Ancient Chinese healing gains popularity around the globe
Print Edition
ACUPUNCTURE and moxibustion may sound like ancient rituals or even painful procedures to the uninitiated. Yet these traditional Chinese medicine techniques have garnered not only the trust of millions in China, but also a growing number of patients worldwide.
Even Hollywood A-listers have embraced the practice. Celebrities Kim Kardashian and Gwyneth Paltrow have shared photos featuring their faces dotted with acupuncture needles on social media.
Joe Chen, an actress from Taiwan, recently joined the trend, posting her own facial acupuncture photos on Chinese social media Weibo and Xiaohongshu, known in English as RedNote.
Her post soon went viral. She praised the treatment as part of her wellness routine, crediting it for skin brightening, pore reduction and overall beauty enhancement.
Far from a celebrity trend, facial acupuncture, often touted as a “natural Botox,” is a time-honored medical practice with deep roots in traditional Chinese medicine.
“It significantly boosts collagen regeneration, leading to visible benefits like tighter, brighter skin and fewer wrinkles,” Zhang Shuhan, associate chief physician at Yangzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, told the Yangtse Evening Post.
Acupuncture and moxibustion together form a vital part of traditional Chinese medicine. The practices were inscribed in 2010 onto the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Acupuncture has been the remedy for all types of ailments in China for thousands of years, long before modern medicine even came into existence.
Acupuncture was first officially documented in the “Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon,” the earliest text on traditional Chinese medicine theories and practices.
There are altogether 720 acupuncture points along the meridians and distributed around the meridian system in a human body, according to traditional Chinese medicine. Acupuncture is the practice of inserting needles into the superficial skin, subcutaneous tissue and muscles at different points to stimulate the flow of qi (vital life energy) and restore the balance between yin and yang, thus restoring physical and mental health. Acupuncture needles are carefully selected according to individual needs.
Disease in traditional Chinese medicine is perceived as a disharmony of qi, which comprises yin and yang. When the flow of qi in one’s body is insufficient, unbalanced or interrupted, yin and yang become unbalanced, leading to illness.
While acupuncture involves needles, moxibustion uses the heat generated by burning dried mugwort to warm these points on the body.
Moxibustion comes in two primary forms — direct and indirect moxibustion. Direct moxibustion means placing moxa cones directly on the skin, and the indirect one suggests holding moxa sticks near the body to warm the area.
Traditional Chinese medicine looks at the human body as an interconnected system. A headache, for instance, might not be treated solely as a head issue, but as a sign of liver imbalance. Acupuncture attempts to restore harmony whilst moxibustion uses heat to boost circulation and drive out dampness.
A history spanning millennia
The idea of using needles and heat to treat illness dates back thousands of years. The “Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon,” which was compiled more than 2,300 years ago, lays out much of the theoretical foundation that acupuncture still follows today.
But the beginning of acupuncture may be even earlier, with evidence suggesting that early humans in the Neolithic age discovered that pressing or pricking certain areas of the body with sharp stones could relieve pain. These primitive tools evolved into bian stones, the precursors to modern acupuncture needles.
By the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the famous physician Wang Weiyi had mapped out 354 acupuncture points and created life-sized bronze models engraved with meridian pathways and internal organs. The models became helpful teaching aids for the study of acupuncture.
From their origins in China, acupuncture and moxibustion spread to neighboring countries like Japan as early as the 6th century. These methods are now practiced in more than 180 countries and regions, with many establishing formal education and certification systems.
Clinics offering acupuncture and moxibustion have popped up in cities from Paris to San Francisco, treating conditions ranging from chronic back pain and migraines to stress and infertility.
The World Health Organization has acknowledged acupuncture’s efficacy for nearly 30 diseases or conditions, leading scientific credibility to what was once considered fringe medicine in the West. In 2003, the organization published a comprehensive review, “Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials,” further validating its therapeutic benefits.
Despite the rising popularity of acupuncture and moxibustion, acupuncture-based beauty treatments are not for everyone.
According to physician Zhang, people with diabetes, clotting disorders, facial infections or those taking long-term blood thinners should avoid such procedures or consult a professional beforehand.
In most cases, acupuncture is seen as a key traditional therapy for treating diseases. But it can also be used as an effective technique for the preservation of good health.
The “Canon” says the best practitioner applies acupuncture on a person as long as diseases have not yet emerged. This seems to mean that the best use of acupuncture is to help protect health, instead of treating diseases.
It is also advised that one should not try to apply acupuncture on oneself.
However, people can try to protect their health or treat minor symptoms by massaging the relevant acupuncture points by themselves.
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