Reference; https://mbp-japan.com/tokyo/seino-1987/column/5105120/
Modified and translated by CFJA
This is the eleventh blog on acumoxa therapy. Since the content on acumoxa therapy is heavy due to its long history and it played a central role in the medical field in Japan and China, we will be breaking it down into pieces and writing several blogs.
What is Eastern Medicine? 01 was about acupuncture therapy from ancient times to the Asuka period (592 – 710).
What is Eastern Medicine? 02 was about acupuncture therapy until the beginning of the Edo period (1603 – 1868).
What is Eastern Medicine? 03 was about moxibustion therapy until the beginning of the Edo period.
What is Eastern Medicine? 04 was about acumoxa therapy after the Edo period
What is Eastern Medicine? 05 was about China from ancient times to the 1960s.
What is Eastern Medicine? 06 was about how TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) was established in China in 1960.
What is Eastern Medicine? 07 was about “What is TCM?”
What is Eastern Medicine? 08 was about how Japanese acumoxa techniques have been transmitted and adapted in China.
What is Eastern Medicine? 09 was about acupuncture techniques practiced in China.
What is Eastern Medicine? 10 was about Japanese acupuncture techniques that have been brought and adapted in China.
This time, “What is Eastern Medicine? 11” will be about the father of TCM, Cheng Dan’an’s acupuncture techniques.
The last blog and the one before were very specialized. This blog will also be specialized. Thank you to those who took the time to read it until the end.
The reason why we are writing a blog with very specialized content is to convey that Japanese acumoxa therapy is the most advanced in the world. If you are interested in learning about acumoxa therapy, it would be wonderful if you could please read it from What is Eastern Medicine? 65 (or you can start reading it from 1!).
Dr. Seino has been visiting various countries in the world over 100 times and for a long time, he has been investigating the actual situation of acumoxa therapy worldwide. He has been writing a blog every month to document all the knowledge and experiences that he has been accumulating until now to inform and educate the next generation. If you are interested in acumoxa and its situation all around the world, we invite you to visit the homepage of Seino Acupuncture and Chiropractic Clinic at seino-1987.jp and check out the ‘Dictionary of Eastern Medicine’ → ‘From Japan to the World’.
(The following content is the same as the last blog. If this is your first time reading our blog, please start here.)
In China, herbal and acumoxa therapy has been practiced as a national medicine from the Han dynasty, through the Sui, Tang, Yuan, and Song dynasties, to the Qing dynasty. In 1822, the court physician committed medical malpractice on the son of the Daoguang emperor of the Qing Dynasty. The emperor raged with anger and edicted ‘Although acumoxa therapy holds a prolonged history, inserting a needle on one’s body or burning with moxa are unfavourable to practice on the emperor. Therefore, the department of acumoxa in the imperial medical hospital within the Qing dynasty shall be closed forever’ (鍼灸の一法、由來已に久し、然れども鍼を以って刺し火もて
灸するは、究む所奉君の宜しき所にあらず、太医院鍼灸の一科は、永遠に停止と著す). Prohibition of acumoxa therapy on the emperor, consequently,
led to prohibition amongst the civilians as well. Since then, acumoxa therapy
continued to decline; Chinese medicine in general, including herbal therapy,
declined. In China, the research on acumoxa stopped, and it became difficult to
transmit as a medicine to the next generations and faced corruption in the
early period of the Republic of China (ROC). The government of the ROC,
established in 1911, did not acknowledge acumoxa and herbal therapy as national
medicine, even after the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was established in
1949.
The Chinese, with the hopes of reviving acumoxa therapy in their country, came to Japan to study Japanese medicine. The key person was Cheng Dan’an 承淡安. He studied in Japan for eight months, from 1934 to 1935, to investigate the advanced education of the Japanese acumoxa. He studied at Tokyo High School of Acupuncture and Moxibustion 東京高等鍼灸学校 (Kuretake academy 呉竹学園 today), founded in 1929, for 6 months and received a certificate of completion. After returning to China, he attempts to integrate the educational content from the acumoxa school in Japan.
