The history of acupuncture is much longer than the needles are. Most scholars agree that stone probes, found in prehistoric Chinese caves and tombs, were the original acupuncture/acupressure instruments. Such stone probes date back to prehistory, over 5000 years ago. Acupuncture using needles and the systematized meridians is more traceable to the past 2000 years. The Yellow Emperor's Internal Medicine Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing) sets down basic acupuncture theory, philosophy, and principles. It dates to approximately 200 B.C.E. Here are some Nei Jing passages I have translated, along with the original characters.

It is likely that acupuncture developed after massage and acupressure, as a means of getting a deeper effect with less effort. The treatment of injuries and wounds was more common thousands of years ago, where there were no OSHA regulations among the Chinese farmers, soldiers, and workers. This was probably always a specialty of acupuncturists. As still is the case today, the ability of a person to keep working is often their most valuable asset. Thus, it has always been important to be able to treat painful conditions which limit movement and the ability to do physical work.

My teachers told me some traditional stories about the origins of acupuncture techniques. One is the story of a woman whose husband died. In ancient China, pallbearers would have to carry the body around the house three times. On the third time, they bumped this poor fellow's foot on a sharp corner, and suddenly the corpse revived and sat up! Apparently, the blow to the point Bubbling Spring (Kidney-1, on the sole of the foot) had revived him from a coma. His health was pretty good until 3 years later when he died again. When the pallbearers came, his wife, who apparently had gone through her mourning the first time, was sure to tell the pallbearers, "And this time be very careful you don't hit his foot on any corners!"

Natural theory

Chinese Medicine is fundamentally a Daoist (Taoist) creation. The Daoists looked to the patterns of nature to gain understanding of the human body, mind, and spirit. The transformation of the seasons, the flow of water, and the growth of plants inspired the early Daoist philosophers, doctors, and sages. Daoists practicing meditation and Yoga-like exercises came to have a tremendous degree of body awareness. This awareness of the body's energy and hormonal systems combined with observations of the disease process led to the Chinese medical framework of body energy and organ systems.

The disease processes of the human body came to be seen as similar to external natural events--floods can ruin the crops, as drinking too much water with meals can impair digestion. Drought can lead to fires, as a dry cough can turn into the fire of a bloody cough and fever.

It is no coincidence that there are 12 meridians and about 365 main points. The Chinese calendar is still known for its astronomical accuracy. Chinese medicine is an incredible merging of theory and experience, a poem of nature and change. Of course there are more than 365 points on the body, but the 365 main points taught in acupuncture are the ones found most useful in treating diseases and pain.

Modern Understandings

While scientists openly admit that acupuncture has many unknown ways of working, they have agreed on several things which help to understand the healing results of acupuncture. Much of the research has dealt with endorphins and enkephalins, the body's natural pain killers. Acupuncture reliably stimulate the release of significant amounts of endorphins. Acupuncture has been shown to favorably alter blood pressure and circulation, to stimulate the immune system, relax spasmed muscles, trigger the release of anti-inflammatory compounds, and more. The body does have an energy field and is dependent upon natural electricity for the operation of the nervous system, heart, and other organs.

The body is an incredibly complex mechanism, and has an amazing capacity for self-repair. Acupuncture can probably best be seen as an aid to trigger the body's self-repair systems when they are not functioning optimally. Whether it is seen through the natural metaphors of the Daoists, or the brain scans of the modern researchers, acupuncture is an amazingly subtle, elegant, and effective therapy which aids the body to heal itself.

At 0.2 mm wide, a 34 gauge acupuncture needle is usually barely felt as it is gently inserted into the body. Sharp, sterile, and single-use, modern acupuncture needles usually leave no trace--no blood, bruises, or holes. However, don't let the smallness of the needles make you think that acupuncture doesn't have big results! Often acupuncture can relieve spasmed muscles, pain, cramps, or other problems where massage, surgery, drugs, and even time seem powerless to heal.