Acupuncture is an important aspect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The exact origin of TCM and acupuncture is not known, but it originated more than two or three thousand years ago. The theoretical basis of TCM is that there is a life-force, call Qi, that resides and circulates within one’s body, and illnesses are due to the deficiency or excess, stagnation, and imbalance of Qi. Acupuncture is the aspect of TCM that uses needles applying at appropriate acupuncture pressure points to generate, circulate, and rebalance Qi. Other aspects of TCM include doing diagnostics by sensing the subtleties of the pulse, examining external features such as the color and texture of the tongue, prescribing herbal medicines, suggesting exercises such as Taiji, and applying special massaging techniques such as Tui Na or Qigong healing. Although the relationship between the theoretical basis of acupuncture and modern scientific understanding of physiology and medicine is unclear, most people do acknowledge that there are a lot of medical benefits associated with acupuncture, although there are skeptics. This article provides a brief introduction to the theoretical framework of acupuncture even though this theoretical framework could be modified as we gain a better understanding of the science behind acupuncture.
Read More »
Introduction to Acupuncture
December 2012
1 Comment
From the Eyes of Grandma
December 2012
3 Comments
My first impression of my maternal grandma was a small, frail lady who was very quiet, but with pensive, penetrating eyes. I first met her when I was almost seven years old and she was 71. She lived to 100 years old, but I never interacted much with her, and never really knew her or tried to learn from her. Now that I am almost her age when I first met her, I regret very much that I never made use of the opportunity to get to know her better, because there were so many things I could have learned from her.
Read More »
Profile in Courage and Dedication – Tamaki Matsuoka
One of the most horrific atrocities committed in human history was the Nanking Massacre. During a six-week period beginning on December 13, 1937 in Nanking, the then capital of China, the Japanese Imperial Army slaughtered approximately 300,000 Chinese (most were civilians, including women and children) and raped approximately 20,000 women and girls (including great grandmothers and young girls less than 10 years old). Seventy five years have elapsed since that time, yet the Japanese government still has not officially acknowledged and apologized for this atrocious atrocity, with senior government leaders frequently making comments that the Nanking Massacre never occurred, they were fabricated by the Chinese, and what happened was just natural consequences of war. Since the early 1980s, they have revised their textbooks so that new generations of Japanese do not know the truth about this part of history. Tamaki Matsuoka, a Japanese school teacher, also wanted to find out the truth about the Nanking Massacre, and she has spent 24 years of her life to that mission. This article reports on her courage and dedication in that mission.
Read More »