(The new content is from here.)
When practicing acumoxa therapy, there is a concept called “Hosha 補瀉 (reinforcing-reducing)”. The character “ho 補” means to supply, attach, give, increase, add, help, settle, etc. The character ”sha 瀉” means to take, remove, destroy, defeat, kill, suppress, etc. Since the meaning of hosha 補瀉 (reinforcing-reducing) varies, people have different interpretations. The concept of hosha 補瀉 (reinforcing-reducing) is used in every situation, from needle insertion to needle removal. To clearly explain this concept, we will be using the following terms:
・Nyushin入鍼 (needle insertion) – acupuncture technique performed from the moment when the needle is placed on the skin, to the moment when the needle is inserted through senpi.
・Unshin 運鍼 (needle manipulation) – acupuncture technique performed after the needle is inserted through senpi, when the needle is underneath the skin.
・Basshin 抜鍼 (needle removal) – acupuncture technique performed when the needle is taken out from the body.
*Senpi 穿皮 (penetrating the skin) – one of the acupuncture techniques upon needle insertion.
The term “basshin 抜鍼 (needle removal)” is taught at school – all acupuncturists know the meaning.
The term “unshin 運鍼 (needle manipulation)” isn’t taught in many schools so for some people, it might be the first time hearing this term.
The term “nyushin 入鍼 (needle insertion)” was coined by Dr. Seino. To explain the term “shinshoku 鍼触 (surface acupuncture sensation)”, which has also been coined by Dr. Seino, the technique upon needle insertion needs to be explained. The term that represents a technique upon needle insertion does not exist. Dr. Seino has been struggling for years to come up with terms to precisely describe the techniques taught by predecessors. Especially, for seminars in foreign countries, explanations were time-consuming due to the lack of terms. For Japanese practitioners, the terms “nyushin 入鍼 (needle insertion)” or “shinshoku 鍼触 (surface acupuncture sensation)” are most likely somewhat familiar with what it’s trying to convey. The term “nyushin 入鍼 (needle insertion)” is basically an antonym of “basshin 抜鍼 (needle removal)”, hence Dr. Seino states that it might be a little bit arrogant of him to claim that it is him, Dr. Seino, who coined these terms – predecessors might have been using the term before. Please let us know if you know anyone who has heard of this term.
In Japan, the moment of needle insertion is valued. Senpi 穿皮 (penetrating the skin) has the meaning ‘opening the skin’. The idea is to wait for the skin to open and slowly insert the needle in rather than piercing through the skin. Inserting a thick needle can easily be painful even if the skin pores are open, thus seppi 切皮 (piercing the skin) is appropriate. Dr. Seino uses the term “shinshoku 鍼触 (surface acupuncture sensation)” to describe the sensation that the practitioner feels when using senpi 穿皮 (penetrating the skin). Senpi 穿皮 (penetrating the skin) also includes seppi 切皮 (piercing the skin). Seppi 切皮 (piercing the skin) is performed with the aim of inducing an instantaneous shock. The sensation felt by the patient upon nyushin 入鍼 (needle insertion) is different from de qi 得気 which is felt while or after unshin 運鍼 (needle manipulation) is performed. The instantaneous shock is also one of the types of shinkyo 鍼響 (vibrational acupuncture sensation).
The technique used upon needle insertion is separated into three types.
1) Nenshinho 撚鍼法 (twisting acupuncture technique)
2) Kanshinho 管鍼法 (tube acupuncture technique)
3) Dashinho 打鍼法 (hammering acupuncture technique)Within each technique, there are multiple techniques. Cheng Dan’an does not implement all these techniques. The last blog (What is Eastern Medicine? 10) mentioned that in China when a needle is inserted into the body, it is inserted all at once. In other words, only seppi 切皮 (piercing the skin) is performed upon nyushin 入鍼 (needle insertion). Also, techniques performed upon nyushin 入鍼 (needle insertion) are not discussed. Therefore, they have narrowed the range of medical conditions that they can treat.
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