Acupuncture and Moxibustion Therapy

Acupuncture and moxibustion therapy, with a history of thousands of years in China, is at the core of Chinese medicine.

Acupuncture therapy involves jabbing specially made metal needles of different length into the patient’s body at certain acupuncture points, treating the patient by twirling or lifting the needles. Moxibustion therapy requires the placement of burning crushed dry moxa near or on the skin at certain acupuncture points, treating by the irritation of heat.

In ancient China, there were many well-known doctors using acupuncture and moxibustion therapy to treat patients, such as Bian Que of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) and Hua Tuo of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), who had treated some difficult and complicated cases, and thus were acclaimed as miracle-workers. In 1027 AD, a medical official of acupuncture and moxibustion of the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) Wang Weiyi designed and made two bronze human figures marked with acupuncture points, carefully carved 12 channels and vessels and 354 acupuncture points on the figures for people to use when learning the therapy. This was the earliest bronze human figure for medical use in China.

Nowadays, acupuncture and moxibustion therapy is not only widely used in China to relieve people of their diseases, it has also spread around the world.