preface
In the United States, Chinese medicine and Western medicine are the two most representative schools of acupuncture. From the origin of these two methods and the history of their spread in the United States, the traditional acupuncture of the mainland has encountered the greatest problem of international dissemination of acupuncture in the process of "localization" in the United States, and then moving towards internationalization and modernization. This is the development direction of the current internationalization and modernization of acupuncture medical theory.
The introduction and development of acupuncture in the United States
The international spread of Chinese medicine has existed since ancient times, from the Qin and Han dynasties to the Sui and Tang dynasties, with the opening of the Silk Road and the mature application of navigation technology, traditional Chinese medicine began to spread to neighboring countries and regions on a large scale.
According to sources, acupuncture was introduced to Europe in the first phase of the "East Learning West" in the sixteenth century, and it attracted the attention of some Europeans in the mid-17th century.
Acupuncture was introduced to the United States from Europe in the early 19th century. The American Medical Reports published an article on acupuncture in 1822, "We should face it squarely and recognize its miraculous effects."
In 1825, the famous chemist and physician Bacher . Franklin published his first book on acupuncture in English in the United States, Memoirs of Morão Acupuncture, translated into French, and this was his first book on acupuncture in the United Kingdom.
In 1826, he published the article "Case Report on the Clinical Efficacy of Acupuncture" in the North American Journal of Internal Medicine and Surgery, which caused great social repercussions. The relationship between China and the United States reached a historic turning point in the 70s of the 20th century, and it was also an important period for the popularization of acupuncture in the United States.
In 1971, James Reston, deputy editor and columnist of the New York Times, had an acute appendicitis during a visit to China, performed an appendicitis operation at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, and then underwent acupuncture therapy, which worked very well without any discomfort.
It caused a great sensation in the United States, and the publication of this paper also laid the historical foundation for a "acupuncture fever" in the United States.
When Nixon visited China in 1972, he invited General Hagrid and his personal assistant, Walter Ah. Taka performed a needlestick anesthesia for him and published an article in Reader's Digest titled "The Acupuncture Work I Saw."
In April of that year, American doctors performed the world's first tonsilectomy by acupuncture anesthesia, and this visiting research and clinical internship further promoted the popularization and popularization of acupuncture therapy in the United States.
Although during this period, the research on the anatomy and physiology of acupuncture anesthesia was not in-depth enough, its amazing clinical efficacy made the American medical community have a strong interest in acupuncture in traditional Chinese medicine, and pushed the "acupuncture fever" in the United States to a new height. With the development of acupuncture, all states in the United States have begun to work on acupuncture legislation, education, group building and other aspects.
At the same time, with the "acupuncture fever", the acupuncture schools of Eurasian countries have also entered the United States, opened special courses, and have their own characteristics: the Terre-Sophia Medical College in Maryland is mainly based on five European body acupunctures.
In Massachusetts, the New England Acupuncture Institute, New York State "Tri-State Acupuncturists" pay more attention to the teaching of acupuncture physics and medicine, making acupuncture in the United States a thriving scene.
With the 50 years of "acupuncture fever", various acupuncture in the United States has shown an innovative, diversified and integrated development trend.
Because the basic theoretical systems on which various schools of acupuncture in the United States are based are different, in the process of mutual exchange and collision, two schools with the five elements of yin and yang and internal organs meridians as the core of traditional Chinese medicine have gradually formed, among which TCM acupuncture is the representative.
TCM acupuncture and the evolution of acupuncture in American TCM
TCM acupuncture is the theory, technique and practice of acupuncture carried out within the framework of TCM theory, and if not explained otherwise, acupuncture in the Chinese environment refers to acupuncture in TCM; In the Western context, "acupuncture" refers more to originating from China, emphasizing the academic origin of acupuncture.
After the integration and development of acupuncture and modern medical theory, the connotation of TCM acupuncture has been further expanded, and now acupuncture, electroacupuncture, floating acupuncture, etc., can be classified into the category of TCM acupuncture.
Acupuncture in Chinese medicine has been developed for thousands of years since the use of stones. From the Spring and Autumn Warring States to the Qin and Han dynasties, the compilation of four medical classics represented by the "Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon" was completed, which was an important period for the formation of a theoretical system of traditional Chinese medicine, including acupuncture.
Feudal society, dynastic changes, even in the era of Western medicine "invasion", Chinese medicine acupuncture still with its "own way" development has never stopped.
Although the "Science of Chinese Medicine" school and its concepts have been criticized and criticized, their new insights on the mechanism of acupuncture are an important achievement of the "scientificization" of Chinese medicine. The higher education of Chinese medicine in the mainland only began to take off after the founding of New China.
