THEORETICAL ANALYSIS ON THE DEPTH OF NEEDLE-INSERTION

In the present paper, the author sums up and analyzes descriptions about needle-insertion depth in Chinese classical medical book Huang Di Nei Jing (The Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic). In many chapters of Nei Jing, the needle-insertion depth is stressed to be various according to 1) the deficiency or excess of syndromes, 2) the patients' constitution, 3) the severity of disease, 4) the duration of disease, 5) the location of disease, 6) the patient's age, 7) the location of the needled acupoint, 8) the season, 9) the patient's temperament, 10) the pulse condition, 11) the state of "Deqi", and 12) the location of the running course of meridians. In addition, different kinds of diseases and different stages of diseases also need different depths of needle insertion, different manipulating skills and different stimulating quantity.