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 A Different Point of View

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Eighty-four-year-old Zhu Zongxiang has the vigor and vitality of man half his age !n a few old and

sha""y rooms situated near a group of an#ient "uildings in $ei%ing& the old do#tor has stu""ornly

persisted in learning more a"out the meridians of a#upun#ture for more than '( years )e often said

he was a traitor to *estern medi#ine

Sin#e the +,(s& he had "een tea#hing physiology& a "asi# medi#al su"%e#t& in Pe.ing /nion Medi#al

0ollege )ospital )owever& a de#ision in +,1' #hanged his life

2hat year& he was inspired "y Premier Zhou Enlai3s appeal to 0hinese medi#al experts to ma.e #lear 

the theory of a#upun#ture Zhou3s #all for a#tion followed /S President Ri#hard 4ixon3s visit to 0hina

in +,15

Zhu Zongxiang 6right7 tal.s with a pra#tioner of '+5 meridian exer#ises

Zhu %oined the a#upun#ture meridian resear#h group of the !nstitute of $iophysi#s under 0hinese

 A#ademy of S#ien#es

Meridian points were dis#overed in 0hina 5&(( years ago !n Huang Di Nei Jing  6The Medical

Classic of the Yellow Emperor 7& one of the most important an#ient medi#al #lassi#s& the meridians

were re#orded to have the fun#tion of 8promoting #ir#ulation of 9ue:i 6$lood and ;i7 and "alan#ing

yin and yang8 and 8determining life and death and treating hundred diseases8

2he meridians were dis#overed to "e a general #ontrolling system for the human "ody and had the

fun#tion of preventing diseases and promoting health and longevity 2oday& 20M do#tors still insert

a#upun#ture needles into the a#upoints along the meridians to treat diseases

)owever& the existen#e of the meridians has always "een :uestioned "y *estern medi#ine

2o %ustify the theory& do#tor Zhu and his #olleagues had spent more than +( years to experiment with

modern methods to demonstrate its "iophysi#al existen#e

!n the +,

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"iophysi#al methods& whi#h are surprisingly identi#al to that re#orded in an#ient #lassi#al meridian

graph

>or visitors suspi#ious towards his resear#h& do#tor Zhu would proudly demonstrate his two proof

tests to them

)e used a mallet to tap different areas on the el"ow until the patient heard a loud sound measuredthrough a devi#e similar to the stethos#ope Zhu then mar.ed a red spot at that point

 A line of the red spots determined "y the same method is a#tually showing the position of a

meridian& a##ording to Zhu

)e would then pla#e two ele#trodes of a #urrent meter on the line and stimulation of the #urrent

#ould "e felt *hen one ele#trode was pla#ed off the line& one would feel nothing !t showed that the

meridian line had the lowest ele#tri# impedan#e& a##ording to Zhu

2he red meridian lines pi#tured a"ove #onne#t to the ma%or organs of the "ody A#upun#ture and

massage on strategi# points along the meridian ?ones #an improve health

Even after Zhu pu"lished his "rea.through findings& the s#ientifi# world still did not #hange their

s.epti#al attitude And the de"ate on meridians is ongoing and interpretations of the phenomenon

vary among s#ientists

!n an#ient times& meridians was a philosophi#al #on#ept invented "y an#ient 0hinese do#tors to

summari?e the general fun#tions of the human "ody& a##ording to *u @en#heng& dire#tor of !nstitute

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of A#upun#ture Resear#h& Shanghai Medi#al 0ollege of >udan /niversity 2he institute had "een

resear#hing a#upun#ture for de#ades

8*e "elieve that the meridians3 fun#tions are #losely related with the nerves& "ut it is impossi"le in

modern s#ien#e to find the material e:uivalent to the meridians des#ri"ed in the an#ient time !t is

hard to imagine a new passage way in the human "ody&8 said *u

!n a further "low to Zhu3s efforts& the !nstitute stopped funding their resear#h

Zhu did not give up and esta"lished $ei%ing anhuang Meridian 0enter to design the meridian "ased

exer#ise to promote people3s health and longevity Zhu #alls it the 8'-+-58 method

 A##ording to Zhu& ' refers to massaging three a#upoints of hegu on the hand neiguan on the wrist

and ?usanli on the .nee

+ refers to a"dominal "reathing& a#tually a form of simplified :igong 6"reathing exer#ise7& through

whi#h Zhu "elieved #ould exer#ise the meridians in the a"domen area "eing #losely related with

#hroni# diseases

5 refers to the physi#al exer#ise of "oth legs Zhu "elieved the most simple and effe#tive exer#ise is

s:uatting down and standing up

Bf the '+5 meridian exer#ises& the num"er of ' refers to massaging three a#upoints of hegu on the

hand 6left7 neiguan on the wrist 6#enter7 and zusanli on the .nee 6right7

8Physi#al exer#ise will involve the ex#itation of all the meridians spreading in the whole "ody&8 he

explained

!n fa#t& in Zhu3s views& the health "enefits of all .inds of physi#al exer#ise are a#tually #oming from

the enhan#ement of the meridians in the pro#ess

Daily exer#ises for 5 minutes will .eep people young and vigorous& prevent and treat many senile

and diffi#ult diseases and relieve some #ommon diseases& Zhu #laims

During the past +1 years& Zhu had formally trained more than +(&((( people& mostly elderly people

82hough the populari?ation of the exer#ise is slow& ! o"tain valua"le proof information from them thatthe exer#ise is effe#tive for health promotion&8 he said

Zhang awen& 1=& was a typi#al "enefi#iary of '+5 exer#ises She was a #ollege professor and had

long "een infli#ted "y hypertension and arthritis& whi#h often made her sleepless at night

She #laimed her health improved a lot after she followed '+5 exer#ises for a few months 4ow she

has the #onfiden#e to live to +((

Zhu #ondu#ted a study among more than

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dia"etes and arthritis Most have seen ma%or improvements after four wee.s3 pra#ti#e

2hough Zhu had a strong wish to spread his exer#ise to a larger population& he still depends on

opening wor.shops and distri"uting study materials to spread the word

6China Daily  May +C& 5((17

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