Formulas & Needles
An Introduction to Acupuncture and Moxibustion Schools of Thought
This article systematically presents the major modern acupuncture academic schools in China: the Chengjiang School founded by Cheng Dan'an, which laid the foundation for modern acupuncture education and research; the Zheng Kuishan school, renowned in northwest China for its warm-tonifying and cool-draining needle techniques; the Guan family school, which developed special methods including tongue and ear acupuncture; the Zhuang medicine acupuncture system pioneered by Huang Jinming, centered on the "Three Paths and Two Routes" theory; Mongolian warm needling therapy integrating needling and moxibustion for osteoarticular disorders; the Huxiang school advocating the "meridian-viscera correlation" theory; and Jin's Three-Needle Therapy, celebrated for its simple, effective three-point combinations. Together, they represent the flourishing diversity of acupuncture scholarship.
By examining the academic achievements of acupuncture and moxibustion in China over several millennia, this article extracts and summarizes the academic thought and characteristic techniques of several major modern acupuncture schools, providing readers with an overview.
The Chengjiang Acupuncture School
The Chengjiang Acupuncture School emerged in the 1930s against the social backdrop of conflict, convergence, and exchange between Chinese and Western medicine. It was initiated and led by the renowned TCM scholar and acupuncture educator Cheng Dan'an, the first president of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. Centered in the Sunan (southern Jiangsu) region, it became a TCM school that radiated throughout China and even extended its influence to Europe and America. The Chengjiang Acupuncture School constitutes the foundational force behind the modern disciplinary system of acupuncture, the higher education system of acupuncture, and the modern scientific research system of acupuncture. Its academic force remains active in medical and educational institutions both at home and abroad, dedicated to further expanding the academic influence of acupuncture and promoting the progress of acupuncture education and scientific research.
The Zheng School of Acupuncture (Zheng Kuishan)
The renowned acupuncturist Zheng Kuishan was an outstanding representative in the field of contemporary needling manipulation and is acclaimed as the "King of Acupuncture in the Northwest." This acupuncture school inherited and developed Zheng's needling techniques such as "warm-tonifying" (re bu) and "cool-draining" (liang xie). Through continuous innovation and development, and passed down over four generations, it has formed the Zheng School of Acupuncture.
The Guan School of Special Needling Techniques
The Guan family's acupuncture has been transmitted over five generations. The third-generation successor, Guan Zhengzhai, was a chief physician, professor, a renowned TCM master of Yunnan Province, and a celebrated acupuncturist. Master Zhengzhai was born into a family of Chinese medicine. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he successively served as an instructor at the Yunnan School for Advanced Studies in Chinese Medicine, the Yunnan Provincial "Western Doctors Studying Chinese Medicine" program, and the Yunnan Provincial TCM Research Program. He was engaged by Yunnan College of Chinese Medicine to teach the Neijing and Acupuncture and Moxibustion. He brought innovation and development to meridian pattern differentiation, needling manipulation, tongue acupuncture, ear acupuncture, "bridge-crossing" needling (guo liang zhen), the midnight-noon ebb-flow method (zi wu liu zhu), the eight methods of the sacred tortoise, and more, laying the theoretical foundation of the Guan School of Acupuncture.
Zhuang Medicine Acupuncture of the Gui School Master Huang Jinming
Zhuang medicine acupuncture therapy has a long history tracing back to remote antiquity. Judging from archaeological findings, Zhuang medicine acupuncture has existed for thousands of years. It originated in primitive times, was already quite prevalent by the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, and was transmitted to the Central Plains, attaining relatively high achievements. It is a summary of the Zhuang people's long-term experience in production, daily life, and their struggle against disease, and represents the most characteristic and practical therapeutic method of Zhuang medicine.
The monograph Zhongguo Zhuangyi Zhenjiu Xue (Chinese Zhuang Medicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion), edited by Professor Huang Jinming, details three characteristic Zhuang medical therapies — Zhuang ordinary needling, Zhuang lotus-needle cupping for stasis removal, and Zhuang medicated thread point moxibustion — covering their definitions, origins, mechanisms of action, functions and indications, characteristics, operational methods, indications, contraindications, and specific clinical applications across various specialties.
"The defining feature of Zhuang medicine acupuncture is that it does not take the Chinese meridian and collateral theory as its guide; instead, it takes the Zhuang theory of the 'Three Paths and Two Routes' (san dao liang lu) as its theoretical foundation. It emphasizes the absence of pain, regarding treatment as a kind of enjoyment — curing disease amid enjoyment," stressed Professor Huang Jinming.
The Mongolian Medicine Five-Therapy Warm Needle School
Mongolian warm needle therapy is a traditional external treatment in Mongolian medicine. It employs specially made silver or gold needles inserted at fixed acupoints on the body, combined with warming moxibustion stimulation, to achieve the goal of treating disease.
The combined application of Mongolian warm needling with acupoint injection of sodium hyaluronate can effectively suppress inflammation in knee osteoarthritis, enhance knee joint stability, improve knee joint function, prevent knee joint deformity, and reduce the disability rate in middle-aged and elderly people caused by knee osteoarthritis. Mongolian warm needling has the effects of promoting qi and blood circulation, reducing inflammation and relieving pain, relaxing sinews and dispersing cold, releasing adhesions, and balancing "Heyi, Xieri, Badagan" (the three humors), while also drying up "Xieri Wusu" (pathological joint fluid).
The Huxiang Acupuncture and Tuina Academic School
"Meridian-Viscera Correlation" — the Huxiang Acupuncture and Tuina Academic School stands like a uniquely remarkable flower on the Huxiang (Hunan) land, having played an indelible role in advancing the academic development of Huxiang acupuncture.
The academic thought of the Huxiang Five-Meridian Combination Acupuncture and Tuina School holds that "meridian-viscera correlation" is the core of meridian theory research and the core content for expressing TCM acupuncture meridian theory in modern scientific language. It embodies the linkage pathways of the medical model under the guidance of the holistic concept of Chinese medicine and has been universally acknowledged in medical circles. The "acupoint-viscera correlation" theory that guides acupuncture clinical practice is the core content of TCM meridian and collateral doctrine.
The Jin's Three-Needle Therapy School
Jin's Three-Needle Therapy is a clinical acupuncture point-prescribing school primarily based on the "Jin's Three-Needle" point combination formulas created by Professor Jin Rui. It is simple, easy to learn, practical, and effective.
"Jin's Three Needles" refers to an acupuncture therapy in which three acupoints are selected for each needling session. Its inventor was Jin Rui, hence the name "Jin's Three Needles." After its systematization by his disciple, Dr. Peng Zengfu, into the published work Jin's Three-Needle Therapy, its influence both domestically and internationally has been steadily rising. Consequently, Jin's Three-Needle Therapy has for many years been listed as a continuing medical education project by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.