ACUPUNCTURE THEORY IN ANCIENT CHINA

 VALDEMIR MOTA DE MENEZES

1. The Ming Dynasty Bronze Acupuncture Figure and Acupuncture Theory in Ancient China
2. Ancient Tales of Chinese Medicine
3. In 1971, while planning United States presidentRichard Nixon’s state visit to China,
4. Secretary ofState Henry Kissinger made a secret trip to Beijing viaPakistan.
5. Traveling with him was a reporter from theNew York Times,
6. who had asudden attack of appendicitis when they arrived inBeijing.
7. The reporter,James Reston, underwent emergency surgery with conventionalanesthesia,
8. but the next day, once the anesthesia wore off,Reston was still in pain.
9. Chinesedoctors suggested using acupuncture to reduce the pain.
10. Restonagreed,
11. and twenty minutes after the tiny silver needleswere inserted in his body,
12. he felt better.
13. When Kissingerarrived back in the United States,
14. and described Reston’s treatment,
15. it set off a furor of interest inacupuncture.
16. After severaldecades of mutual isolation,
17. most Americans knew very little about Chineseculture.
18. Like other Westerners,
19. they were amazed to learn that tiny needlescould reduce pain
20. more effectively than conventionalanesthesia.
21. In China, acupunctureis widely used in medical treatment today.
22. Three years ago,
23. I suddenly came down with a seriouscough,
24. a so-called “dry cough.”
25. In TraditionalChinese Medicine (TCM), dry coughs are considered extremely hard tocure.
26. My coughingwent on for two months.
27. It was so bad I couldn’t sleep atnight.
28. I went to the hospital for chest X-rays, butthey turned out normal.
29. A blood test was also normal.
30. The doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrongwith me.
31. The coughing grew worse,
32. and I could hardly get any work done.
33. A friend ofmine introduced me to an acupuncturist.
34. I told him my problem,
35. and he said he could cure me.
36. He stuck needles in a few acupuncturepoints,
37. and by that evening, I was already feelingbetter,
38. and sleptthrough the night.
39. But I was still coughing the nextday,
40. and went tothe doctor again.
41. After a second course of treatment, my cough wascompletely cured.
42. In thislecture, we will discuss the way that Chinese acupuncture can curedisease.