The Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion: Volumes I-III

The Zhen Jiu Sheng Jing by Wang Zhizhong is a highly regarded seven volume treatise on acupuncture and moxibustion from the late 12th century. Due to the lack of a reliable English translation, it has been inaccessible to most practitioners until now. The Chinese Medicine Database has released “The Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion Volumes I-III” and will soon release Volumes IV-VII later this year.Volume I mainly describes the location and technique for the 365+ acupuncture points. They are divided by region of the body and by channel for the distal points. Each point is described by location, treatment technique, a comparison of multiple literary resources, and special indications or contraindications if any. Wang Zhizhong’s sprinkles his commentary throughout the text either clarifying or rejecting data that is unclear, contradictory, or not clinically effective. Wang’s commentary is clearly highlighted in gray text boxes throughout the book. From pages 52-54 there is a very interesting description and dialogue about the location and application of Gao Huang Shu (UB 43) and Wang gives a commentary on the point Guan Yuan’s (Ren 4) role as the Dan Tian on page 78.In Volume II Wang writes about various subjects including proportional measurement, distance between points, contraindications, examining medical books, the use of moxa, as well as locating points and similarities and differences in the name of points. In the chapter Avoiding the Human Spirit and so forth, Wang speaks about stem and branch prohibitions of acupuncture and moxibustion only being violated when the patient suffers and urgent or critical disease. We see variations to this message throughout the text.In a commentary in Volume III, Wang Zhizhong states “The stomach is the mansion of water and grains and people all rely on stomach qi for survival. If someone wants to maintain his life, it is appropriate to apply moxibustion on Wei Wan (Ren 12).” Simply put, people should cultivate stomach qi in order to live which is in line with the philosophies of Li Dong-Yuan. It is in this volume that we see 51 disorders with description of the disease, point prescriptions from many earlier works, herbal advice, and interesting sidebars in which Wang describes personal experience as well as Chinese Medicine statement of facts.If there is a shortcoming with this text it would be that the gray commentary boxes with Wang Zhizhong’s notes are a bit dark and hard to read at times, however this is a minor problem. The Classic of Supporting Life with Acupuncture and Moxibustion Volume I-III is a clear and concise read which presents its information in an easily accessible format. Thanks to Yue Lu, Lorraine Wilcox, and The Chinese Medicine Database for this important contribution to our profession.

A gem of a book that you can keep by your bedside or in your clinic! This translation includes the 1st three volumes of what will eventually be 7 volumes (Volumes 4 -7 will be available in one book). Volume 1 is a discussion of important points on each of the channels, albeit divided both by location on the body as well as the channel. As you read about each point you get not only the location and needling depth, but also length of retention, use of moxibustion and indications - it may sound like what you get in any Acupoint textbook, but it is full of little pearls that may come in handy. Volumes II discusses when to use and when not to use acupuncture and moxibusion, how to measure to get a precise location, point names, how to use moxibustion, how to observe and understand the spirit when needling and the importance of observing weather and time. Volume III begins the "clinical"component of the text in that it discusses the presentation and treatment of specific diseases. Again, it may sound like any other basic text on the treatment of disease, but, rest assured, it is not. Point combinations and point usages that have not been available to us before in English and presented. Well translated with Chinese characters available for those who either already read Chinese or wish to learn. This is a book that will keep you reading and that you will pull out when that difficult to treat case walks in and what you thought would work does not.

Another great book published by the Chinese Medicine Database. Lu and Wilcox expertly translated this very useful classic text on acupuncture. As a teacher of acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at Southwest Acupuncture College I am frequently looking for books that can connect traditional treatment methods to modern methods and I see this book as being one of the more useful classical texts that is available in english. This book is easy to use, the Chinese language text is included for those who read Chinese to be able to work with the translation themselves. Aside from translation, translator comments on the text are also included and clearly separated from the actual text to help the reader understand more clearly what is being presented. In the text, acupuncture points are presented first by anatomical area with suggested treatment such as moxa or needle depth. The second half of the book is organized by disease and acupuncture point combination recommendation.I feel that for a western or new practitioner wishing to begin to read acupuncture related classics this book is a great start because of its accessibility and formatting. It is now recommended reading for our apprentices.If you like or are interested in this book you may also like translations of the Zhen Jiu Da Cheng also published by The Chinese Medicine Database.

This is an incredible and authentic series. The translators are fastidious and not only practice Chinese medicine, but make it the total focus of their lives. One of the challenges with finding credible texts on acupuncture is that many authors put their own creative flourishes that can distract from the authentic transmission. This book, replete with source texts is very accurate, honest, and gets to the practical heart of Chinese Medicine.