Eight Principles Of Acupuncture
Acupuncture, Acupressure, Ayurveda, Yoga, etc. these are some of the very important discoveries that were made by our fore ancestors thousands of years ago. These medicinal techniques and exercises were and even today are the most exclusively used treatments and therapies since the time when they were discovered. The science behind these therapies is very immense and also extremely useful.
During the olden times when there weren’t any resources to learn the medical science of the human body or the action of some herbs and exercises on our body, these methods were invented which further paved the strong path for medical science.
According to some of the historians, the method of acupuncture was invented even before the Chinese characters were invented. They believed that the main theory of acupuncture was created by the ancient people during an attempt to remove the effects of diseases from the body of the patient by beating him. Soon they discovered that there were specific points in our body which when beaten had the power to relieve the patients from diseases or illnesses. Thus, the first acupuncture technique was developed from the acupressure technique. They used the Bian stones to press the skin at one end and then prick the needles from the other end into the skin. It was believed that these stones were basically used for the acupressure points and treatments of the patients.
According to the main fundamentals of the Chinese traditional acupuncture, there are basically eight main principles of acupuncture. These eight principles consisted of the three treasures and the five elements.
The three treasures: Based on the ancient Chinese traditions, the way of life or the path of life was called as “Dao”. The main laws of Dao, emphasized more on moderation, having a proper balance and always maintaining a good harmony with the nature around us. They believed that we have three treasures amongst us which are Qi, Shen and the Jing.
Qi: It is pronounced as chi and is believed to be the main energy force and the organizing principle that is flowing in all the various things in the whole wide world. it through this energy that we all are interconnected. The ancient Chinese people believed that every living thing had some energy or Qi within themselves. It is in our heart, mind and the soul of our body. It runs through our blood, oxygen etc.
Shen: Shen is that treasure which gives our life brightness and is believed to be responsible for all the mental abilities that we are able to do and our consciousness. In some cases Shen is compared to our soul as it is thought to be visible in our thoughts, personality, perceptions etc.
Jing: The third treasure according to the TCM is that of Jing which is thought to be responsible for our physical growth, development and also reproduction. According to the principle, it was believed that every individual on the surface of earth is born with a specific amount of Jing within them which gets used up slowly as we grow. Also, we tend to lose Jing if we lead a wrong life and don’t care for our life. Jing cannot be replaced by any other thing in our life.
The five elements: The theory of the five elements followed by the Chinese is just another simple way to categorize all the things in our surrounding. The acupuncturists use these five elements system to diagnose the various things. The five element system is simply another representation of the transient nature of all things in the universe. These five elements or the five phases in the Chinese acupuncture principles include the earth, fire, metal, water and wood. According to the Greek version, the five elements of the universe include the earth, water, wind, fire and the space. According to some pf the historians, it was believed that the Chinese people had found just four elements which surrounded the fifth element namely the earth which was placed by them in the center of the whole system. This represented the transition of various things occurring in the system.
According to the Chinese researches, the five elements were used to represent the various phases from which all the things pass by in the environment. For instance, any metal can be heated to a specific value and then liquefied which can be then poured in the form of water. This water can be later used further to nourish the growth of trees and wood. This wood can be then burned to create fire which can be used to burn all types of things on the earth into ash. Further, the earth is purified to search and make metal. This simple cycle about all the five element systems continues. All possible things like the colors, smells, organs, emotions, seasons and taste have also been categorized into the five elements.
Based on the theory of transition, all the elements cause various changes or are created due to the changes in some other element. Earth is produced from fire and the earth will further transform into metal by plowing. Thus all the elements are interrelated with each other. Under any case, if any one of the elements has been tampered or damaged, instantly all the other elements will undergo an imbalance thus causing an imbalance to the whole system of five elements.
Basically the main purpose why these elements were discovered was to define nature. These elements were discovered about two thousand years ago and so was the definition of nature. The ancient Chinese people created these five elements without the proper understanding of molecular science or any microscopic dissections. They through this system created a simple method to remove chaos from the system by ordering all the things that could be memorized, passed and created in the future. They categorized all the things, illnesses and symptoms in this simplified manner to experiment them and also find their treatments later on based on this system.
This system has become one of the most complex systems which is still being used in many parts of the world.
Good article! Before reading this article I was not having any idea about the eight main principle of Acupuncture. But this article give information on all of them and discusses about the five elements of acupuncture as well. It is really very informative article.
Do acupuncture technique was really invented before the Chinese characters were invented?
Ya, according to some of the historians, the method of acupuncture was invented even before the Chinese characters were invented.