Acupuncture and Moxibustion in Japan, Korea and Taiwan: A Comparative Study

10.6968/TJCCM.202003_25(1).0003

陳麒方(CHEN Chi-Fang)

Acupuncture ； Moxibustion ； East Asia Medicine

台灣中醫臨床醫學雜誌

25卷1期（2020 / 03 / 30）

75 - 83

英文

Acupuncture and moxibustion are widely used in East Asia. Following with the increase in medical expense, acupuncture with simple and inexpensive characteristics is increasingly being noticed. To understand the current status, practice of acupuncture and moxibustion (acupmoxa), as well as bronze acupuncture statue thereof in East Asia island arc- Japan, Korea and Taiwan, we design a comparative study using archival research method. Archives and data collected from Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The concept of acupmoxa originated from the Yellow Emperor' s Inner Canon (Nèijīng), and is now widely applied in clinical use in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. The Korea and Taiwan' s national health insurance covers payment for acupmoxa treatment. Korean and Taiwanese doctors can use both acupmoxa and herbs for treatment. Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese doctors established the International Society of Oriental Medicine in 1976. Subsequently, the Japan Association of Acupuncturists, Korea Medical Association and Taiwan Medical Association joined the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies as people groups in 1987. In the 2017 Taipei World Universiade, East Asia medicine acupuncture officially joined the health care system. Furthermore, according to Nèijīng, acupoint Sānyīnjiāo (SP6) in the WHO Standardization of Acupuncture Point Locations should be split into two points, which are eight-inch and three-inch above the internal medial malleolus. Meridian line on the bronze acupuncture statue should be shown in dotted line instead of solid line to express a schematic concept. We hope this report will provide a reference for merging the acupmoxa into conventional medicine in clinical application.

1. Chen, FP,Chen, TJ,Hwang, SJ(2007).Use frequency of traditional Chinese medicine in Taiwan.BMC Health Serv Res,7,26.
2. John, W.(2017).John W. Chinese TCM renaissance and the global movement for integrative health and medicine.J Altern Complement Med,23,79-81.
3. Kean, WF.,Tocchio, S.,Kean, M.,Rainsford, KD.(2013).The musculoskeletal abnormalities of the similaun iceman ("ÖTZI"): Clues to chronic pain and possible treatments.Inflammopharmacology,21,11-20.
4. Kung, YY,Hwang, SJ,Li, TF(2017).Trends in global acupuncture publications: An analysis of the Web of Science database from 1988 to 2015.J Chin Med Assoc,80,521-525.
5. Lu, GD.,Needham, J.(2002).Celestial lancets: a history and rationale of acupuncture and moxa.UK:Psychology Press.
6. Nobutatsu, F.,Hisashi, S.,Akihito, U.(2017).A multicenter prospective survey of adverse events associated with acupuncture and moxibustion in Japan.Med Acupunct,29,155-162.
7. Park, YL.,Huang, CW.,Sasaki, Y.(2016).Comparative study on the education system of traditional medicine in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan.Explore,12,375-383.
8. World Health Organization. WHO traditional medicine strategy: 2014–2023. Online at: www.who.int/medicines/publications/traditional/trm_strategy14_23/en/, accessed Dec 16, 2019.