Eighty-four-year-old Zhu Zongxiang has the vigor and vitality of
man half his age. In a few old and shabby rooms situated near a
group of ancient buildings in Beijing, the old doctor has
stubbornly persisted in learning more about the meridians of
acupuncture for more than 30 years. He often said he was a traitor
to Western medicine.
Since the 1950s, he had been teaching physiology, a basic
medical subject, in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. However,
a decision in 1973 changed his life.
That year, he was inspired by Premier Zhou Enlai's appeal to
Chinese medical experts to make clear the theory of acupuncture.
Zhou's call for action followed US President Richard Nixon's visit
to China in 1972.
Zhu Zongxiang (right) talks
with a practioner of 312 meridian exercises.
Zhu joined the acupuncture meridian research group of the
Institute of Biophysics under Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Meridian points were discovered in China 2,500 years ago. In
Huang Di Nei Jing (The Medical Classic of the Yellow
Emperor), one of the most important ancient medical classics,
the meridians were recorded to have the function of "promoting
circulation of Xueqi (Blood and Qi) and balancing yin and yang" and
"determining life and death and treating hundred diseases."
The meridians were discovered to be a general controlling system
for the human body and had the function of preventing diseases and
promoting health and longevity. Today, TCM doctors still insert
acupuncture needles into the acupoints along the meridians to treat
diseases.
However, the existence of the meridians has always been
questioned by Western medicine.
To justify the theory, doctor Zhu and his colleagues had spent
more than 10 years to experiment with modern methods to demonstrate
its biophysical existence.
In the 1980s, the researchers successfully showed the 14
meridians in human body through biophysical methods, which are
surprisingly identical to that recorded in ancient classical
meridian graph.
For visitors suspicious towards his research, doctor Zhu would
proudly demonstrate his two proof tests to them.
He used a mallet to tap different areas on the elbow until the
patient heard a loud sound measured through a device similar to the
stethoscope. Zhu then marked a red spot at that point.
A line of the red spots determined by the same method is
actually showing the position of a meridian, according to Zhu.
He would then place two electrodes of a current meter on the
line and stimulation of the current could be felt. When one
electrode was placed off the line, one would feel nothing. It
showed that the meridian line had the lowest electric impedance,
according to Zhu.
The red meridian lines
pictured above connect to the major organs of the body. Acupuncture
and massage on strategic points along the meridian zones can
improve health.
Even after Zhu published his breakthrough findings, the
scientific world still did not change their skeptical attitude. And
the debate on meridians is ongoing and interpretations of the
phenomenon vary among scientists.
In ancient times, meridians was a philosophical concept invented
by ancient Chinese doctors to summarize the general functions of
the human body, according to Wu Gencheng, director of Institute of
Acupuncture Research, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University.
The institute had been researching acupuncture for decades.
"We believe that the meridians' functions are closely related
with the nerves, but it is impossible in modern science to find the
material equivalent to the meridians described in the ancient time.
It is hard to imagine a new passage way in the human body," said
Wu.
In a further blow to Zhu's efforts, the Institute stopped
funding their research.
Zhu did not give up and established Beijing Yanhuang Meridian
Center to design the meridian based exercise to promote people's
health and longevity. Zhu calls it the "3-1-2" method.
According to Zhu, 3 refers to massaging three acupoints of hegu
on the hand neiguan on the wrist and zusanli on the knee.
1 refers to abdominal breathing, actually a form of simplified
qigong (breathing exercise), through which Zhu believed could
exercise the meridians in the abdomen area being closely related
with chronic diseases.
2 refers to the physical exercise of both legs. Zhu believed the
most simple and effective exercise is squatting down and standing
up.
Of the 312 meridian
exercises, the number of 3 refers to massaging three acupoints of
hegu on the hand (left) neiguan on the wrist
(center) and zusanli on the knee (right).
"Physical exercise will involve the excitation of all the
meridians spreading in the whole body," he explained.
In fact, in Zhu's views, the health benefits of all kinds of
physical exercise are actually coming from the enhancement of the
meridians in the process.
Daily exercises for 25 minutes will keep people young and
vigorous, prevent and treat many senile and difficult diseases and
relieve some common diseases, Zhu claims.
During the past 17 years, Zhu had formally trained more than
10,000 people, mostly elderly people. "Though the popularization of
the exercise is slow, I obtain valuable proof information from them
that the exercise is effective for health promotion," he said.
Zhang Yawen, 74, was a typical beneficiary of 312 exercises. She
was a college professor and had long been inflicted by hypertension
and arthritis, which often made her sleepless at night.
She claimed her health improved a lot after she followed 312
exercises for a few months. Now she has the confidence to live to
100.
Zhu conducted a study among more than 8,000 people attending his
training class, 95 percent of whom suffered from chronic diseases
such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, asthma, diabetes and
arthritis. Most have seen major improvements after four weeks'
practice.
Though Zhu had a strong wish to spread his exercise to a larger
population, he still depends on opening workshops and distributing
study materials to spread the word.
(China Daily May 16, 2007)
