A Brief History of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine

Evidence of acupuncture principles in practice dates back as far as 1600 BC, with the oldest records found on ancient bone etchings. The early "needles" were thick pieces of stone and bone, a far cry from today's sterile, disposable, individually packaged needles made of stainless steel. The first compendium of acupuncture is known as the Huang Di Nei Jing, or Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Disease, written in approximately 200 BC. Chinese Medicine developed over the years being shaped by varied influences from the changing social, religious, and political philosophies in China, owing much to doctrines of Taoism and Confucianism.

The earliest examples of herbal formulas were very simple, consisting of only 4 or 5 ingredients each, and over the years more complicated combinations were developed. The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing is the most famous and comprehensive herbal encyclopedia, based on years of experimentation and recorded knowledge. By now, there are 1000's of herbal formulas in use, each designed to treat subtle variations of a given complaint or constellation of ailments; this approach is very different from the strategy of pharmaceutical companies which match an isolated chemical compound with a given disease.

In contemporary China, Traditional Chinese Medicine is very much practiced in conjunction with Western medicine, both in hospitals and for routine outpatient care. Extensive research has been done to determine the most effective combinations, and multiple journals publish rigorously controlled scientific studies which demonstrate the efficacy acupuncture and herbs to relieve a vast array of conditions. More and more of these studies are being reproduced in the United States, and the National Institite of Health in the U.S. is coming to recognize acupuncture as a useful treatment modality for more and more conditions.