The Location of Acupoints : State Standard of the People's Republic of China

Acupuncture and moxibustion, which originated in China, has a history of more than 2,000 years. In the past 30-some years, the traditional Chinese medical specialists in scientific research, medical treatment and teaching departments have made every effort on the study of the location of points, including several revisions of the national acupuncture textbooks, publishing of teaching materials in foreign languages, as well as mass measurement and point anatomy. It is necessary to study, draw up and release a state standard for the location of acupuncture points, in view of the rapid development of the theories of meridians and collaterals and acupuncture, and in order to meet the need of technical exchange both at home and abroad. The State Standard for the Location of Acupoints presents a thorough and accurate location of the points of the 14 meridians and a part of the extra points. More than 40 well-known specialists through the country have taken part in the research for working out this standard. They are clinical acupuncture experts, medical literature experts, acupuncture anatomists and basic theory experts. Most of them are experts of traditional Chinese medicine, but some are experts of Western medicine and experts of traditional Chinese medicine integrated with Western medicine. Some have been working in clinical practice, teaching and scientific research, and others are administrative cadres. Those who have engaged in this research are all the acupuncture experts and scholars with great attainments and profound knowledge. Therefore, this standard represents the state level in this field. This state standard is approved by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and will go into effect as of January, 1991. By then, all the units relating to medical treatment of acupuncture, teaching and scientific research throughout China must follow this standard strictly under government supervision. The acupuncture nomenclature in this state standard is based on the Standard Acupuncture Nomenclature appraised and approved by the WHO Scientific Working Group to Adopt a Standard International Acupuncture Nomenclature.