[On "knowing routine regularities and making flexible management" in midnight-noon ebb-flow aided acupuncture...

The old theory of midnight-noon ebb-flow for selection of acupoints in acupuncture treatment of clinical disorders is mechanical in the calculation of the time (hours and days) of flowing and ebbing of qi and blood in terms of the heavenly stems and earthly branches, thus, it has been called considerable questions by many Chinese physicians in different historical periods. The author of the present paper holds that the time calculation is merely a method, only the symptom-differentiation and innovation ideas are the key points for the acupuncture treatment. Following summarizing up the key points of this acupuncture management, the present paper thinks that on-time and time-point selection, acupoint-open and acupoint-closing, academic schools and clinical choice-making are critical for clinical practice. It denotes that despite the midnight-noon ebb-flow acupuncture management has its special calculation method, but the calculation always differs from person to person, from time to time, and from place to place, and the best treatment is conducted according to syndrome-differentiation. Thus, when applying the midnight-noon ebb-flow acupuncture method, we should not adhere to mechanical calculation, and rather, thoroughly understand the conventional management regularities and make corresponding changes in the treatment of different clinical conditions, i.e., inherit the predecessors' excellent academic thoughts on one hand, and conduct innovation research and application on the basis of current natural and social environments on the other hand.