Xiaochuan Pan
Canadian Institute of Classical Chinese Medicine
Abstract
Ziwu daojiu needling techniques utilize double spiral stimulation patterns. The reason behind this is that, through their activities of observing celestial phenomena and timekeeping, the ancient Chinese sages discovered the law that governs the operation of the universe. They called this “the Way” (Dao) and described it using the Taiji law. Starting from 3-dimensional space, the planar Taiji diagram is converted into a stereoscopic, dynamic Taiji; that is, a double-helix field. The Taiji law is used to guide acupuncture practice and catalyzed the advent of ziwu daojiu needling. Therefore, it can be said that ziwu daojiu needling is an acupuncture technique designed by deriving specific medical skills from the Way.
Keywords: ziwu daojiu needling; classical Chinese medicine; double helix field; three dimensional Taiji; medical skills based on Dao
Ziwu daojiu needling is a kind of acupuncture technique that combines rotation, lifting, and thrusting. “Ziwu” refers to rotating left and right; “daojiu” refers to lifting and thrusting up and down. It is recorded in Jinzhen Fu [Ode to the Golden Needle] that “Ziwu daojiu can treat water gu and diaphragm qi. After inserting the needle into the point, adjust the qi so that it is even, then move the needle up and down, 9 times in and 6 times out, turn it left and right, and after 1000 times it will be cleared.” The needling technique is: after inserting the needle and obtaining qi, first press tightly and lift slowly for 9 counts, then lift tightly and press slowly for 6 counts, all while rotating left and right, and repeat. This method conducts qi, supplements and drains, promotes the circulation of the construction and defense qi, and connects the yin and yang. It can be used for qi regulation treatments such as local conduction of qi, activating points, hastening the arrival of qi, and waiting for qi. Ziwu daojiu is a representative of this type of acupuncture. Other related acupuncture methods include the Dragon-Tiger Rising and Falling technique and Dragon-Tiger Fighting technique (1); they all use double helix patterns.
The reason why the ziwu daojiu acupuncture method uses a double-helix stimulation method is that the ancient Chinese sages discovered the law that governs the operation of the universe during their activities of observing celestial phenomena and timekeeping. They called it “the Way” (Dao) and expressed it as the law of Taiji. Starting from 3-dimensional space, the flat Taiji diagram is transformed into a stereoscopic, dynamic Taiji, that is, a double helix field. The Taiji law is used to guide acupuncture practice and catalyzed the development of the ziwu daojiu acupuncture method. Therefore, the ziwu daojiu acupuncture method is a needling technique designed by deriving specific medical skills from the Way.
The yin qi and yang qi are in the same unified body. They are opposed to each other, struggle with each other, stimulate each other, and interconnect with each. They are interdependent, penetrate each other, and generate each other. As the saying goes, “Yang alone cannot produce life; yin alone cannot grow.” The movements and changes in the relationship between yin and yang are the fundamental cause and driving force behind the movements and changes of all things. The black and white fish of Taiji are produced from “Wuji”, or “the Center”. They form the 2 poles of yin and yang, with the yang rotating counterclockwise and the yin rotating clockwise, extending to both ends in the form of a double helix, forming a 3-dimensional double helix. The double helix is a 3-dimensional, dynamic Taiji diagram with 2 helices, the upper helix being yang and the lower helix being yin. The eye of the yang helix is black, and the eye of the yin helix is white. The 2 poles are connected, and the black and white eyes are actually the 2 ends of the passageway between the yin and yang helices.
Qi moves according to the law of the double helix. The helix does not expand endlessly; rather, it has its limits. The 2 helices operate in the form of torus, forming a self-circulating system similar to the shape of a figure 8. This closed double helix is the basic structure that can complete the mutual conversion between yin and yang, and the mutual conversion between energy and matter, so it can be called a “double helix field”. Laozi [The Old Master] describes it with the phrase “the space between heaven and earth is like a bellows”. The double helix field exists in the primary system of the yin-yang universe, and is manifested as a 3-dimensional, dynamic Taiji. This 3-dimensional Taiji is the general law of the universe, dominating all other macroscopic and microscopic subsystems. It is a summary of the common laws of heaven, earth, and humankind; the principle of heaven, earth, humankind, and all things; and the highest theoretical guiding principle of life.
The figure-8 Taiji seed diagram of the toroid double helix field
There is a passage in the Han dynasty text Chunqiu Wei [Spring and Autumn Weft] that states, “Heaven rotates to the left and earth moves to the right”. This is an accurate description of the double helix. The theory of classical Chinese medicine is completely designed based on the double helix field model.
