Seeking Luck, Avoiding Calamity, and Choosing Time for Acupuncture: Impact of Nine-palaces and Eight-winds Theory on Traditional Time-acupuncture Methodology

Abstract

The influence of Nine-Palaces and Eight-Winds Theory on the formation and development of Traditional Time-Acupuncture Methodology was discussed in this paper. It is consided that the Nine- Palaces and Eight-Winds Theory initially is only an astrological method for good and bad judgment, but the Yellow Emperor’s Canon of Medicine used it to explain the etiology and pathology of human disease, and the accounts for good or bad have a new meaning. It is a two choice to pursue good fortune and avoid disaster that determined the basic principles of traditional time acupuncture treatment, or on time, or evasively. Under the influence of Nine-Palaces and Eight- Winds Theory, the Traditional Time-Acupuncture Methodology emphasised to correctly grasp the treatment time and treat it as a precondition for clinical acupuncture and moxibustion, which not only fully reflects the concept of time that pursues good fortune and avoids disaster in the “Book of Changes” philosophy, but also deeply shows the cultural characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine. 本文探讨了九宫八风学说对传统时间针法产生和发展的影响。认为九宫八风学说最初只是预测吉凶的星占方法，但《黄帝内经》中采用九宫八风学说来解释人体疾病发生的病因病理，吉凶的占断却具有了新的意义。正是趋吉避凶的两分取舍确定了传统时间针法的基本原则，或者按时施治，或者因时避忌。在九宫八风学说的影响下，传统时间针法把正确把握治疗时间作为针灸临床的首要条件，不仅充分体现了《周易》哲学趋吉避凶的时机观，也深刻展示了传统中医的文化特征。