Figure 124: SPONTANEOUSLY TENDER POINTS (POINTS OF WEIHE),
their homeopathic indicators, and their correlation with the acupuncture Meridians and Points.
Figure 125: HASHIMOTO’S STYLE OF “PULSE DIAGNOSIS.”
An acknowledged master of the art of pulse diagnosis (myakushin), Mme. Hashimoto in fact used a somewhat idiosyncratic technique.
Figure 126:
Correct and incorrect finger placement according to Hashimoto.
Tracing the lineage back one step, Hashimoto had been a nurse who learned the Five Element style of acupuncture from Honma Shohaku (1904-1962), a very important figure in the revival of classical acupuncture in Japan (Fig.128). His Five Element chart, e.g. (Fig.129) was clearly the basis for the one developed by Worsley. In Figure 128 you can see him lecturing on using the precepts of the Nan Jing for pulse diagnosis and treatment. He was a scholar, as well as a practitioner and teacher, and was familiar with classical Korean texts as well as the Chinese and Japanese ones. As a member of the keiraku chiryo (Meridian Therapy) group, his influence, especially on European acupuncturists, was second only to that of the group’s founder, his teacher Yanagiya Sorei. Homma died in 1962, just after an important trip to Europe, which I will get to presently. Had he lived a little longer, the course of development of acupuncture in Europe might have been quite different.
Figure 127: D (A) ELZA MUNSTER (far right) with Mme.
Hashimoto (seated). (B) ELZA MUNSTER between Hashimoto and Honma. As a Foreign Member of the Acupuncture Guild affiliated with Worsley’s College of Chinese Acupuncture (U.K.), Dr. Munster is in the author’s opinion the most likely conduit for the Ohsawa/Hashimoto teachings which Worsley incorporated into LA. (C) TAKENOUCHI MISAO demonstrating acupuncture techniques at the Japanese embassy in London in 1968. (D) TAKENOUCHI MISAO demonstrating his special “piercing” acupuncture technique with long needles. This method is not included in the teachings of LA, so for this and the other reasons indicated in the text, Takenouchi is not a likely source for the Ohsawa/Hashimoto to Worsley transmission, although he was in the right place at the right time.
Homma’s teacher, as I said, was Yanagiya Sorei(282) (Fig.130) (1906-1959) whose given first name was Seisuke. He changed it to Sorei which is taken from the first words in the titles, Simple Questions (Su Wen) and Vital Axis (Ling Shu) as a token of his respect for the classics. He was the originator of the revival of Five Element acupuncture in Japan and his students and close colleagues included many famous individuals. You can see the three links in this chain of transmission I’ve described in Figure 131, a picture taken in 1958, one year before Yanagiya died. To understand Yanagiya’s contribution, one needs to know what was happening to acupuncture in Japan in the early 1900’s. As reported in the previous chapter, Western medicine had become increasingly popular, and acupuncture began to be co-opted by those with “scientific” training, which culminated in a 1918 government revision of the classification of acupuncture Points by a topographical grid as opposed to using the traditional Meridian theory. Physicians were required to pass examinations in Western medicine, and there was even an attempt to prohibit traditional medicine outright by the government in 1883. Thus the situation in Japan roughly paralleled what was happening in China, however, the outcome was quite different. Yanagiya, who vigorously opposed the modernizing trend, inspired a generation of Japanese acupuncturists to return to a more classical tradition. As an interesting historical curiosity, Yanagiya not only reinforced the Oriental medical tradition in the practice of acupuncture, but his teachings even impacted the thinking of Dr. Hans Selye, one of the strongest proponents of a more holistic approach to Western medicine as well (Fig.132). In order to comprehend the magnitude of Yanagiya’s contribution to Japanese acupuncture per se, and what relationship it might have to LA, a brief review of the history of traditional medicine in Japan is necessary.
Figure 128: HONMA SHOHAKU
(1904-1962), a highly respected teacher of Five Element style acupuncture, is seen here lecturing on the clinical practice of concepts from the Non Jing. Both his Five Element and his Meridian charts are still widely used.
Figure 129: HONMA’S FIVE ELEMENT CHART. In form and content, this is clearly the model on which Worsley based his chart (Figure 123).
Figure 130: YANAGIYA SOREI
(1906-1959), the inspiration behind the revival of Five Element based acupuncture in Japan, which eventuated in keiraku chiryo or Meridian Therapy (MT).
