Acupuncture is an important specialty of traditional medicine in China. It originated in China and then spread abroad, and now it has become an integral part of world medicine. Archaeological excavation and literature research prove that acupuncture originated from clan commune system in primitive times in China. This period started from100000 years ago and lasted until 4000 years ago. It spanned the middle and late Paleolithic period and the whole Neolithic period, which started 10,000 years ago. During this period, the ancestors' understanding of nature and human beings gradually deepened, the stone tools became more and more refined, and the fire technology continued to improve, which provided conditions for the invention of acupuncture. Some legends about the origin of acupuncture are recorded in ancient books. Some say that Fu (or Tai Gai's family) "tried grass to treat needles", while others say that the Yellow Emperor "wanted to make nine needles" ... and got the essence of acupuncture. Fuxi represents the period when the ancestors started animal husbandry, while Taiti was the leader of the Yi people who lived in the eastern part of China in primitive times. Taiti and Huangdi are the representatives of clan commune system.
The original tool of acupuncture and moxibustion is stone tools, called "bian stone". For example, Zuo Zhuan recorded a sentence by Zang in 550 BC: "Beauty is not as good as evil stone", and the Han Fu Qian noted: "Stone is also a stone". Su Wen said: "Make Bian Shi small and big". In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Jin Yuan began to note: "Bian Shi is an ancient foreign policy. There are three, one needle stone, two Bian Shi, and three? Stones, actually. It was impossible to cast iron in ancient times, so stone was used as a needle. " It can be seen that the treatment of bian stone originated from the primitive times when stone tools were used. About the Paleolithic Age, our ancestors knew how to use sharp tools, scrapers and other stone tools to puncture carbuncle, expel pus and blood, and relieve pain. In the Neolithic Age, due to mastering the technology of grinding exquisite stone needles, a special medical tool, Bian Shi, was produced, and its application scope was extended to acupuncture treatment. In China, bian stone was found in two Neolithic sites in Duolun County, Inner Mongolia and Rizhao County, Shandong Province, which provided strong evidence for the origin of acupuncture. According to Su Wen, the treatment of bian stone originated from the ancestors who mainly fished in the eastern coastal areas of China, which is consistent with the legend that Taiyi invented the bian stone method. In recent years, a number of stone reliefs of the Eastern Han Dynasty have been found in Shandong Province, China, with the theme of treating diseases by acupuncture. The image of doctors who are half man and half bird obviously comes from totem worship during the clan commune system. Ancient Dongyi people worshipped bird totem. As for moxibustion, it comes from the ethnic groups in northern China, which mainly focus on animal husbandry. The northern region is cold and icy, so ancestors can't keep warm without fire. In addition, their living habits in the wild are prone to abdominal cold pain and fullness, which is very suitable for hyperthermia. According to literature research, it seems that the discovery of moxibustion is closely related to the use of moxa as fuel in the early days and the bone divination in the later period of clan commune system.
From 2 1 century BC to 476 BC, China was in the era of slavery. Bian Shi is still the main tool for stabbing diseases, but due to the progress of copper smelting technology, bronze medical needles have also appeared. In Oracle Bone Inscriptions and Jinzhong, Yin Ruins in the Western Zhou Dynasty, there are hieroglyphics about acupuncture, some of which represent acupuncture of human thighs, some represent acupuncture of human abdomen and back, and some represent moxibustion of human lower limbs. During the Spring and Autumn Period, famous doctors were good at acupuncture. According to Zuo Zhuan, in 58 1 year BC, Yi Mian diagnosed Jin Gong Jing and thought that he was terminally ill, and acupuncture and medicine could do nothing. In this era, the philosophy of Yin-Yang and Five Elements came into being, the medical profession had a preliminary understanding of pulse, blood, essence, qi and spirit, and the concept of human body corresponding to heaven and earth came into being, which showed the germination of the basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine.
From the Warring States period, China entered the feudal society. The improvement of productivity and the change of social system have promoted the deepening of medicine from experience to theory. With the popularization and application of ironware, Bian Shi was gradually replaced by metal medical needles, which expanded the medical practice scope of acupuncture and brought the rapid development of acupuncture. At that time, there were nine kinds of metal medical needles with different shapes and uses, called "nine needles", including acupuncture and surgical tools. 1968, four gold needles and five broken silver needles were unearthed in a tomb in Mancheng, Hebei Province in BC 1 13, showing China some rudiments of the nine needles. Moxibustion was also very popular during this period, and moxa cone moxibustion was used. At that time, doctors all mastered acupuncture technology. For example, in the early Warring States period, Qin Yueren (Bian Que) once gave acupuncture first aid to a dying prince suffering from corpse syndrome, which was passed down as a much-told story in medical history. In "Spring Rain Easy" in the early Han Dynasty, among the 25 medical records, 4 people were treated with acupuncture. During this period, the summary of medicine and pharmacy began, and some medical works appeared, including acupuncture academic works. 1973 There are two kinds of monographs on meridians in the silk unearthed from the No.3 Han Tomb in Mawangdui, Changsha, which were written in the Warring States Period, reflecting the early emergence of meridian theory. Huangdi Neijing laid the foundation of the theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine. In addition to expounding the basic theory of traditional Chinese medicine, there are many articles about meridians, acupoints, acupuncture and acupuncture treatment of some diseases. Among them, Lingshu discusses acupuncture in detail, so it is also called Huangdi Needle Sutra.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, acupuncture developed further. Hua Tuo only takes one or two acupoints when acupuncture, and pays great attention to the conduction of acupuncture sensation. He is the author of Acupuncture in Pillow. In Zhang Zhongjing's Treatise on Febrile Diseases, acupuncture, needle burning and needle warming are mentioned many times, so we should pay attention to the combination of acupuncture and medicine. From 256 to 260 A.D., Huangfu Mi combined the acupuncture contents of Huangdi Neijing and Tang Ming Kongxue Zhiyao into one book, eliminated the duplication, and compiled A Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. The book * * * contains 349 points, divided into 12 volumes and 128 articles. According to the discipline order of viscera, qi and blood, meridians, acupoints, pulse diagnosis, acupuncture and acupuncture treatment of clinical diseases, it became the earliest acupuncture works with a relatively complete system, which had a great influence on the development of acupuncture in later generations. During this period, the number of acupuncture monographs increased obviously and acupuncture appeared. In the 6th century, acupuncture spread to Korea, Japan and other countries.
