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After Losing the First Time

The announcement of the successful replication of the orthodox bronze figure by the Acupuncture and Moxibustion Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences has attracted strong attention from the industry. What is the value of replicating the acupuncture and moxibustion bronze figure? And what exactly is the orthodox bronze figure?

According to experts, the acupuncture and moxibustion bronze figure is engraved with acupoint holes, acupoint names, and meridians. It is a practical human statue designed specifically for acupuncture and moxibustion teaching and assessment, which is quite different from the bronze statues cast for worship or display purposes. In the Han Dynasty of China, wooden figures for acupuncture training appeared, but unfortunately, they did not survive due to their easily destructible material. By the Song Dynasty, many acupuncture and moxibustion human models made of different materials had emerged, leading the Song government to deem it necessary to create a standard acupuncture and moxibustion human model. During the Tiansheng era of the Song Dynasty, the officially made bronze needle moxibustion human model was born, simply referred to as the acupuncture and moxibustion bronze figure.

Historical records show that the Tiansheng bronze figure was cast under the supervision of Wang Wei-yi, the then Director of the Palace Medical Bureau, and two were made, placed in the Medical Official Academy and the Great Xiangguo Temple respectively. The one in the Medical Official Academy was naturally a teaching tool, used for study and examination purposes; the one placed in the public space of the Great Xiangguo Temple also bore the important task of popularizing acupuncture and moxibustion knowledge. From then on, the Tiansheng bronze figure became the standard for Chinese people studying acupuncture and moxibustion, and it might also be the world's first nationally issued medical standard.

About 100 years later, due to the Jingkang Incident, the two bronze figures were lost among the people. According to expert research, one of them was later transferred from the Southern Song court to the Mongol Yuan government, and after repairs, it was moved to Beijing during the Zhiyuan era, until it disappeared in the wars at the end of the Ming Dynasty. During the Zhengtong era, due to severe damage to the Tiansheng bronze figure, the Ming government recast an acupuncture and moxibustion bronze figure, historically known as the Zhengtong bronze figure. As for the whereabouts of the other bronze figure, a common view is that it flowed into Japan via Korea at the end of the 16th century and is now housed in the Japanese National Museum.

Later, China cast many acupuncture and moxibustion bronze figures. Besides the Ming Zhengtong bronze figure, there were also the Ming Jiajing bronze figure, the Qing Qianlong bronze figure, the Qing Guangxu bronze figure, etc. Those made by the private sector were also not uncommon. The Le's pharmacies of the Tongrentang series have several bronze figures preserved to this day in various places, and other acupuncture and moxibustion human models made of tin, wood, etc., are scattered among the people. Korea and Japan also have several acupuncture and moxibustion bronze figures produced in China or made and replicated by themselves.

The Zhengtong bronze figure recently replicated by the Acupuncture and Moxibustion Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences was originally taken by Tsarist Russia from the Taiyiyuan during the Eight-Nation Alliance's occupation of Beijing in 1900 and is now housed in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Experts say that the Zhengtong bronze figure not only has aesthetic value in the general sense but also has extremely high acupuncture and moxibustion technical value, reflecting China's superb metal casting craftsmanship and the development level of life sciences at that time. Its successful replication provides a valuable reference system for the standardization of acupuncture and moxibustion acupoints, and it is also of great significance for clarifying the lineage and evolution of acupuncture and moxibustion and solving some long-standing puzzles in the academic community.