Universities of Chinese medicine have been established in various provinces and gradually promoted to the whole country, and Chinese medicine acupuncture has shown a prosperous scene. Acupuncture published by Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine in 1957 laid the foundation for modern acupuncture.
However, due to various reasons, the current teaching content still stays within the scope of traditional acupuncture of traditional Chinese medicine, rarely involves the scientific research results of acupuncture, and does not coincide with the research paradigm of modern medicine.
Since then, the acupuncture community has made positive adjustments to this, continuously absorbing the research results of modern science in the clinical and scientific research aspects of acupuncture, and now it has far exceeded the scope of traditional Chinese medicine theory.
In the United States, there are two different perceptions of TCM acupuncture. One concept that is basically consistent with traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture, that is, acupuncture originated in China, can also be called "TCM acupuncture", and most acupuncture experts from Chinese mainland to the United States hold this view.
The second point is that TCM acupuncture in the narrow sense, also known as traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture, they believe that TCM acupuncture was established in the fifties of the last century, recognized and supported by the government, and acupuncture experts in the United States also think so.
The abbreviation of TCM is "TCM", and acupuncture is naturally also "TCM". TCM acupuncture did not receive widespread attention from Americans when it first entered the United States, and after more than a hundred years of silence.
In the 1970s, there was an "acupuncture craze" in the United States, which made it shine. At that time, although there were many schools of acupuncture competing with it, TCM acupuncture has always dominated acupuncture in the United States.
Although TCM acupuncture has developed greatly in the United States, due to its own theoretical limitations, Americans' understanding of it in the United States, and the differences with modern biomedicine, the promotion of TCM acupuncture in the United States is not smooth, not only has it not successfully entered the mainstream of the United States, but also faces the danger of being marginalized.
Looking back at the spread and development of TCM acupuncture in the United States, we can see that such problems have been around for a long time.
The "acupuncture fever" in the 70s of the 20th century made the US government and the people have a certain understanding of the technology and effect of the Sanqi needle method, however, the different cultural backgrounds of China and the West make it difficult for clinical and related researchers to fully accept and understand the Sanqi needle method with Chinese philosophical colors, especially for beginners and folk in the United States.
In order to help foreign acupuncture beginners better understand and understand the theory of Chinese medicine, there are only two books, "Introduction to Chinese Acupuncture" and "Chinese Acupuncture", most of which are concise and concise, and it is impossible to explain everything clearly.
Among them, the diagnosis and treatment links mainly emphasize the internal organs, which makes the foreign acupuncture community have the inherent concept of TCM acupuncture "paying attention to the internal organs and underestimating the meridians", reflecting that the spread of TCM acupuncture in the United States is limited.
In 2000, the President of the United States signed a decree establishing the White House Medical Management Committee, and the White House Medical Management Report classified Chinese traditional Chinese medicine as a separate medical system, and formally included "traditional Chinese medicine" into the White House document, and officially named "traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture" as "traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture", and the status of "traditional Chinese medicine" was confirmed by the federal government.
At this time, Sanyang acupuncture has broken through the limitations of early acupuncture textbooks and theories, and has extensively integrated the research results of modern medicine, constantly supplementing, adjusting and improving it. But once this stereotype is formed, it is often difficult to change in the short term, so acupuncturists in the United States still have a very limited understanding of TCM acupuncture.
The Chinese medicine acupuncture school, also known as the "scientific acupuncture school", its theoretical basis is anatomical, physiological, pathological and evidence-based medicine, while ignoring the basic principles of the five elements of yin and yang, qi and blood and meridians, it is based on Western medicine.
The rejection of traditional Chinese medicine theory and the combination of modern medicine is a method similar to Western medicine. "Dry acupuncture" is the most influential acupuncture therapy in the United States today, and its corresponding acupuncture therapy is an important branch of acupuncture therapy in traditional Chinese medicine.
The history of acupuncture can be traced back to 1939, when Kyle Glenn first reported "muscle fibrous pain". Inspired by this, Bluff and Sigmund jointly published a paper on "Acupuncture without a Cure" in 1941, which was the initial prototype of the trigger point theory.
Based on this understanding, Janet. Travel and Simon. In 1952, Geezler published a paper "The Origin of the Muscle Membrane of Pain", which systematically expounded the theory of trigger points, so that the concept of trigger point acupuncture was established, and Travel was known as the "mother of dry needles".
Traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture only had a certain influence in some European countries such as the United Kingdom and Sweden in the early days of its creation, and it was not until the emergence of "acupuncture fever" in the 1970s, and breakthroughs in some North American countries such as the United States and Canada.
Because medical acupuncture in the United States is closer to the scope of Western medicine, it is also used more in local medical practice groups. In 1987, the United States formed the only Westerner team in North America that focused on acupuncture.