Sui and Tang Dynasties were a period of economic and cultural prosperity in China's feudal society. Zhen Quan and Sun Simiao, famous medical doctors, are proficient in various subjects of traditional Chinese medicine and have a good study of acupuncture. From 627 to 649, Tang organized Zhen Quan and others to revise acupuncture books. Sun Simiao has written many books handed down from generation to generation, such as "Preparing a Thousand Women" and "A Thousand Women's Wings", which widely collected the experience of acupuncture treatment in the previous generation, and drew the Three-person Map of Tang and Ming Dynasties, in which the twelve meridians was written in five colors, with eight odd and eight veins as green and three-person points as * * * 650 points, which is the earliest colored meridian in known history. During this period, there were many monographs on acupuncture and moxibustion, as well as books on special diseases. For example, Cui Zhiti's "Bone Steaming Moxibustion Prescription" in the Tang Dynasty specifically introduced the moxibustion method for treating consumption; Xinjibei Emergency Moxibustion Classic, published before 862 AD, is the earliest printed medical book in China, which mainly treats acute syndrome with moxibustion therapy. Since the 7th century, acupuncture has developed into a specialized subject, with professional names such as "acupuncturist" and "master of moxibustion". Tangtai Medical Department is in charge of medical education, with four medical specialties and one pharmacy specialty. Acupuncture is one of the medical specialties, including doctor of acupuncture 1, acupuncture assistant 1, acupuncturist1,20 acupuncturists and 20 students. Dr. needle teaches needle students.
During the Five Dynasties, Song, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, the wide application of printing promoted the accumulation of medical literature and accelerated the spread and development of medicine. With the support of * * * in the Northern Song Dynasty, Wang researched the positions and meridians of 354 acupoints, supplemented the main treatment syndromes of acupoints, and wrote "Illustration of Acupuncture and Moxibustion of Newly Cast Copper People" on 1026, which was published by * * * and engraved with stone tablets for people to copy. 1027, Wang designed two models of bronze figures, with meridians and acupoints carved on the outside and viscera inside, which were used as teaching and examination acupuncturists. These achievements and measures promote the unification of theoretical knowledge of meridians and acupoints. During this period, many acupuncture monographs and famous acupuncturists appeared, forming different acupuncture factions. Some pay special attention to acupuncture; Some strongly advocate burning moxibustion. Even use general anesthesia to prevent burning pain; Some people personally observed the autopsy and advocated that acupuncture should be guided by anatomical knowledge; Some advocate taking acupoints on time. In the Yuan Dynasty, Hua Shou studied the circulation of meridians and their relationship with acupoints, and further developed the theory of meridians and acupoints with the book Fourteen Classics (134 1 year).
When acupuncture developed to the Ming Dynasty, the research problems were more in-depth and extensive. Chen Hui in the early Ming Dynasty, Lingyun in the middle period and Yang Jizhou in the later period were all famous acupuncturists in China. The main achievements of acupuncture and moxibustion in Ming Dynasty are as follows: ① Extensive collection and arrangement of previous acupuncture and moxibustion literature, and many compilation works appeared. Among them, acupuncture is the most representative, which is rich in content and has a great influence on the development of acupuncture in later generations. ② Study on acupuncture manipulation. On the basis of single technique, more than 20 kinds of compound techniques have been formed, and academic debates have been launched around techniques and other issues. ③ Moxibustion developed from moxa stick moxibustion to moxa stick warm moxibustion. /kloc-moxa stick moxibustion began to appear in the 0/4th century, and later it developed into moxa stick plus medicine and moxibustion based on syndrome differentiation. ④ Sorting out acupoints that did not belong to acupoints in past dynasties, and forming the category of "strange acupoints".
In the Qing Dynasty, doctors paid more attention to medicine than acupuncture, and acupuncture gradually turned into a low tide. In the18th century, Janice and others wrote The Essentials of Acupuncture, which is mainly composed of songs and illustrations and is very practical. In addition, although there are many works, they have little influence. 1822, the Qing dynasty ordered the acupuncture department in Taiyuan to stop forever on the grounds that "the use of fire for acupuncture is not suitable for the monarch". Since 1840 Opium War, China has been reduced to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, and the academic development of acupuncture has been seriously hindered. Some western colonialists even vilified acupuncture as "medical torture" and called medical needles "deadly needles". Since 19 14, the Kuomintang * * has repeatedly proposed to abolish Chinese medicine and adopted a series of reactionary measures to restrict Chinese medicine, resulting in the stagnation of acupuncture. But because the masses need acupuncture to treat diseases, this subject can continue to spread among the people.