Gold and Silver Needles_visibleholism-Gateway to learning classical Chinese acupuncture

Gold and Silver Needles

The needles used for acupuncture are now made of stainless steel and are mass-produced. But in the past, limited materials and transportation made acupuncture needles difficult to obtain. As a result, acupuncturists usually made their own needles. The materials used for making acupuncture needles include gold, silver, bronze, or iron, so acupuncture needles are also known as "gold needle" or "silver needle."

In July, 1968, nine metal needles were excavated at Mancheng, Hebei Province from the tomb of Prince Liu Sheng (???-113 BC) of Zhongshan, elder brother of Emperor Wu Di (156-87 BC) of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD). Four of the needles were gold are quite well preserved, while five are silver and decayed to the extent that it was not possible to restore them completely. The number and shapes of the excavated needles indicate that they may have been an exhibit of the nine types of acupuncture needles described in the Nei Jing (tab. and fig.). This possibility is supported by the fact that a number of additional medical instruments were found in the tomb. These included a bronze yigong (practitioner's basin), used for decocting medicinal herbs or making pills, a bronze sieve used to filter herbal decoctions, and a silver utensil used to pour medicine¹.

Table Nine metalneedles described in the Nei Jing (c. 104-32 BC)

Name	Modeled on	Length (cun)*	Shape	Method & effect	Indications
Chan or plough-share needle	Hairpin, a type of long needle used in ancient times to pin up the hair or attach a hat to the hair	1.6	Large head with sharp tip	Used to prick superficially to clear heat	Sensation of heat in the head or entire body, moving skin problems
Yuan or round needle	Needle used for stitching cotton cloth	1.6	Bamboo tube-shaped body with oval tip	Used to stimulate muscles and expel muscle pathogens	Muscular diseases
Di or arrow- head needle	Stalk ofbroomcorn millet	3.5	Broomcorn millet-like tip	Used to press meridians to invigorate meridian qi and expel pathogens	Qi deficiency, febrile diseases
Feng or sharp- edged needle	Needle used for stitching cotton cloth	1.6	Bamboo tube-shaped body with sharp three-edged tip	Used to prick collaterals to let blood and clear heat	Febrile diseases, refractory problems, abscesses
Pi or sword needle	Sword-shaped tip	4.0 ´ 0.25	Like a sword	Used to incise abscesses to drain pus	Yong conditions or abscesses
Yuanli or rounded sharp needle	Yak tail	1.6	Like a yak tail; a small thin body with rounded sharp tip	Used to prick deeply to drain collaterals	Acute diseases, bi syndrome, abscesses
Hao or fine needle	Fine long hair	1.6	Fine long body with tip like the proboscis of a mosquito	Used to quicken flow of qi and blood; tonify qi	Painful bi syndrome, deficient patterns
Chang or long needle	long needle used for sewing	7.0	Like a long sewing needle	Used to quicken flow of qi and blood	Deep pathogens, long-standing bi syndrome
Da or large needle	Stalk-shaped	4.0	Stalk-shaped body with slightly rounded tip	Used to reduce fluid	Accumulation of fluid in the joints

*cun: measurement of length used during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). One cun is approximately 2.31 cm. This table is based on Chapter 1 and Chapter 78 of the Ling Shu.

Figure 1: Four gold and five silver needles excavated from the tomb of Liu Sheng (???－113BC).

Figure 2: Nine metal acupuncture needles (jiu zhen) recorded in the Nei Jing, based on Yang Jizhou, Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (1601 AD)

Figure 3: Traditional craftspeople making acupuncture needles

Yang Fusheng, a folk acupuncturist living in the Tongzhou District of Beijing, continues to make acupuncture needles using traditional techniques. He learned acupuncture from his mother, a famous local folk practitioner. Mr. Yang died of a heart attack in October of 2004, but his granddaughter continues his work. (Photo by Ken Lubowich)

Notes and References:

1. Zhong Yiyan, Medical Instruments Unearthed from the Western Han Dynasty Tomb of Liu Sheng. Archaeology, 1972,(3):49-53.