ACUPUNCTURE
...ts of the body would not bleed when penetrated (Beal, 2000; Kaptchuk, 2002; Mainfort, 2004; Ullett, 1997). Whatever the exact origins of acupuncture were, over the next millennium, this new framework was elaborated upon extensively into a more cohesive theoretical paradigm, incorporating many of the core principles practiced today (Beal, 2000; Kenner, 2005). During this golden era of acupuncture, its acceptance began to become more widespread, and by the sixth century AD, acupuncture theory had reached countries such as Japan and Korea (Kenner, 2005). Acupuncture use eventually went into a period of decline in the 19th century, at a time when Chinese tradition and culture were similarly affected by an influx of western technology and culture. In 1912, the last of the Chinese dynasties collapsed, leading to the formation of a Chinese republic and the eventually banning of its teaching and practice in 1929 in favor of a westernised approach to primary health care (Beal, 2000; Kenner, 2005; Ullett, 1997; Ulett et al, 1998). However, China’s lack of resources and infrastructure required to implement a western health system led to a resurgence in acupuncture, to provide sufficient levels of adequate primary health care for the large population. After the 1949 revolution, under Mao Tse-Tung’s influence, a major effort was made to standardise and simplify the major schools of acupuncture, and ‘Traditional Chinese Medicine’ (TCM) was born (Beal, 2000; Kenner, 2005; Ullett, 1997; Ulett et al, 1998). This lead to a renaissance in the use of acupuncture, and in recent years there has been increased interest in retranslating older literature to regain much of the extra depth of knowledge lost in the simplification of the Chinese acupuncture into TCM (Beal, 2000; Kenner, 2005; Ulett et al, 1998). As part of this renaissance, and as an example of acupuncture’s simplification during this period, acupuncture anaethesia was developed by the Chinese army during the 1950s for use in emergency surgery on the battlefield (Beal, 2000; Kenner, 2005). Kenner (2005, p4) suggested that this may have led to the initial misrepresentation in the west that acupuncture was primarily a tool for instant pain relief, and would merely obscure the underlying pathology instead of being viable as a management strategy in its own right. Stemming from a visit to China from then president Nixon in 1972, acupuncture has not only had a resurgence in Asia, but in the West as well (Beal, 2000; Ceniceros & Brown, 1998; Shen, 2001). Currently, there are an estimated 11 000 licensed acupuncturists in the US, with 4 500 estimated to be here in Australia – an even higher concentration of practitioners compared to...