[Evolution of the concept of extra ordinary point and standardization of related terms]

Through an analysis of the historical development of the concept of extra ordinary point, it is found that the terms of "Qi point" "extra ordinary point" "Loujing point" "extra meridian point" and "Bie point" used in the ancient medical books in the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties actually expressed two different concepts of "extra ordinary points with the magical effects" and "extra points other than the meridian points". The standardized term for the former concept should be "extra ordinary point" (Qi point for short), and the standardized term for the latter concept should be "extra meridian point", which is also called "Loujing point" and "Bie point". Since these two different concepts are not clarified in modern acupuncture textbooks, especially the misreading of "Jing Wai", no consensus has been reached on the definition of "extra ordinary point" and "extra meridian point", and the standardized terms have not been decided, which changed from "extra ordinary point" to "Qi point" and "extra point" and recently returned to "extra ordinary point". These confusions in textbooks have a direct impact on the determination of the related acupuncture terms used in national and international standards.