at a glance

16
History of Acupuncture
curred.During his recuperation,Reston wrote a long account
of “this needling,”which the Times played on the front page.
The explanation of how acupuncture works evolved over
thousands of years. But the practice of acupuncture began
before writing or record keeping existed. As information accumulated,
a system was necessary to recall the knowledge.
Over time, a story of events was woven from the observations
of the ancient Chinese. The story did not have to be
true; it simply had to account for the observations.
It is fascinating to realize how much the Chinese learned
by observation and gross dissection. For example, people observed
that when someone was hurt in one part of the body,
a previous pain in a different part went away or diminished.
Although it is uncertain whether human acupuncture originated
in China, India, or Tibet, veterinary acupuncture was
used in China during the Shang and Chow dynasties (2000-
3000 B.C.) Records include a treatise on elephant acupuncture
dating from about 3,000 years ago that was recently discovered
in Sri Lanka. The earliest verified record of Chinese
veterinary medicine was written during the Shang Dynasty
and was entitled Horse Priests. It described treating animals
by placating evil spirits. Domestication of animals started in
China during the 16th to 11th centuries B.C. In a natural progression
of man’s relationship with domesticated animals,
medical treatments used on humans extrapolated into a rudimentary
form of veterinary medicine. Written in 650 B.C.,
the first veterinary textbook, Bai-le’s Canon of Veterinary
Medicine by Sun-Yang, was based on acupuncture. Sun-Yang
was a skilled acupuncturist, especially with horses. A legend
related in the book says that veterinary acupuncture was mistakenly
discovered when lame horses used in battle were
found to become sound after being hit by arrows at distinct
points. Ancient rock carvings show military horses being
“acupunctured” with arrows prior to battle. Since horses
were an important part of the economy, it is not surprising
that early acupuncture involved horses.