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Acupuncture is a form of therapy that uses multiple tiny needles to be inserted into ones body. The earliest record of acupuncture is evident in ancient Chinese text from around the second century BC and may go as far as Stone Age. The early stages and the actual beginning of acupuncture in China are not clear but it can be traced back to the Stone Age. Soldiers in the early days were said to have used acupuncture to heal wounds as they did not have access to medication, but there isn’t much clear proof of that. Pictures found depict acupuncture to be practiced by the Shang Dynasty as early as 1600 BC. There is even evidence of acupuncture being used in Europe with mummified bodies found showing tattoos of what appear to be the actual acupuncture points on a human body.
During the middle ages, stones, bones and sticks were replaced with metal and in 1023 Emperor Song in china had bronze statues built to depict the acupuncture point that were used around that period of time. The first European scriptures were written by a Dutch man who spent two years learning the technique in Japan. This was the time around 1683 when Europeans were becoming more interested in these types of non medical treatment for disease such as arthritis. However the decline in this lost art, known as acupuncture, is said to be due to prescription and modern medication.
During the modern era, soon after the Chinese civil war, the Chinese communist leaders began to look down upon traditional medical practice like acupuncture. This method of treatment again began to gain respect in 1972 when President Richard Nixon visited China and soon became more popular in the United States. Now acupuncture is accepted as an alternative treatment method throughout with well known centers and respected practitioners treating patients.
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