Acupoint Numbers or Names?
kelinsheng
December 10, 2008, 04:12 AM posted in General DiscussionHere in the west (well, in Canada anyway) we tend to use organs and numbers for the location of acupuncture points. When I began learning acupuncture points this was imensly helpful. Bladder (BL) 11 is 1.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the first thoracic vertebra. All I had to do was remember the pattern BL 11 -T1, BL 12-T2, etc. until T-8 then skip one until BL 30. All the points from BL11-30 are 1.5 cun lateral to the midline. Simple enough.
But the name of the "Bladder meridian is 足太阳膀胱经 (zu2 tai4 yang2 pang2 guang1 jing1) Foot TaiYang Urinary Bladder Channel. The other Taiyang Channel is 手太阳小肠经 (shou3 tai4 yang2 xiao3 chang2 jing1) Hand Taiyang Small Intestine Channel. By learning the names of the channels it was revealed to me that these two are the same channel (太阳) and that the Small intestine and the Urinary Bladder have to "communicate" with each other. One is associated with 火 (huo3, fire) and therefore 阳 (yang2) and the other with 水 (shui3, water) and therefore 阴 (yin1). So a problem in one may result in a problem with the other. And if I hadn't learned the names, I would still be thinking that the main relationship with the Bladder is the Kidney.
And as for the acupuncture point names, BL 11 大杼 (da4zhu4) usually translated as "great shuttle", but I'm not sure yet what the name signifies or hints at.
Also, if I learn the names of the acupuncture points, then I can communicate with TCM doctors that speak mandarin and I'll also be able to read medical texts from China.
So, do you think that by learning the number system we a destroying part of the medicine?
changye
December 11, 2008, 12:58 PMAs you know, this year WHO finalized standardization of acupuncture point locations, which had long been slightly different among countries such as China, Korea, and Japan. Let me show you some interesting news articles concerning this I read a few months ago. Its outline is as follow,
(1) The oriental medicine association of South Korea announced that WHO virtually picked Korea’s acupuncture points as international standards.
(2) Naturally, a lot of Chinese medicine doctors in the PRC protested against the announcement.
(3) And later, WHO finally officially denied the claim by South Korea.
(4) If you would like to read an objective story, click on the link to an article of Japan Times.
Korea Net.
AP China
http://www.xprn.com/pr/08/07/08439711-1.html
Japan Times
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061129f2.html
kelinsheng
December 13, 2008, 07:47 AMAs it happens, I'll be going to the Chengdu University of TCM hospital to intern, so I'll have to learn the chinese names anyway, and yes it is difficult to learn all the names and meridian. 14 standard channels and about 361 standard acupuncture points plus an additional 60 something extra points and 4 extra meridians.
Also I think it is kind of funny that there would be a "standarization of acupuncture point locations" because each person's body is different and a therapeutic treatment only occurs when "de qi" is obtained. As long as the point is in the general area of were it should be, like on the 足阳明经 (zu2 yang2 ming2 jing1) meridian at 足三里 (zu2 san1 li3) and the person feels the 气 (qi4) then there should be a therapeutic effect.
changye
December 14, 2008, 08:55 AMHi kelingsheng,
I think it is kind of funny that there would be a "standarization of acupuncture point locations" because each person's body is different
I also thought the same way first, but this seems to contradict a bit what you said above, "Bladder (BL) 11 is 1.5 cun lateral to the lower border of the first thoracic vertebra." Looks like that the positions of some acupoints are shown with concrete figures in WHO termilology, even though each person's body is different. In short, those positions are just rough guides, which I think were standardirized this year in order not to confuse learners of Chinese medicine.
dedsall78
March 24, 2009, 04:49 AMWell, there needs to be a standardization so that everyone is learning the same thing. Not all practitioners place points at the same location.
Take one of my teachers, who learned a japanese style of acupuncture. Although most points were the same, some were not. If there was no standardization, one practitioner may be saying to needle GB-34 but be talking about a completely different location than what those listening to him would think.
I should add that some of his locations were actually quite useful... interestingly, one or two were located at what would be extra point locations in TCM.
kelinsheng
August 04, 2009, 12:47 AMHmm. I guess you're right. If there was no standardization, it would be really difficult to learn. I wonder if some of the new technology that is coming out to display engergetic wave lengths will help determine presice acupuncture points.
changye
August 04, 2009, 01:06 AMHi Kelinsheng
Have you ever heard about a (somewhat silly) dispute over standardization of acupuncuture points between China and South Korea?
changye
August 04, 2009, 07:38 AMI've just noticed that there is the comment on the dispute I posted in this thread last year, hehe. Please look at my second comment in this thread. 太不好意思了！
changye
December 10, 2008, 06:18 AMHi kelinsheng,
Just out of curiosity, I glanced over some acupuncture point names in Chinese. It seems to me that every name has a plausible (often not so clear) "etymology", but I don't think memorizing all the Chinese names is critical in learning Chinese medicine.
To make matters worse, there are so many points and channels (written with difficult Chinese characters) that it's really a tough job to memorize them probably even for Chinese doctors and students.
I think that just learning WHO terminology would be enough, unless you have a plan to study Chinese medicine in China. And I believe that medical books written in English also mention relationship between channels and points based on Yin-Yang and Five elements theory.