Museum of TCM at the Shanghai College of TCM
These nine needles are replicas of acupuncture needles dating back to the Han Dynasty (from 206 B.C. to 220 A.D.). The needles in those days were made of bone, but the philosophical underpinning for their use was the same as it is today - balancing Jing, Qi and Shen, the three vital elements of the human body. Jing is best described as the ultimate essence and source of life. Qi is energy and Shen is spirit.
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Gold acupuncture needles! Once metalworking developed in ancient China, metal acupuncture needles soon appeared, made of iron, copper, bronze, silver or - as in this case - gold.
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Traditional Chinese Medicine falls into four categories: herbal, animal, mineral and metallic medicines. Of these, the primary category is herbal. This room has more than 3,000 herbal specimens.
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My Chinese is rusty, so I was happy to find that the exhibits have English subtitles.
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All manner of medicines. Most displays featured herbs, but there were also exhibits of animal-based preparations based on seahorses, snakes, insects and so on.
Ancient therapies. On the lower right are acupuncture needles made of bone. In the upper left are "Bian-stones," specialized sharp-edged stone tools that appeared during China's Neolithic, or "New Stone" Age. They were used as part of an early form of acupuncture therapy.
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