Acupuncture

Acupuncture itself is the therapy that uses the insertion of needles into the body to relieve and cure diseases. The term acupuncture also refers to therapies that are conjointly associated with it: bloodletting and especially moxibustion. The latter consists of heating a specific point on the body with a large cigar or a cone called moxa, mainly made of dried and ground mugwort. Sometimes a small moxa is associated with an acupuncture needle to increase its effect.

Principle of Acupuncture

Acupuncture follows the theory of Chinese medicine, particularly concerning the meridian vessels. The body is traversed by these meridian vessels that connect the internal (organs) with the external (acupuncture points on the skin). The vital energy qi circulates in these meridian vessels continuously and harmoniously. If its circulation is disrupted, the body falls ill.

An imbalance can be due to excess or deficiency. In the case of excess, the meridian must be emptied using dispersion techniques. In the case of deficiency, the meridian must be tonified using tonification techniques. Practitioners do not entirely agree on these techniques. The oldest theory holds that puncturing (inserting a needle into the body) disperses qi, while moxibustion tonifies. Some believe that if the needle is inserted in the direction of or against the direction of the meridian vessel's circulation, it will respectively have a dispersing or tonifying effect. Others think it is the direction of rotation of the needle between the fingers that causes dispersion or tonification. Finally, according to the theory of the five phases (or five elements), one can tonify using the production cycle and disperse using the destruction cycle.

A closer look at what ancient Chinese medical classics reveal allows us to better understand these differences.

Origin of Acupuncture

I will summarize here the work of the Chinese researcher HUANG Longxiang, whose main activity is analyzing all classical Chinese acupuncture texts. Many elements in the ancient acupuncture classics are incomprehensible if approached with modern Chinese medicine theory. A thorough analysis of these texts sheds light on these obscure areas. Here are the different stages of the development of acupuncture according to Huang Longxiang's research.

Originally, the observation of a change in the appearance of a blood vessel occurring simultaneously with a symptom led to the belief that the diseased part of the body was connected by a blood vessel to a specific point on the skin, where the change in appearance occurred. For example, if a person suffering from a toothache has a swollen blood vessel between the thumb and the outer surface of the hand, unlike normal, one can think that the teeth and this specific point are connected by a blood vessel. Since it is a swelling of the vessel, the disease is related to an excess of blood in this vessel. Therefore, it must be emptied of this excess by bloodletting. If this operation provides relief, the link between this point on the vessel and the diseased part is confirmed. If the vessel is curved, one thinks of a deficiency that is tonified by scarification, the ancestor of moxibustion.

We have here the first conception of the meridian vessel and the techniques of tonification and dispersion. Indeed, the first acupuncture needles were flint punches. The character corresponding to this object is found in the acupuncture classics. The observation of the state of blood vessels was refined by taking the pulse and observing the color of the vessel on all parts of the body. Some ethnic minorities in China still practice this type of diagnosis.

The fact that a needle inserted without blood loss on one of the recorded points had the same effect as bloodletting led to the belief that it was not the excess of blood but the vital energy (qi) that animates the blood that was at issue. Moreover, the organization of observations under the Chinese system of thought, especially that of the five phases (or five elements) and yin-yang, led to what we know today as acupuncture.

It should be noted that taking this development into account allows for a much clearer reading of the ancient acupuncture classics and a more reasonable approach to its study and practice.