Acupuncture is one of the most distinctive subjects in my country’s traditional Chinese medicine system and is becoming more and more popular internationally. When talking about such a fashionable topic, of course we have to talk about the names of acupuncture points. The editor often hears students who are not majoring in traditional Chinese medicine say that the names of acupuncture points are very nice, such as Shenque, Baihui, Zusanli, etc., and the names have mountains in them. With water and scenery, it feels like you have traveled thousands of miles back to ancient times. Do you know how the names of acupuncture points come from?
The origin of acupoint names
The acupoints of the human body can be generally classified into three categories: the fourteen meridian points, odd points, and Ashi points. The fourteen meridian points are acupoints with fixed names and locations that belong to the fourteen meridians system; odd points have names and locations, but they are not classified into the fourteen meridians because they have too much "personality"; the Ashi point is very powerful, " It is recorded in "Essential Prescriptions for Emergencies": "There is a method called Ah Shi. If a person is in pain, just pinch it. If the inside is in the right place, regardless of the holes, it will become the painful spot. This is the method of Ah Shi. Based on the experience of moxibustion and acupuncture, Therefore, it is said that the Ashi point is the "Ashi point." That is to say, when the patient calls out "ah" when tapping the acupoint, then this location is the Ashi point.
The names of acupoints all have certain meanings. "Qian Jin Yifang" points out: "The names of all acupoints are not just in vain, they all have profound meanings." Doctors in the past dynasties used the method of taking images and analogies to name acupoints based on their locations and functions, combined with natural phenomena and medical theories. However, in the final analysis, they have not departed from the functions and indications of acupoints.
"Acupoints" have their positions, so they are called "acupoints". Because they are mostly located in the depressions between joints or muscles, they are also called "joints", "bone holes" and "holes". Generally speaking, the names of acupuncture points can be divided into three major categories.
The first category
directly describes the anatomical location and function of acupuncture points.
Such as body pillar, Dazhui, back top, Baihui, front top, fontanelle, Yintang, etc.
The second category
The ancients used the corresponding thinking method between heaven and man to attach acupuncture points to natural phenomena. Most of their names just reflect the structural characteristics of acupoints in terms of positioning.
For example, the sun and moon, Shangxing, Taiyi, and Chengshan were named based on the celestial bodies and landforms; Futu, Thenar, Dubi, and Heding were named based on animals and plants; Tianjing and Yintang were named with the help of buildings. , Juque, etc.
The third category
A synthesis of the first and second category naming methods.
For example, Yaoyangguan, Mingmen, Lingtai, Shinto, Yamen, Fengfu, Naohu, Qiangjian, Shenting, etc. fall into this category.
Detailed Example Analysis
Guanyuan Point
"Guan" means door, meaning to close and protect; "Yuan" means original and end. , to the greatest, to the beginning. Yuan Qi is endowed with innate primitive Qi, and it is also the Yuan Yin and Yuan Yang of the human body. Therefore, Guanyuan refers to the place that closes and protects Yuan Qi. Therefore, this point has the effect of strengthening the body and prolonging life. At the same time, Guan Yuan belongs to the Ren channel, Ren channel. The pulse is the "sea of ??yin pulses" and controls the yin energy of the body. Clinical moxibustion at Guanyuan can nourish yin energy and delay aging, so it is also an important point for health care.
Water Point
As soon as you hear this point, you know it is related to water. Water refers to water liquid; divide means to separate. Also called water division. "Golden Needle and Plum Blossom Poetry Notes" says: "Moisture should be able to separate water, and it is difficult to separate water from clear and turbid water." This point has the function of separating the clear and turbid parts of water, and is clinically an important point for treating water. "Leijing Tuyi" records: "When the small intestine enters the lower opening, the secretion will be clear and turbid, the water will enter the bladder, and the dregs will enter the large intestine." Because the function of the small intestine is to separate the clear and turbid, allowing the clear water to enter the bladder, and the turbid water to enter the large intestine together with the dregs, so the water points close to the small intestine also have this function.
The names given to acupuncture points by the ancients are nice and meaningful, so how should they be translated when they are spread abroad?
The acupuncture point that evacuates wind evil - Fengshi, literally translated as wind market. I think foreign readers will be confused when they see it, what? What is the "market of wind"? In 1991, WHO finally issued an international standardization plan for acupuncture point names, ending the confusion in the translation of acupuncture point names. The plan stipulates that the names of acupuncture points should be unified in Chinese pinyin, with international codes attached. For example, "Yongquan" is translated as "Yongquan (Kid.1)", and "Kid." is the abbreviation of "kidney" in the kidney meridian. This concise, easy-to-remember and practical method of translating acupuncture points has been widely welcomed and has been used in the international acupuncture community ever since, playing a very active and important role in the external dissemination of acupuncture.
Contributor: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Author: Ruli Gaoyue Yang Lin