The Anatomical and Physiological Knowledge of the Huangdi Neijing Authors: Why It Matters

Some prominent contemporary acupuncture pundits have published assertions that when the Huangdi Neijing was written 2000+ years ago, acupuncture clinicians had no knowledge of anatomy and "limited" clinical knowledge. Historical records as well as medical literature published over the past hundred years evidence those claims are grossly inaccurate. Those erroneous reports have likely contributed to the negative views of acupuncture that continue to be promulgated in the Western (allopathic) medical literature by prominent academic physicians and researchers: specifically, that acupuncture lacks a proper scientific basis, and that its clinical benefits most likely result from a potent ("enhanced") placebo effect. The purpose of this review is to provide an accurate description of the extensive anatomical, physiological, and clinical knowledge of the founders of the acupuncture tradition, as reflected in both historical records and peer-reviewed literature. These data evidence that acupuncture is scientifically based in human anatomy and physiology, and further provide clues to acupuncture's mechanisms.