Acupuncture: The Yellow Emperor's Classic Of Internal Medicine

Acupuncture is under the Traditional Chinese Medicine category. Acupuncture originated in China, it is unknown when but it is presumed to have existed between 2,000 to 4,000 years ago. The Chinese actually believe acupuncture began in the Stone Age because in its beginning, acupuncture was performed by using sharp edged stones. Overtime, these sharp edged stones turned into stone and pottery needles, which turned into metal needles. Around 2,000 years ago, the acupuncture text, Huangdi Neijing was written. This text described acupuncture as “a means of letting out excess qi or blood by making holes in the body along certain pathways.” This book is also known as the Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine. This book describes the philosophy behind traditional Chinese medicine, it explains Yin and Yang and the concepts of Taoism and Confucianism. Although it may seem insignificant, “acupuncture, and its development can only really be understood if the reader grasps the traditional Chinese approach to health and disease.” The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine explains the channels of the body and acupuncture points. Overtime, it became known that certain points of the body were related to certain diseases.

In the eleventh century, a man Wang Wei-yi collected all the information he could, redefined the channels and acupuncture points and compiled them into a test known as the “Illustrated Manual on the Points for Acupuncture and Moxibustion.” Through many years, acupuncture has been influenced by Europeans and Western medicine, refined and is obviously used safely and effectively