The History and Present Day Practice of Acupuncture
by Heather Caunt
June 30, 2000

The History and Present Day Practice of Acupuncture

Introduction

The key principle that defines and connects all of Chinese medicine is that of Chi, or vital energy.  Chi must be in balance, neither too active nor too dormant, for a person to be healthy.  One of the means of regulating and releasing Chi is through the use of acupuncture needles, which are inserted into the body along meridians that the Chi flows through.  The practice of acupuncture has lasted over two thousand years.  Despite the Cultural Revolutions attempt to abolish all of traditional.  Chinese culture, traditional Chinese medicine is still practiced today. How, if at all, have the practice of acupuncture changed throughout history as a result of cultural change in the East?  How has Western medicine adopted this non-scientific practice into its paradigm?

Chi and Taoism

Chi is a central concept in all of Chinese culture, but it is particularly relevant to Taoism.  Taoism is the way that things naturally flow; it is the way of the universe. Taoists believe that the world was created out of chaos, and out of that chaos emerged both the yin and yang. The yin can be seen as the restful or dark side of things, where there is a lesser flow of Chi.  The yang is the energized, bright side of things, where Chi flows excessively.  When the yin and the yang are balanced, there is a harmony, and Chi flows smoothly.

Someone whose Chi is in balance will live harmoniously, at one with the Tao.  One who has a Chi deficiency, or whose Chi is somehow blocked from flowing smoothly, will have health problems such as tiredness and loss of strength.  One who has an excessive flow of Chi will be generally overexcited, and therefore may have anxiety problems, ulcers, or heart problems.  By balancing the Chi within oneself, one will become healthier, both physically and mentally.  While some meditative practices and martial arts focus on balancing of Chi in both the mind and body, acupuncture deals with the physical manifestations and manipulations of Chi.

Brief Description of Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the manipulation of Chi by inserting needles into key points on the meridians through which it flows.  These needles vary greatly in length and width.  Chinese acupuncture needles are much thicker than Japanese needles, which can be smaller than thirty gauge.

The Practice of Acupuncture Throughout History

The practitioners of acupuncture unanimously say that the earliest acupuncture needles were made of stone, and were not used to pierce the skin, but rather to press on acupuncture points.  There is no archaeological proof that this is true, but the unanimity of the oral history convinces most people that it is so.  The first acupuncture needles that have actually been found date to 600 AD.  These needles were made of bronze, copper, tin, gold, or silver.  During the Late Chou period, both bronze and bone needles were used.  During the Shang Dynasty, there is no archaeological proof that acupuncture was being practiced, but historians presume that they perhaps used perishable substances, such as thorns, bamboo slivers, or sharpened bone, rather than metal needles.

In the fourth century AD, a Chinese metallurgist invented steel (for the first time in China, at least) by emerging iron in melted iron, thus carbonizing it.  Once steel was discovered, it became the most favored material for crafting acupuncture needles.  It is the ideal thing to make needles out of because it is both very strong and can make very fine needles.  It was the discovery of steel that made the Japanese thinner style needles possible.

Beyond these material changes in the practice of acupuncture, there were also ideological changes throughout history.  Despite its flourishing in earlier times, acupuncture did eventually decline.  By the time that Hsu Ling-Thai surveyed and documented the history of Chinese medicine in 1757 AD, he treated acupuncture as a lost art.  Very few masters remained, and it was difficult for anyone who wanted to learn to practice to find a teacher.  Proposed reasons for this decline include the prominence of Confucianism; the body which mother and father bestow upon their children is sacred, and it is the child's duty to not cause harm to it, which sticking needles into it could potentially do.   In 1822, the teaching of acupuncture techniques to aspiring practitioners was banned to those studying in the Imperial Medical College.  However, acupuncture never completely disappeared; there were still a few books about it circulating, even though the practice was forbidden.
Acupuncture In the West

When acupuncture was first introduced to the West, it was by people on the medical fringe, who criticized the rational scientific approach to curing disease and argued that basic human understanding could be used to heal.  One of the first of such scientific dissenters was Thomas Baker, who pointed out that the Chinese had known about the circulation of blood for thousands of years, whereas it was a newly discovered phenomena in the West.  The flow of blood that Baker wrote about is clearly the flow of Chi; he just had a Western perspective, and his scientific mind just did not comprehend the idea.  Western scientists and doctors of that time claimed that although the Chinese supposedly had no knowledge of anatomy, their system did work.  It was difficult for many to accept that idea that perhaps there was something they could not explain scientifically that could be of actual, effective medical use.

Modern Western Views of and Attempts to Explain Acupuncture

ÝMost Western students of acupuncture, however adamantly they believe in the effectiveness of the practice, maintain a certain degree of skepticism.  There is a tendency to believe in the effectiveness of the treatment, but not in the explanation that the Chinese give for why it works.  There is still a desire among Western doctors, and now many Eastern practitioners who have been influenced by Western skepticism, to understand and prove the efficaciousness of acupuncture scientifically.

One study that attempts to pinpoint how this practice works scientifically was done by C. Chan Gunn, after whom the popular Gunn approach to the treatment of chronic pain is named.  Something amusing about this study is that the word "acupuncture" is never used.  Scientific jargon is used extensively to prove the validity of the practice to a Western audience.  The explanation that is given for why acupuncture works for treating pain is that it affects the muscles that are causing the pain.  There is no mention of Chi, energy, or Taoist balance anywhere in his explanation.

Conclusion

Acupuncture, although an integral part of the history traditional Chinese medicine, has been the object of skepticism throughout recent history.  The idea of putting needles in one's body, which could potentially be very painful, especially if they are the thicker Chinese needles, is not one that is easily accepted by people who have not been acculturated to understand its function in the manipulation of Chi.  However, there are people who are willing to give it a try, but even these people must scientifically prove its effectiveness before it will be widely accepted.  For now, in the West, acupuncture is viewed largely as an alternative treatment. It is an alternative worth looking into for those whose ails modern science cannot effectively cure.

References Used (suggested readings for more information)

Bowers, John Z. and Elizabeth F. Purcell, eds.  1974.  Medicine and
Society in China.  New York: Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation.

Gunn, C. Chan.  1989.  The Gunn Approach to the Treatment of Chronic Pain:
Intramuscular Stimulation for Myofascal Pain of Radiculopathic
Origin.  New York: Chuchill Livingstone.

Gwei-Djen, Lu and Joseph Needham.  1980.  Celestial Lancets: A History and
Rationale of    Acupuncture and Moxa.  Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.

Jochim, Christian.  1986.  Chinese Religions: A Cultural Perspective.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kleinman, Arthur, Peter Kunstadter, E. Russell Alexander, and James L.
Gale, eds.  1975.   Medicine in Chinese Cultures: Comparative Studies
of Health Care in Chinese and Other Societies. Washington, D.C.: The
Geographic Health Studies John E. Fogarty International Center for
Advanced Study in the Health Sciences.

Leslie, Charles.  1976.  Asian Medical Systems: A Comparative Study.
Berkeley: University of California Press.