Acupuncture [Zhenjiu   Chamcuu), is a method of inserting special needles into certain points on the body to treat disease and alleviate pain or to produce analgesia. This ancient Chinese art has been applied as a therapeutic medical technique in China for at least 2000 years. The term acupuncture, invented by Willem Ten Rhyne, a Dutch physician, after his journey to Japan in the seventeenth century, literally means to puncture with the needle (L. acus: needle; punctura: puncture). The Chinese term Zhen Jiu means acupuncture moxibustion and is more rational since, from ancient times, these two methods have often been used in coordination.

First of all, point selection should be well grounded. The next most essential matter is the needle manipulating skills. To cure the same disorder, two acupuncturists agree on the same set of points, choosing the same methods of supplementation or drainage, but the results of their treatments may, nevertheless, sometimes differ greatly. This difference in outcomes is often due to difference in needle manipulation techniques or what in Chinese is called shou fa, hand technique.