The Chinese traditional medical treatment of acupuncture or piercing the body with a needle is a treatment which focuses on the inside from the outside. It is a therapy that seeks to find acupoints as a means of clinical diagnosis to find the cause of illness and then take the appropriate treatment.

Acupuncture is a skill based on traditional Chinese medical theory, similar to massage and Gua Sha. They all use different ways to heal, a mechanism based on the theory of life energy and blood. Acupuncture stimulates points of life energy and blood, in order to keep the yin-yang balance and adjust the status of the organs.

“This person is constipated, because of a lack of activity and too much work. According to her condition, the doctor chooses some acupuncture points to help her rehabilitation.

With the advancement of new research modern acupuncture is quickly developing. Today, needles are made of stainless steel rather than stone, gold or silver as they were in the past. Without electricity doctors used to have to rotate the needles by hand, in order to stimulate the acupuncture points but now, they can use electrified equipment.

It is estimated that acupuncture has developed over two and half thousand years and for much of that time, it was used for internal medicine, surgery, gynecology and pediatrics. These days with the fast-paced life of the modern world it serves more to help relieve the pressures of work and stress.

During the Tang Dynasty, Chinese acupuncture expanded into Japan, Korea, India, the Arabian peninsula but now, it is found throughout the world and plays an important role as an alternative treatment to western medicine.

Acupuncture continues to grow with Chinese culture, and is believed to contain the spirit of China.

Story: Zhang Xiao & D J Clark

Camera: Zhang Xiao & Cong Fangjun

Video: Zhang Xiao

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