Editing Acupuncture (section)

===Traditional===
{{Main|Qi|Traditional Chinese medicine|Meridian (Chinese medicine)|List of acupuncture points}}
[[File:ChineseMedecine.JPG|thumb|right|Old Chinese medical chart of acupuncture meridians]]

Acupuncture is a substantial part of [[traditional Chinese medicine]] (TCM). Early acupuncture beliefs relied on concepts that are common in TCM, such as a life force energy called ''qi''.<ref name=Aung11>[[#Aung2007|Aung & Chen]] {{cite book| first1 = Steven K. H. | last1 = Aung| first2 = William Pai-Dei | last2 = Chen | name-list-style = vanc |title=Clinical Introduction to Medical Acupuncture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I6NclaeDWjgC&pg=PR1|year=2007|publisher=Thieme|isbn=978-1-58890-221-4|pages=11–12}}</ref> ''Qi'' was believed to flow from the body's primary organs (''[[zang-fu]]'' organs) to the "superficial" body tissues of the skin, muscles, tendons, bones, and joints, through channels called meridians.<ref name=meridian-theory>"（三）十二经脉 ...（四）奇经八脉 ..." [(3.) The Twelve Vessels ... (4.) The Extraordinary Eight Vessels ...] as seen at {{cite web |url= http://www.pharmnet.com.cn/tcm/knowledge/detail/100044.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161110121328/http://www.pharmnet.com.cn/tcm/knowledge/detail/100044.html |archive-date= 10 November 2016 |script-title=zh:经络学 |access-date=22 February 2011 |language=zh |trans-title=Meridian theory}}</ref> Acupuncture points where needles are inserted are mainly (but not always) found at locations along the meridians.<ref name=Aung101/> Acupuncture points not found along a meridian are called extraordinary points and those with no designated site are called {{Lang|zh-latn|A-shi}} points.<ref name=Aung101>[[#Aung2007|Aung & Chen]], 2007, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=I6NclaeDWjgC&pg=PA101 101].</ref>

In TCM, disease is generally perceived as a disharmony or imbalance in energies such as [[Traditional Chinese medicine#Yin and yang|yin, yang]], [[Traditional Chinese medicine#Model of the body|''qi'', xuĕ, zàng-fǔ, meridians]], and of the interaction between the body and the environment.<ref>{{harvnb|Wiseman & Ellis|1996|page=77}}</ref> Therapy is based on which "pattern of disharmony" can be identified.<ref>{{Cite book | vauthors = Ergil MC, Ergil KV | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=kdZ1rFKW&pg=PA19 19], [https://books.google.com/books?id=kdZ1rFKW&pg=PA148 148] | title = Pocket Atlas of Chinese Medicine | year = 2009 | publisher = Thieme | location = Stuttgart | isbn = 978-3131416117}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Flaws B, Finney D | year = 2007 | title = A handbook of TCM patterns & their treatments | edition = 6th | publisher = Blue Poppy Press | isbn = 978-0936185705 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=iJT3mz20yHoC&pg=PA1 1] }}</ref> For example, some diseases are believed to be caused by meridians being invaded with an excess of wind, cold, and damp.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Flaws B, Finney D | title = A handbook of TCM patterns & their treatments | publisher = Blue Poppy Press | year = 1996 | edition = 6 (2007) |isbn = 978-0936185705 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=iJT3mz20yHoC&pg=PA169 169–73] }}</ref> In order to determine which [[Traditional chinese medicine#Patterns|pattern]] is at hand, practitioners examine things like the color and shape of the tongue, the relative strength of pulse-points, the smell of the breath, the quality of breathing, or the sound of the voice.<ref name=Tongue>{{cite book | title = Tongue Diagnosis in Chinese Medicine | last = Maciocia | first = G | publisher = Eastland Press | year = 1995 | isbn = 978-0939616190 }}</ref><ref name=Maciocia>{{Cite book | first = G | last = Maciocia | title = The Foundations of Chinese Medicine | publisher = Churchill Livingstone | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0443074899 }}</ref> TCM and its concept of disease does not strongly differentiate between the cause and effect of symptoms.<ref>{{cite book| page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=t23zKB1FSVYC&pg=PA26 26]| last=Ross |first=J|title=Zang Fu, the organ systems of traditional Chinese medicine| publisher=Elsevier |year=1984 | isbn=978-0443034824 }}</ref>