The American Association of Acupuncture was established and training courses and lectures on acupuncture were held in its Journal of Medical Acupuncture, but there was little research on acupuncture and very little on traditional acupuncture.
The acupuncture physics school, also known as the "New American Acupuncture" school, was developed on the basis of "contact therapy" created by Shin in the 1980s.
As mentioned earlier, early foreign acupuncture scholars had some wrong understandings of the connotation, theory and diagnosis of TCM acupuncture because of the limitations of textbooks, and Xin, the founder of the acupuncture physics school, was one of the members of this school.
However, the wrong understanding often brings new development opportunities, and Mark Xin, a pioneer in the promotion and application of acupuncture in the United States, has a great impact on the effect of acupuncture by understanding the theory of "TCM acupuncture", believing that its theory focuses on internal organs and light meridians, and the treatment method is single, so it has a great impact on the effect of acupuncture.
The advantages of various acupuncture schools such as mainland Guo Xiaozong's acupuncture therapy, He Shuhuai's Ah Shi acupuncture method, Xi Yongjiang's theory of this fiction and reality, and the meridian tendon acupuncture method of the French Vietnamese Nguyen Van Yi have created the acupuncture physics school on the basis of the "contact" acupuncture theory.
Shin founded Tri-State Acupuncture in New York State in 1979, with a focus on teaching acupuncture and moxibustion and bringing the school of acupuncture to the eastern United States.
Acupuncture physiotherapy is a typical example of the integration of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. This is not only a useful supplement to acupuncture points, meridian diagnosis, treatment, etc., but also a recognition of acupuncture in the American acupuncture community and the public.
This is a major achievement in the localization of American acupuncture, and it is also a useful attempt to modernize acupuncture.
Break through the limitations of communication and show a complete set of theories
Since the "acupuncture fever" in the 70s of the 20th century, there have been three acupuncture crazes in the United States, and the localization of acupuncture has been realized at four levels, including law, education, occupation, and medical treatment, which has opened a new page in its spread and development in the United States.
"Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture" was officially inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, indicating that Chinese medicine has gained wide recognition internationally.
In the development and dissemination of medicine, the status of medical theory far exceeds that of medical technology, and it is the cornerstone of the inheritance and dissemination of medical technology; The emergence, competition and coexistence of the acupuncture school are the basic characteristics of acupuncture and promote the development and improvement of acupuncture theory.
The diversification of acupuncture schools in the United States shows the increasing richness and perfection of the field of acupuncture research, but the hidden problems of Chinese acupuncture research and the international community's research on Chinese acupuncture also need to be re-examined.
Due to the maintenance of the academic sense of belonging and "traditional characteristics" of "TCM acupuncture", it is often subject to certain restrictions when spreading to the West, and the dissemination content is relatively limited, making it difficult to show its overall appearance.
The formation and development of major acupuncture schools in the United States has certain reference value for the further promotion of traditional acupuncture in mainland China. There is a trend towards differentiation and integration between different disciplines, and this is also true in acupuncture.
Whether it is the acupuncture school formed based on traditional Chinese medicine theories such as the five elements of yin and yang, internal organs meridians, or the acupuncture school formed based on modern biological theories such as anatomy, physiology, and pathology, they are all formed to adapt to different times, social needs and regional cultures, and they are branches of acupuncture disciplines in different development directions.
In the process of internationalization, mainland traditional acupuncture needs to absorb the development of different foreign acupuncture schools to break the limitations of traditional acupuncture "paying attention to the internal organs and underestimating the meridians", and try to show the overall appearance of traditional acupuncture to the West.
While retaining its own unique theoretical system, it absorbs the dominant theories and diagnosis and treatment methods of various schools, and actively integrates them into the clinic, pays attention to individualized diagnosis and treatment, expands the scope of advantageous diseases, and obtains better clinical efficacy.
The progress of medicine and the development of theory will inevitably produce new schools of acupuncture, and Chinese medicine acupuncture must always review its own deviations and defects in communication, always have the courage to face contradictions, and at the same time have a tolerant heart, so as to avoid being misunderstood in different cultural backgrounds and ensure the quality and effect of communication.
[References]
[1] Zheng Xin. Diagnostic and therapeutic characteristics of several mainstream schools of acupuncture in the United States and their development. Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Press, 2012.
[2] Liang Yongxuan, History of Chinese Medicine. 2nd edition. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House, 2016.
[3] Feng Shiwan. The history, current situation and prospect of the development of acupuncture in the United States. Nanjing: Nanjing Medical University, 2003.
[4] SHEN Weihong. The origin of "acupuncture fever" in the United States. Acupuncture, 2006.
[5] SHI Hui, ZHANG Zongming. Discussion on the development, characteristics and causes of acupuncture in the United States, 2006.