Acupuncture Developed

Acupuncture developed, often -within a family, with sons serving as apprentices to their fathers.

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) medical academies were established and in about 1026 the Classic of the Bronze Man "was "written, an illustrated guide to points as shown on two life-size bronze acupuncture figures.

This became a standard work and was engraved on two stone tablets more than two metres high and seven metres wide that were kept in the capital.

As dynasty succeeded dynasty, many more important works were published. In the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the famous Chinese herbalist Li Shi Zhen published his 50-volume Compendium of Matcria Medica as well as a study of the Pulse and the Extraordinary Meridians.

A Song dynasty painting showing a country doctor applying moxibustion to the back. Even today in China and Japan moxa scars can sometimes be seen on older patient. This is not common in the West where moxibustion is used gently and painlessly.