Beginning and Development of Medical Manipulation in Ancient China / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

The basis of the present writer's study is the ancient literature of manipulation and anma-therapy, which was edited before and after the time that “Huang-ti nei-ching” was formed in the Han Period.<br>The conclusions are drawn from the results as follows:<br>In China, it may be said that the origin of anma-therapy may be traced back to the Yin Chou Period, because it was described in “Chia-ku-wên” and “Chou-li.” It may be said, too, that its origins may back to the Chunchiu chan-kuo Period, because there are the descriptions of a name, resembling anma-therapy, and its effects in “Pien-chüeh Chuán.”<br>And it is corroborated in “Wu-shih-erh Ping Fang” that anma-therapy was actually performed before the Chin Han Period. Furthermore, because the technique of the term “ma” with plastering is described in “Yãng-shêng Fang, ” “Shên-nung pên-tsao-ching, ” and so on, it proves that anma-therapy was in existence, though the expression of the term “ma” is different from that of the term “an” in “Huang-ti nei-ching.”<br>For these reasons, it appears that anma-therapy had already been used, together with other treatments, in the Chou Period.<br>But the fact that the technique of “an” differs from the process of the development of “ma” needs to be studied further.