Huangdi Neijing [The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon] discusses the pattern of human qi movement: “[Regarding] the upper half of the body, its qi is divided into 3 parts. It is the division of heaven and the qi of heaven is in charge. [Regarding] the lower half of the body, its qi is divided into 3 parts. It is the division of earth and the qi of earth is in charge.” (Suwen [Elementary Questions], chapter 24, “Great Treatise on the Essentials of Supreme Truth”)
It can be seen that the ancients’ understanding of the isomorphism of the qi of heaven, earth, and humankind is highly consistent, unified in the double helix field model, and is also the basis for the mutual responsiveness between man and heaven. Hence it is said that “this is the mutual responsiveness between man and heaven” (Lingshu [The Magic Pivot], chapter 71, “Visiting of Evil”). As stated in Lingshu, “When the sages worked with the Way, above they united with heaven, below they united with the earth, and in the center they united with the affairs of humankind. The laws had to be very clear to establish measurements and quantifications, to [deduce] rules and patterns, and [to define] stable regularities. And it was only then that the Way could be transmitted further.” (2)
Ancient Chinese ancestors looked up to observe astronomical phenomena and looked down to assess geography, and through this process they realized the existence of “the Way”. The Way is yin and yang, Taiji, and the double helix field. Its existence is “so great that there is nothing outside of it, so it is called the Great One; and it is so small that there is nothing inside of it, so it is called the Small One” (Zhuangzi [Writings of Master Zhuang], chapter 33, “All Under Heaven”) (2). Moreover, “the great origin of the Way comes from heaven. Heaven does not change, and the Way does not change either” (Han Shu [Book of Han], volume 56, “Dong Zhongshu”) (3). The double helix “Way” served as the ultimate theory to guide medical practice and catalyze the emergence of classical Chinese medicine. From this it can be seen that the development process of classical Chinese medicine progressed from the Way to specific techniques. Its discplinary nature is not empirical medicine, but rather follows the “Way”; that is to say, it is systematic medicine with a top-level design that uses the 3-dimensional dynamic Taiji model, which is actually a double helix field, as a system template.
Based on the double helix principle, the ziwu daojiu type of acupuncture can be summarized as a double helix acupuncture method that was then improved according to the double helix law to form a standardized double helix acupuncture method. It can be summarized using the following mnemonic:
Nine above and 6 below; 9 with the flow and 6 against.
Slow insertion and fast removal; inhale in and exhale out.
Retain the needle in the middle [human] level; open the points holographically.
Diffuse and move the construction and defense; completely connect the yin and yang.
Applications:
1. To conduct qi in local areas: After adjusting the pulse, the qi dynamic in the whole body is mobilized to guide the right qi to the local area of disorder. This can be used to treat conditions such as localized pain.
2. To activate points: According to the theory of stem and branch point selection, acupuncture points open up based on time. The effect of acupuncture at this time is higher than when the acupuncture points are not opened. However, opening acupuncture points according to time is not very convenient for practitioners. Using a method to artificially open points can solve the time limitation issue. Double helix acupuncture is a method of artificially opening points.
3. To hasten qi and wait for qi: If qi does not arrive after needling, this method can be used to hasten qi and wait for its arrival. Chapter 9 of Lingshu, entitled “End and Beginning”, explains the arrival of qi as a change in the pulse after needling: “That which is called effectiveness due to the arrival of qi refers to [the fact that] drainage may increase vacuity. In vacuity, the pulse is as large as it was before, but it is not hard. If the pulse is as hard as it was before, although one may wish to say [the patient’s condition] is as it was before [becoming ill], the illness remains.” Furthermore, “[in] the application of needling, regulating qi is crucial” (Lingshu, chapter 75, “Needling Divisions, True and Evil [Qi]”). If qi does not arrive, the following method may be used on points such as CV-4 (guān yuán, Pass Head) or CV-6 (qì hǎi, Sea of Qi) to hasten qi. Academician Cheng Dan’an’s method of determining life and death through acupuncture is as follows: Insert the needle and rotate it. If after a long time qi has not arrived, this is a sign that the condition is incurable. If it is not yet possible to make a judgement, insert the needle 1.5 cun into CV-6 (qì hǎi, Sea of Qi) and perform the Dragon-Tiger Fighting manipulation technique. If qi still does not arrive, this is a sign of a fatal condition.
The self-consistent system of classical TCM (4) established by the author of this paper, theoretically supported by TCM classics, Daoism, Yijing [The Book of Changes], and modern astronophysics, uses the double helix field principle to unite many schools of thought, thereby revealing various aspects of TCM theory and technique with clear reasoning. Its techniques are simple to apply, yield reliable therapeutic effects, and feature a high degree of independence. Its system of needling and prescribing medicine based on the pulse utilizes the ancient TCM concepts of the pulse as a window into the qi and the pulse examination as the chief among the 4 examinations. With pulse identification as the basis for determining treatment, there is no need to ask about the patient’s condition and treatment continues until the pulse normalizes. Treatments utilize needling and medicinals to change the pulse until the qi has been treated, thereby transcending complicated local symptomatic presentations. Internally, this system has achieved objectification and standardization. It is a self-consistent systematic medicine shaped by deductions according to the laws of image-numerology that is based on the double helix theory and uses constant phenomena in nature as axioms.
ISBN-13: 978-1496005892
References:
（1） The Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion （Zhen Jiu Da Cheng）
（2） Lingshu (Miraculous Pivot)
（3） Zhuangzi: The World
（4） Book of Han by Dong Zhongshu
（5） Spirit of Acupuncture by Xiaochuan Pan