As was true for China, the history of medicine in Japan starts in mythological times, and once again has its roots in a shamanistic tradition, which in Japan developed as Shinto, or “the Way of the Spirit.” Two legendary figures, Okuninushi-no-mikoto and Sukunahikona-no-mikoto, were said to have discovered the means of curing disease.(283) These included sacrifices, prayers, exorcisms, magical incantations and the like, since diseases were regarded as the work of malign spirits. However, in order for a person to be susceptible to such “possession,” he would first have to have transgressed in some way such as unchastity, carelessness, etc. The outcome of all transgressions was “pollution” and the prototypical treatment was the Great Purification ritual (o-harai) which involved the standard shamanistic linking of the three levels: the High Plain of Heaven where the gods (kami) dwell, the world known to man, and the polluted netherworld. (284) Although once the medicine of systematic correspondence was introduced from China, religious healing became less prominent, it never died out, and in particular the majority of the early twentieth century practitioners of acupuncture were steeped in Shinto tradition.(285) There is a popular saying that “Japanese are born into Shinto, get married in Shinto shrines, are buried with Buddhist rituals, and have their lives governed by Confucian social ethics.”(286) In fact, new religions have developed in Japan specifically around healing ministries derived from Shinto roots. For example, Tenrikyo, which originated in 1838, teaches that “physical problems originate in the mind and that moral misdeeds (for example, anger, hatred and avarice) are root causes of personal problems such as illness... (which) is not just something requiring medical treatment, but also spiritual action . . . illness is...a sign that one’s life has got out of balance and needs reform.”(287) There is an obvious similarity between this point of view and the doctrines of LA concerning both the importance of the Spirit and the possibility of possession.
Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, moxibustion, herbology and the other disciplines which I haven’t discussed, was introduced into Japan early on. Most sources date the beginning of this transmission to the Han dynasty, but some speculate that contacts with China and its nascent medical tradition might have even preceeded the Zhou dynasty (c.1500 B.C.).(288) In any case, Japanese medicine borrowed heavily from traditional Chinese medicine until the Edo period, around 1630, when newly available European books and contacts were forbidden and Japan went into a period of isolation that likewise affected contacts with China. Thus the part of traditional Chinese medicine which never became popular in Japan was the developments that took place in the Qing dynasty which were in turn precursors of TCM. This bit of history explains in part why TOM as practiced in Japan is so different from TCM as practiced in China, even though they share an enorous common history.
Figure 131: HONMA, YANAGIYA AND HASHIMOTO, (left to right,)
the three most influential teachers and transmitters to the West of Japanese Five Element based MT
Figure 132: NOBEL LAUREATE
Hans Selye visiting Yanagiya at the Tokyo School for the Blind in 1957.
Prior to the Edo period, the major schools of medical practice in Japan(289) followed those in China, especially the four “Great Schools” of the Jin and Yuan dynasties. These included the Rishu Igaku (based on the teachings of Li Dong-yuan and Zhu Zhen-heng), and the Ryucho Igaku (based on the teachings of Liu Wan-su and Zhang Cong-zheng), together comprising the Gosei or school of latter-day thought. The Chinese teachings on which these schools based themselves were or
iginally brought to Japan by Tashiro Sanki(290) (Fig.133) (1465-1537) who had studied for twelve years in China, and whose methods were popularized by his student Manase Dosan (Fig.134) (1507-1594) who in turn became famous after successfully treating the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru for a serious illness.(291)
Opposed to the teachings of the Gosei school there arose a number of divergent traditions each of which developed a uniquely Japanese approach. One commonly contrasts the Gosei with the Koiho or school of ancient thought which rejected all the innovations in Chinese medicine after the Shang Han Lun, (Treatise on Cold-Induced Disorders) which it adopted as its model scripture. Its basic thrust was to return the practice of medicine to empirical observations made on real patients, and to disregard most theoretical constructs. The founder of this movement was Nagoya Gen-i (1638-1696) who originally tried to combine the strategies of each of the Four Great Chinese Schools into a common pool from which one would draw the best remedy as dictated by the empirical presentation of the patient.(292) The Koiho approach was popularized by Goto Gonzan (Fig.135) (1659-1733) who reduced all theories of pathology to a single phenomenon–the stagnation of “Original Energy” (Yuan Qi), which was differentially treated depending on where it manifested on examination. He used moxibustion extensively to activate the movement of Yuan Qi.(293) Further developing the idea of the basic identity of all forms of pathology, Yoshimasu Todo (Fig.136) (1702-1773) taught that all disease stems from one type of “poisoning” and that treatment which eliminates this poison always causes an initial worsening of the symptoms before recovery ensues.(294) This idea, which is similar to both the Hippocratic theory of “crisis” and the homeopathic “law of cure” is interestingly found in LA but not in most other contemporary approaches to acupuncture. Todo’s son Yoshimasu Nangai (Fig.137) (1750-1813) is best remembered as the originator of the pathological theory of Qi, Blood and Fluids which he claimed could explain how one type of poison (ichidoku) could produce such variable manifestations, (295) and this theory is still widely employed by Japanese practitioners. One consequence of the Koiho approach, which as I’ve said took the Shang Han Lun as its model, was to emphasize herbal medicine as the method for treating the root of the illness, and to relegate acupuncture to a more symptomatic adjunctive role. Thus, although in spirit the Koiho approach might seem fruitful as a source for the development of LA, in fact it rejected the whole Five Element paradigm on which LA is built.
