developed out of the need to diagnose sickness and disease Figure 4.

Figure 4: The Daoyintu. Oracle bones are pieces of bone and turtle shells that were used to divine the future for members of the royal household. It is known as scapulimancy, and it had purpose for the ruling class to seek spiritual guidance in affairs of house and the state [4]. Method of using of oracle bones: a question was carved into the oracle bone and then bone was heated via the insertion of hot metal rods into holes carved in the back of it.

Result of this action produced a series of cracks on the bone. Finally cracks would be interpreted by the shaman in order to answer to the question at hand.

These oracles were used as an attempt to determine the outcome of illnesses and the sacrifices necessary to bring about recovery. Sacrifice was believed to be a way of sharing divine powers and ensuring longevity. Many of the pictographs and ideographs represent disease names and symptoms. The U. In the National Institutes of Health NIH acknowledged acupuncture as an effective therapy for a wide range of health conditions. More than 40 states have licensing and certification training for acupuncture practice, and most states now require a national examination.

Today there are over 40 accredited acupuncture schools in the United States. Acupuncture and Massage College's Acupuncture Program prepare graduates for careers as acupuncture physicians and massage therapists. The text is likely to be a compilation of traditions handed down over centuries [ 7 ], presented in terms of the prevailing Taoist philosophy, and is still cited in support of particular therapeutic techniques [ 8 ].

The concepts of channels meridians or conduits [ 3 ] in which the Qi vital energy or life force flowed are well established by this time, though the precise anatomical locations of acupuncture points developed later [ 9 ]. Acupuncture continued to be developed and codified in texts over the subsequent centuries and gradually became one of the standard therapies used in China, alongside herbs, massage, diet and moxibustion heat [ 2 ].

Many different esoteric theories of diagnosis and treatment emerged, sometimes even contradictory [ 3 ], possibly as competing schools attempted to establish their exclusiveness and influence. Bronze statues from the fifteenth century show the acupuncture points in use today, and were used for teaching and examination purposes Fig.

During the Ming Dynasty — , The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion was published, which forms the basis of modern acupuncture. In it are clear descriptions of the full set of points that represent openings to the channels through which needles could be inserted to modify the flow of Qi energy [ 7 ]. It should be noted that knowledge of health and disease in China developed purely from observation of living subjects because dissection was forbidden and the subject of anatomy did not exist.

This bronze figure showing acupuncture points is a reproduction of one cast in ad Interest in acupuncture among the Chinese declined from the seventeenth century onwards as it came to be regarded as superstitious and irrational [ 2 , 6 ]. It was excluded from the Imperial Medical Institute by decree of the Emperor in The knowledge and skill were retained, however, either as an interest among academics or in everyday use by rural healers.

After the installation of the Communist government in , traditional forms of medicine including acupuncture were reinstated, possibly for nationalistic motives but also as the only practical means of providing even basic levels of health to the massive population.

The divergent strands of acupuncture theory and practice were brought together in a consensus known as traditional Chinese medicine TCM [ 8 ], which also included herbal medicine. Acupuncture research institutes were established in the s throughout China and treatment became available in separate acupuncture departments within Western-style hospitals. Over the same period, a more scientific explanation of acupuncture was sought by Prof.

The spread of acupuncture to other countries occurred at various times and by different routes. In the sixth century, Korea and Japan assimilated Chinese acupuncture and herbs into their medical systems [ 6 ]. Both countries still retain these therapies, mostly in parallel with Western medicine. Acupuncture arrived in Vietnam when commercial routes opened up between the eighth and tenth centuries.

In the West, France adopted acupuncture rather sooner than other countries [ 7 ]. Jesuit missionaries first brought back reports of acupuncture in the sixteenth century, and the practice was embraced by French clinicians fairly widely. Berlioz, father of the composer, ran clinical trials on acupuncture and wrote a text in [ 11 ]. French acupuncture today has been deeply influenced by a diplomat, Souliet du Morant, who spent many years in China and published a number of treatises about acupuncture from onwards.

The first medical description of acupuncture by a European physician was by Ten Rhijne, in about , who worked for the East India Company and witnessed acupuncture practice in Japan [ 6 , 11 ]. Interestingly, this comment was deleted from subsequent issues [ 14 ]. He described the experience in the New York Times [ 15 ] and subsequently teams of US physicians made fact-finding tours of China to assess acupuncture, particularly its use for surgical analgesia [ 16 ]. Despite initial excitement at the operations they witnessed, acupuncture proved to be utterly unreliable as an analgesic for surgery in the West.

Acupuncture finally reached its present level of acceptability in the USA when an NIH consensus conference reported that there was positive evidence for its effectiveness, at least in a limited range of conditions [ 17 ].

Ancient concepts of Qi flowing in meridians have been displaced in the minds of many practitioners by a neurological model, based on evidence that acupuncture needles stimulate nerve endings and alter brain function, particularly the intrinsic pain inhibitory mechanisms [ 10 ].

The first magnetic resonance imaging study of acupuncture may also prove to be a landmark [ 20 ]. Other workers have noted the marked similarity between the trigger points of Travell [ 21 ] with their specific pain referral patterns, and the sites of traditional acupuncture points with their associated meridians [ 22 ]. There is a plethora of suggested mechanisms of action of acupuncture, but little valid data on which, if any, mechanisms are relevant to clinical practice.

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