Acupuncture--cultural perspectives. 2. The Eastern view

As part of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is a complex system of observation and treatment based on traditional concepts that have evolved over thousands of years. Cultural barriers to its understanding by Westerners are significant. However, if its main cultural assumptions of Yin-Yang relativism, the meridian theory of Chi, and the Five Phases are accepted, acupuncture is seen to be a highly ordered, comprehensive, and often efficacious system. Further exploration is needed into its many areas of potential use.