Figure 133: TASHIRO SANK!
(1465-1537), who transmitted Jin-Yuan dynasty Chinese medical practices to Japan, initiating the Gosei or latter-day school.
Figure 134: MANASE DOSAN
(1507-1594), who became the most famous practitioner of the Gosei school after successfully treating the Shogun.
Figure 135: GOTO GONZAN
(1659-1733), popularizer of the Koiho or school of ancient thought, opposed to the Gosei school. Goto also broke with the tradition whereby doctors had been shaving their heads in the manner of Buddhist priests.
Figure 136: YOSHIMASU TODO
(1702-1773) proposed that all diseses share the same pathological mechanism, a poisoning of sorts (ichidoku), and that successful treatment provokes a “healing crisis” during which the poison is eliminated.
There were however other derivatives of the Gosei school which did not subscribe to the Koiho teachings.(296) The earliest one was developed by Nagata Takuhon (Fig.138) (1513-1630) who taught that all treatment should be based on supporting the patient’s “natural force,” which he thought could only be done by working on the patient’s feelings (or soul or mind). Nagata lived to be 118 years old, and successfully treated Shogun Hidetada, but still his tradition did not survive. (297) Another tradition which also died out was the Mubun school of Misono Isai (c. 1685) which disregarded all other aspects of Oriental medicine, focussing all attention on the diagnosis and treatment of the abdomen or Hara. The Mubun method involved tapping gold and silver needles into the abdomen with a small mallet, and although its specific methodology didn’t survive, it was responsible for the emphasis of Japanese medicine on the Hara and abdominal diagnosis, which was adopted by all the other schools—Gosei, Koiho, and that developed by his contemporary, Sugiyama Waichi (Fig.139) (1610-1695) whom many consider to have been Japan’s greatest acupuncturist of all time.
Figure 137: YOSHIMASU NANGAI
(1750-1813) developed the theory of differentiating illnesses into pathological patterns of Qi, Blood or Fluids, an approach still in vogue among some Japanese practitioners.
Figure 138: NAGATA TAKUHON
(1513-1630), a vigorous proponent of the psychological, mental and spiritual approach to medical treatment, lived to 118 years of age.
In Japan, most public (as opposed to court) acupuncturists have traditionally been blind practitioners.(298) Sugiyama, who was trained by the Emperor’s physician Irie Yoshiaki, originated this tradition, which focussed on local as opposed to systemic diagnosis and treatment—palpating the body for abnormalities in texture, temperature, sensitivity, etc. He had a very inauspicious start, having been thrown out by his teacher for causing too much pain with his needling.(299) One day while walking, he tripped, and when he fell his hand grasped a straw and a pine needle by accident. He was suddenly inspired to try inserting needles through a guide tube, which method he developed to become the standard Japanese needle technique, since it lends itself to painless or almost painless insertions (Fig.140). He became a very influential acu-puncturist and was appointed Grand Master by the Shogun.(300) Doctor Irie taught him that true healing was a gift of one’s Spirit, and that one should not practice without this quality.(301) The blind acupuncturists who inherited Sugiyama’s tradition are noted for having a “sixth sense” which is probably an expression of their spiritual development. Sugiyama introduced not only the guide tube, but also a number of extremely delicate yet sophisticated needling techniques, basing his methods on the classical teachings to be found in the Nei Jing and Nan Jing. He established 54 acupuncture schools for the blind in Tokyo which have been the training centers for the majority of Japan’s acupuncturists during the last 300 years (52% of current Japanese acupuncture practitioners are blind).(302)
In the Footsteps of the Yellow Emperor Page 14