Reference; https://mbp-japan.com/tokyo/seino-1987/column/5105120/
Modified and translated by CFJA
[Basshin 抜鍼 (Needle removal)]
1. For basshin 抜鍼 (needle removal), the needle must be twisted lightly and softly, pulled slowly, then the point is covered with cotton and massaged a couple of times. This goes for any type of technique when removing the needle.
(Dr. Seino’s explanation)
1. In China, the method of basshin 抜鍼 (needle removal) was compiled into one technique. The goal is to avoid pain or discomfort. Only one technique was enough for basshin 抜鍼 (needle removal) because the technique for needle insertion is restricted to the method which only aims towards obtaining de qi. In Japan, there are multiple techniques for basshin 抜鍼 (needle removal). Probably, Cheng Dan’an did not know that treatment effects will greatly differ depending on the technique for basshin 抜鍼 (needle removal).
The medical books in China are written in classical/traditional/ancient Chinese 漢文. These characters are complicated. Even with the same characters, the meaning can differ from the Han to Qing dynasties. It is not easy to understand the meaning. The oldest medical book in China, Suwen and Lingshu, compiled during the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), does not exist. The ones read currently are from the Song dynasty (960 – 1297). At that time, Lin Yi 林億 (Jp. Rin Oku) and three others took the lead in editing the book. In the process of editing, they have interchanged the orders of the chapters for letterpress printing. The 81 chapters are not in chronological order of the time it was written. Thus, it is difficult to analyze in detail.
Even for Chinese, it is not easy to read and understand. During the period of Cheng Dan’an, due to war, civilians were unable to have enough education; the literacy rate was so low that most of the civilians could not write their names. To resolve this problem, simplified Chinese characters ※2, which have fewer numbers of strokes, were implemented. This made the classical/traditional/ancient Chinese characters and sentences harder to understand.
※2 Simplified Chinese Characters 簡体字 (Jp. kantaiji):
In 1955, the Chinese Language Revolutionary Committee announced the Chinese Character Simplification Plan. In January 1956, the Chinese Character Simplification Plan was promulgated by the state council. 514 characters of simplified Chinese characters and 54 types of simplified radicals (the building blocks of Chinese characters) were adopted. This was revised four times until 1959, and in May 1964, it was organized into a “General Table of Simplified Chinese Characters”. In January 1965, the “Print Common-use Chinese Characters Shape Table” was promulgated and detailed rules of the shape, stroke numbers and orders of 6196 characters were established. The word “簡体字 (simplified Chinese character)” was slang, officially, it was called “簡化字”. The traditional Chinese characters were called 繁体字 (Jp. hantaiji). ROC (Taiwan) uses traditional Chinese characters. Singapore and Malaysia use simplified Chinese characters. Japan would take the simplified Chinese character, as it is, for quoting books written after it was implemented, however, they would not change traditional Chinese characters into simplified Chinese characters for quoting books written in traditional Chinese characters (In earlier times, China translated and republished all books, including the ones written in traditional Chinese characters, into simplified Chinese characters).
Even now, the number of simplified Chinese characters are still increasing. Here is the problem with simplified Chinese characters: For one simplified Chinese character, two traditional Chinese characters are given. There are quite a lot of characters as such. There are approximately 100,000 characters and approximately 7000 characters are simplified Chinese characters. In the “Modern Table of Commonly Used Chinese Characters” presented in January 1988, 2500 characters were commonly used characters and 1000 were occasionally used characters. Not many characters are commonly used, however, when two characters (traditional Chinese characters) are turned into one character (simplified Chinese character), there will be cases where the meaning is different. In particular, herbal names became problematic. Prescribing herbs involves combining several herbs. However, two herbs originally with different names will not be appropriately prescribed. In other words, the name of the medicine might be the same, however, the medicine prescribed can be completely different. It was Dr. Yosuke Amano from Kitasato University Oriental Medicine Research Center (Ph. D in Literature) who found this problem. It became academically problematic due to quickly but roughly increasing the number of simplified Chinese characters. It can be said that current Chinese are having difficulties inheriting and transmitting their very own culture from their predecessors to the next generation.
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