What is the History of Acupuncture?
The practice of acupuncture is over 5000 years old and was practiced in various forms around the globe. In addition to Chinese acupuncture, there are records of the practice in Egypt, South Africa, Brazil, and among Arab and Eskimo groups. These early practitioners used everything from stones and bamboo to fish bones, tiny arrows, and metal probes to treat illness.
The first book on acupuncture was the Nei Ching Su Wen, which was written around 200 years before the common era (BCE) and describes Chinese medical philosophy. More books were written in China on the subject over the following centuries.
The predominance of acupuncture in medical treatment in China lasted well into the 20th century, until Chang Khi Chek took power in the Thirties. At this time, Western medicine was brought into China and the practice of acupuncture was banned. This lasted until the mid-Forties, when Mao Tse Tung took over the government. As Communist rule closed China off to the West, Western medicine became taboo and acupuncture was reinstated.
Acupuncture began to gain popularity in the United States after Nixon reinstated contact with China in the early Seventies. French Indochina (Vietnam) also supplied a passage to Europe for knowledge on the practice of acupuncture.
Two Westerners helped to create widespread interest in the practice among outside of Asia. The first was Dr. Paul Nogier, who drew upon his knowledge of acupuncture, psychotherapy, and homeopath to develop auriculotherapy, wherein he discovered that points on the external ear corresponded to certain organs or systems in the human body. He developed a map of the ear that allowed healers to perform therapy either by massage, needles, or electrical or laser stimulation.
In the U.S., writer James Reston wrote Now, Let Me Tell You About My Appendectomy in Peking for the New York Times in 1971. In the article, Reston describes his experiences at the Anti-Imperialist Hospital where he was treated for an emergency appendectomy. The article examines Chinese medical philosophy, including the use of acupuncture and herbalism.
Today, acupuncture is practiced around the world and in all 50 United States. In the U.S., certification is administered by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). Some states, like Delaware and Mississippi, only allow medical doctors, osteopaths or chiropractors to practice acupuncture, while other require no certification for practitioners.
For more information on acupuncture in the United States, visit the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.
The earliest written record of acupuncture in the West is from an article in a French medical journal from 1671 because of the colonial involvement of France, England and other European powers in China and Southeast Asia there has been a long interest in acupuncture throughout Europe and by the 19th century, that interest had migrated to the East Coast of this country with scattered practitioners reported in most major cities along the East Coast of the United States by the late 19th century. The renowned physician Sir William Osler, M.D. alludes to acupuncture for the treatment of back pain in his classic text The Principles and Practice of Medicine from 1916. With the large numbers of immigrants that came from China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam and elsewhere in Asia during the 19th and 20th centuries, came numbers of acupuncturists from these countries. When you mention acupuncture in the United States people think of China, but there are strong traditions of acupuncture from Japan, Vietna
