Acupuncture-moxibustion

The Origin of Acupuncture-moxibustion

Acupuncture-moxibustion is an important composition of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is not a one kind of treatment and has two kinds of treatment forms.

Acupuncture is the practice of puncturing various acupoints on the human body using specific needles for proper manipulation to relieve pain, treat specific diseases and problems. Moxibustion is the practice of stimulating the acupoint by burning moxa, a Chinese herb, directly and indirectly on the acupoint. This method is based on the Acupuncture theory.

Acupuncture-moxibustion therapy has been used for thousands and thousands years and is popular treatment in China and other counties, such as Japan and Korea. The origin and development of acupuncture-moxibustion has undergone relentless testing for all those years. It is also a great valuable practice experience collected by generation to generation of Chinese people when they deal with diseases.

Early in the Stone Age, ancient Chinese people used stone needle “Bian Shi” as treatment tool. As time pasted, the Iron Age replaced the Bronze Age; the stone needle was also replaced by metal needle. Because science and technique develop constantly, the quality of the needle has been improved. Today the stainless steel needle has been used widely.

Moxibustion originated from the time when human being started to know how to use fire. Ancient Chinese people found that when the fire, which unexpectedly reduced or relieved the previous problem, burned the certain part of the body carelessly. Moxibustion therapy was born in this way. Why to use moxa as the material in this therapy? The reason is that the moxa is an herb, which has the function to unblock and active the meridians and collateral, eliminate illness and disease, and also it is inflammable. Its firepower is lukewarm and lasting. These are about the origin of acupuncture-moxibustion.

In brief, since the Stone Age, Chinese people have started to know how to use this simple tool and heat source to stimulate the body’s to resist and cure diseases. From the stone needle and bronze needle in ancient time, to the stainless steel needle now, no matter what kind of tool has been used, the main thing is to stimulate the latent energy of the physical body in order to resist diseases.