Acupuncture:
A Brief Introduction
Early anatomical map of acupuncture points from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Acupuncture is a major modality of healing within the system of Chinese Medicine, with a clearly recorded history of over 2000 years . Its complete name comprises of two Chinese characters - 'Zhen Jiu' 针灸, where 'Zhen' 针 denotes needling (acupuncture needle), and 'Jiu' 灸 denotes moxibustion. Therefore, acupuncture and moxibustion were intimately practised together in the course of Chinese Medicine history.
The modern notion of acupuncture practice involves the insertion of extremely fine filiform needles into targeted ‘acupuncture points’, which lie on selected meridian channels of the body, in order to create greater harmony within the body. This will then optimise the body’s natural healing capacity. While this description is indeed true, it only illustrates a partial picture of this deep healing modality without a contextualised understanding of the Chinese conceptual view of the human body. A brief explanation is offered here.
The modern term ‘acupuncture’ was first coined by the Dutch physician and botanist Dr Willem Ten Rhyne (1647-1700) who visited Nagasaki in Japan in the early 17th Century. His publication "Dissertatio de Arthritide: Mantissa Schematica: De Acupunctura: Et Orationes Tres" is regarded as the earliest detailed record of Chinese and Japanese medicine written by a European. In it Rhyne uses the term 'acupunctura', which means 'to prick with a needle' - thus reflecting his focus on the clinical observations of the therapeutic techniques used by the Japanese doctors at the time. Hence an ‘acupuncture point’ in the Western notion, implies a linear coordinate on the body, an intersection of two lines at the junction of which is the appropriate location for the insertion of needles...
The modern notion of acupuncture practice involves the insertion of extremely fine filiform needles into targeted ‘acupuncture points’, which lie on selected meridian channels of the body, in order to create greater harmony within the body. This will then optimise the body’s natural healing capacity. While this description is indeed true, it only illustrates a partial picture of this deep healing modality without a contextualised understanding of the Chinese conceptual view of the human body. A brief explanation is offered here.
The modern term ‘acupuncture’ was first coined by the Dutch physician and botanist Dr Willem Ten Rhyne (1647-1700) who visited Nagasaki in Japan in the early 17th Century. His publication "Dissertatio de Arthritide: Mantissa Schematica: De Acupunctura: Et Orationes Tres" is regarded as the earliest detailed record of Chinese and Japanese medicine written by a European. In it Rhyne uses the term 'acupunctura', which means 'to prick with a needle' - thus reflecting his focus on the clinical observations of the therapeutic techniques used by the Japanese doctors at the time. Hence an ‘acupuncture point’ in the Western notion, implies a linear coordinate on the body, an intersection of two lines at the junction of which is the appropriate location for the insertion of needles...
