Introduction

Abstract

Acupuncture is experiencing a renaissance both in China and world wide with over 1 million practitioners using it. In the 19th century, acupuncture declined in China after 2500 years of widespread use. This is attributed to western influences and the degeneration of Chinese culture as a result of foreign Manchu rule. After 1949, when the People’s republic was founded, Mao Zedong encouraged the practice of acupuncture which marks the beginning of the current renaissance. Academies of Chinese medicine were established in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanking and other major cities. Western style medical schools such as Beijing University and Shanghai First Medical School also began to research into the basic mechanisms of acupuncture. Unfortunately, their failure to publish in English, and the general distrust of Chinese science by western scientists and physicians, kept this new information from disseminating. However, one phenomenon caught the eye of westerners: the development of acupuncture anesthesia for surgical operations. Spectacular documentory films showing awake patients having surgery under the influence of acupuncture, awakened the interest of the western medical world. As a result acupuncture for the treatment of chronic pain was gradually introduced into many western pain clinics starting in 1972, after Nixon opened up ties with China. In the USSR acupuncture was introduced in the 1950 ‘s because of close political ties with China. Europe had several schools of acupuncture since the 1930’s, but the major impetus for acupuncture’s spread in the west came after Nixon’s visit to China.