Acupuncture, an ancient art of healing has thrived for over 2,000 years because it is effective. It came to the West in the early 1900s to France. From that foothold, it gradually spread to other European countries. Its practice was mostly confined to doctors only, so its popularity was limited. Many excellent books were written during these years, mostly in French. By the 1950s acupuncture was well known throughout Europe. Curiously, America remained ignorant of it.

Richard Nixon’s trip to China in the early 1970s ushered in a new awareness in America of many things Chinese. The first jurisdiction to legalize the practice of acupuncture by non M.Ds was in Washington, D.C. The first clinic, the Acupuncture Center of Washington, opened in 1972. The news coverage was immense. Soon hundreds of people a day came to be treated with this new medicine. With about 20 Oriental acupuncturists, mostly brought from New York City, they treated over 250 patients a day. It wasn’t long before the medical establishment stepped in to try closing it down by taking the city of Washington, D.C. to court. They lost and the rest is history.

In the past 30 years:
• over 40 states have legalized acupuncture / Chinese medicine
• since the mid-1980s acupuncture schools have accepted national accreditation standards
• in the mid-1980s a national examination in acupuncture began, which most states accept for licensing
• there are now over 40 accredited schools of acupuncture / Chinese medicine in America
• 100s of new books have been published in English, including many translations of classic and modern Chinese works
• there are currently about 14,000 licensed acupuncturists (non-physician) in America

Acupuncture began in ancient China, long before written texts began. It has been intertwined with spiritual and religious practices as has been true throughout Chinese history. Acupuncture has a close association with Taoism, for these early pioneers of body-mind-spirit consciousness were seekers of the great renowned. They understood yin-yang and created the model of Five Transformations, which together are the intellectual foundation of Chinese medicine. The earliest text, Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Inner Medicine, written in approximately 200 B.C. is still the core textbook of them all. There are several translations in English. In a curious way, it is still relevant today. The text is in the form of a dialogue between the Yellow Emperor and his esteemed physician. The first question sets the tone: “Why in ancient times did people live long and productive lives, but nowadays they live only half as long and die in misery and despair?” And the answer: “In ancient times people understand how to live according to nature, knowing their limits so as to avoid excesses and abuses.” The book then explains how we can live in rapport with nature and maintain our basic good health and die a natural death.

Over the centuries Chinese medicine has evolved. New ideas were added and new paradigms discussed. Herbology grew in importance and was a parallel avenue for healing. In a similar fashion, Chinese medicine spread thorough out the Orient, especially to Japan, Korea and Vietnam. Each developed certain aspects of the theories and practices, which distinguish them from the current Chinese approaches. While there were national schools and government exams during the past 1,000 years in China, there were many private schools and family secrets pasted on from generation to generation. It was only in the 20th century that Chinese medicine met its greatest challenges. During the Nationalist vs Communist civil war from the 1920s to 1940s, Western medicine was embraced by both sides. Chinese medicine was not outlawed, in part because many private schools realized that they needed to cooperate in order to avoid suppression. In 1949 the Communist took control of China. At first Mao, the president, banned acupuncture. By 1954 he realized that Western medicine could not reach all the millions of people, so he ordered the creation of four schools of Chinese medicine. They were required to excise all spiritual, pagan and esoteric material from their curriculum. These schools became the educational backbone of modern Chinese medicine.