The Rise and Fall of Acupuncture/Confucianism

[Guest guest]

Hi Chris,

 

Why was acupuncture so intertwined in ancient China to the rise and

fall of Confucianism? Come to think of it, Dr Unschuld said during

the recent lecture that at one point in China's history as

Confucianism declined, there was only 1 master of acupuncture left

in the whole of China. I find this a little hard to believe,

especially as acupuncture is the single most popular part of TCM in

the west. So did Communism save acupuncture? Was the rise of

acupuncture's popularity in recent times caused by the west's

interest in it?

 

Does anyone know why acupuncture's fate, until recent, was so bound

to the political popularity of Confucianism?

 

Any comments, warmly welcomed.

 

Attilio

[Guest guest]

Wed, 24 Nov 2004 23:56:20 -0000, " "

<attiliodalberto wrote:

 

> Why was acupuncture so intertwined in ancient China to the rise and fall

of Confucianism?

 

If one looks at it from a sociopolitical angle (which Unschuld always

includes in his perspective), then it may relate to the apparent fact that

acupuncture was practiced only (or at least very largely) in the educated,

i.e. ruling class. And the corresponding educational system was, for the

entire span of the imperial era (ca. 220 BCE to 1911 CE), by and large

Confucian. Considering that acupuncture presupposes a certain degree of

refinement, e.g. theoretical knowledge, relatively advanced technology

(metallurgy), as well as hygiene (otherwise it probably would have

self-destructed from infectious disease), this seems plausible. With the

overwhelmingly popular Chinese herbal medicine, on the other hand, the

stuff gets a really good boil or two (hygiene), the technology is no more

complex than food preparation, and the tradition can be passed with much

less intellectual theory. (It is said that some primates, and other animals

know haw to search out and eat what amounts to medicinal plants when they

are sick.)

 

> …acupuncture is the single most popular part of TCM in the west. So did

Communism save acupuncture? Was the rise of acupuncture's popularity in

recent times caused by the west's interest in it?

 

Much of Unschuld's analysis would certainly suggest something like this,

although I don't recall him asserting this explicitly. The thrust of the

early development of zhongyi/TCM (1949 to 1960), as I gather from Kim

Taylor, was to modernize, by westernizing, medicine for the new Chinese

nation. The early figures with medical background were all western trained.

Apparently prior to the 1950s, Mao ZeDong himself initially held ideas more

along the lines of the earlier Republic - discarding the old medicine along

with all else that contributed to the miserable situation that the Chinese

people found themselves in by the 19th century in facing the onslaught of

the western world.

 

In his early career, Mao was a revolutionary leader and fighter, said not

care much about medicine in any form. As he faced the task of building a

nation and putting the people back on their feet, the fact that resources

with which to implement a western style medical system were negligible (a

couple of 1000s of doctors) led to the necessity of mobilizing and using

the substantial given resources of the traditional doctors (some 600,000).

All indications are (from my reading of Taylor's narrative) that this was

largely a stop-gap measure. The old-style doctors were to be re-educated

towards WM. Also, part of boot-strapping the population included boosting

morale, and the theme of resurrecting and honoring the " treasures " of

Chinese tradition, including the old medicine, can be seen as largely

propagandistic.

 

The surprising (to the Chinese) interest coming from the West in the

1960s-1970s does appear to have substantially influenced the later shaping

of TCM, especially for export. I feel that the new, more elaborate English

texts coming out of the Foreign Language Press in the late 1990s reflects

an influence from the Western books of the 1980s. (A couple of years ago

when I was teaching in a TCM school, I ran across a newer acupuncture

channel and points book from Beijing, which stuck me as a direct response

to Wiseman et al book Fundamentals of Acupuncture, which I had found the

best to teach with.)

 

Though the idea does seem to irk Dr. Unschuld, I am coming more to believe

(entertain the hypothesis) that CM can survive and bear considerable

further fruit by virtue of its adaptation into cultures outside of China.

(My sense of Unschuld's attitude derives more from the German book " Was ist

Medizin? " than from his formal historical writings - sorry to keep

referring to books which aren't accessible to most people here.)

 

To back up a bit, we know, even science increasingly knows that acupuncture

is effective healthcare. Today the thrust of human development

(globalization) is, at least ideally, to raise the standard of living of

ALL people to a level which might be compared with that enjoyed by the

Confucian elite of the imperial era - literacy/education,

technology/livelihood, and hygiene/healthcare.

 

My suspicion is that even if modern China were to transmute from its

neo-Confucianism into an affluent, modern social and political system, the

medicine will survive, become a common heritage. (This is somewhat

rhetorically stated, as I don't seriously believe Chinese culture will ever

abandon its Confucian roots.)