Qi, condensing, can form beings.”
--- Zhu Xi (Chu Hsi,1130—1200)

Story From Dr. Lown

“My skepticism was sundered, however, by a personal encounter with acupuncture. While tobogganing as a youngster, I seriously injured my back, and years later, in the mid-1960s, I experienced episodic bouts of severe back pain and sciatica. I underwent disc surgery. The cure was good for five years. Thereafter, the back pain recurred but did not compel long periods of bed rest.”
“In 1973, I was a participant in the first delegation of America cardiologist to the People’s Republic of China. Arriving in Canton at the end of the long grueling flight, I began to experience low back pain, which soon completely disabled me…Moaning with unremitting pain, for which narcotics provided by the Chinese afforded no relief, I relented and begged for acupuncture… I complained of uncomfortable heaviness and tingling, and my buttocks muscle seemed to resist rotation of the needle. The doctor was delighted with my discomfort and muttered something that sounded like “de chi”. Later I learned that “de chi” meant “obtaining chi”, getting the vital energy to flow. After several minutes, he suggested that I stand up and walk.”

Accupuncture and Chinese Medicine 

Teaching Charts and Bronze Model for Acupuncture in ancient China

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Acupuncture, a complex branch of ancient Chinese medicine, consists of gentle insertion of fine needles (normally made from stainless steel) into skin at certain specified points according to the patient’s condition. Acupuncture has been practiced for centuries in China. It was introduced into the United States as a direct result of President Richard Nixon’s trip to China in 1970. In the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, an estimated 3.1 million U.S. adults reported recently using acupuncture.

Health is achieved by maintaining the body in a “balanced state” and disease is due to an internal imbalance of Yin and Yang (an ancient Chinese philosophical concept used in medicine to refer to various antitheses in anatomy, physiology, pathology…) based on Chinese Medicine. This imbalance leads to blockage in the flow of Qi (life force or vital energy. Originated in Chinese philosophy, it means something like “matter-energy”) along the pathways known as meridians.

It is believed that there are 12 meridians and 8 secondary meridians and that there are more than 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body that connect them. Inserting needles into specific points along the meridians unblocks the energy flow and restores your body’s healthy balance.

Numerous studies have documented acupuncture’s effects. Acupuncture produces effects through regulating nervous system, thus aiding the activity of pain killing bio-chemicals such as endorphins and immune system cells at specific sites in the body.
Acupuncture may alter brain chemistry by changing the release of neurotransmitters and neuro-hormones and, thus affecting parts of the central nervous system related to sensation and involuntary body functions, such as immune system reactions and the process that regulated a person’s blood pressure, blood flow, body temperature and more.

“There is sufficient evidence of acupuncture’s value to expand its use into conventional medicine and encourage further studies of its physiological and clinical value.”
---The National Institutes of health (NIH) declared in 1997.

What is Chinese medical philosophy?

“In the past, given the severity of the pain, it would have taken a month or long of absolute bed rest to get some relief. Now, after three days I could walk comfortably. A week later I climbed the Great Wall and had no difficult during the return flight from Hong Kong to Boston. I remained free of significant back ache for about a year.”

---Bernard Lown, M.D. Winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985
The Lost Art of Healing (1999)

What is acupuncture and how does it work?

In this 17th century painting Chinese of all ages study the Yin-Yang symbol, an figure representing the two opposite but balancing aspects of nature.

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“I have seen many successful applications of traditional Chinese medicine, a complex system that includes unique diagnostic methods, massage, dietary and lifestyle adjustment, acupuncture, and herbal therapy.”
“Dr. Zhang once said to me, ‘If you could summarize Chinese medical philosophy in one sentence, it would be ‘To dispel evil and support the good.’ Western medicine puts all its effort into ‘dispelling evil’ by fighting germs with antibiotics, giving drugs to lower cholesterol, and destroying malignant tumors by various drastic interventions. It does next to nothing about ‘supporting the good,’ meaning the body’s natural defenses, its healing system. In my view both approaches are necessary.” --- Andrew Weil, M.D Why Our Health Matters (2009)
“The art of practicing Chinese herbal medicine stretches back over more than 5,000 years, embracing all the domains of nature –earth and sea, season and weather, plant and animal – and all the elements that constitute the universe. Contemporary Chinese medicine represents the clinical experience and time tested theories of five millennia of continuous practice by Chinese physicians.”
“It remains the world’s oldest, safest, and most comprehensive system of medical care, developing today as dynamically as its long history. It seems about time for the West to pay serious attention to Chinese Medicine, and to benefit from its profound insights and potent remedies.” --- Daniel P. Reid, Chinese Herbal Medicine (1986)

Why has Chinese medicine been in continuous practice among a large population for thousands of years and gaining recognition around the world? The key is its naturalistic philosophy of health and medicine that focuses on human body rather than just the disease with all natural means. The relative lack of side effects combined with the mind-body-healing approach has made Chinese medicine popular choice for people to try. 

“I have seen many successful applications of traditional Chinese medicine, a complex system that includes unique diagnostic methods, massage, dietary and lifestyle adjustment, acupuncture, and herbal therapy.”

“Dr. Zhang once said to me, ‘If you could summarize Chinese medical philosophy in one sentence, it would be ‘To dispel evil and support the good.’ Western medicine puts all its effort into ‘dispelling evil’ by fighting germs with antibiotics, giving drugs to lower cholesterol, and destroying malignant tumors by various drastic interventions. It does next to nothing about ‘supporting the good,’ meaning the body’s natural defenses, its healing system. In my view both approaches are necessary.” --- Andrew Weil, M.D Why Our Health Matters (2009)

“The art of practicing Chinese herbal medicine stretches back over more than 5,000 years, embracing all the domains of nature –earth and sea, season and weather, plant and animal – and all the elements that constitute the universe. Contemporary Chinese medicine represents the clinical experience and time tested theories of five millennia of continuous practice by Chinese physicians.”

“It remains the world’s oldest, safest, and most comprehensive system of medical care, developing today as dynamically as its long history. It seems about time for the West to pay serious attention to Chinese Medicine, and to benefit from its profound insights and potent remedies.” --- Daniel P. Reid, Chinese Herbal Medicine (1986)


Why has Chinese medicine been in continuous practice among a large population for thousands of years and gaining recognition around the world? The key is its naturalistic philosophy of health and medicine that focuses on human body rather than just the disease with all natural means. The relative lack of side effects combined with the mind-body-healing approach has made Chinese medicine popular choice for people to try.