? History of massage

A large number of silk books and bamboo slips unearthed in Mawangdui, Changsha recorded a lot of massage, guidance and breathing. These unearthed medical books reflect that massage therapy was widely used in clinical treatment during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period or earlier.

Massage therapy originated in central China. The earliest existing medical classic Huangdi Neijing said: "The ground is flat and wet in the middle, and everything in the world is born because people eat miscellaneous food without fatigue, so their diseases are flaccidity, cold and heat, and their treatment should be guided and suppressed, so those who guide and suppress also come out from the middle." The center here is the central area of China, which belongs to Luoyang.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was a successful case in which Bian Que rescued patients with rigor mortis and syncope. According to the Shu case, "When crossing the border of Guo, I saw the body of Prince Guo, and asked my disciples to cook soup, feel the pulse and swim and massage. Several methods were combined to successfully cure Prince Guo's illness.

During the Qin and Han dynasties, guidance, breathing and rubbing were included in health care and prevention methods. Based on years of practical experience, Zhang Zhongjing, a medical sage in Han Dynasty, compiled A Brief Introduction to the Golden Whip. He believes: "If people can be cautious, they will not let evil winds dry the meridians;" Mild channels and collaterals, without affecting viscera, that is, treat them. Only when the limbs feel heavy and stagnant, that is, guidance, breathing, acupuncture and ointment rubbing, will they not block the nine orifices. "

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the development of productive forces and the prosperity of culture, medical subjects began to be gradually improved. Massage has been included in the official subject of national medical education. Massage has a specialist, a specialist and a massage doctor. According to the Records of the New Tang Dynasty Official Records, "there is one massage doctor and four tutors, who teach and induce diseases of less than grade nine". In other words, at that time, the ancient Daofa was officially used as the teaching content.

During the Song and Jin Dynasties, massage was widely used. Pang Anshi, a famous doctor in the Song Dynasty, induced labor by abdominal massage: "There was a woman who was going to give birth on the seventh day of pregnancy, and all the techniques had no effect ... so that she warmed her waist and abdomen with soup and massaged herself up and down, and the pregnant woman felt a slight pain in her stomach, and a man was born suddenly." This case may be the first recorded obstetric midwifery case in the world.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Chinese medicine made remarkable progress and massage became more and more mature. Mainly manifested in the breakthrough of children's massage, bonesetting massage and health care massage have formed a rich knowledge system. At that time, many books on massage medicine were compiled and published, and the most representative Classic of Massage for Children can be regarded as the earliest existing massage book in China. More than 30 kinds of children's massage medical books, such as "Secret Recipe of Children's Massage" and "Living Baby", were published, that is, massage was replaced by the word massage during this period. The reform of this name reflects the development of massage therapy and the improvement of people's understanding of massage. It marks a great leap in the history of massage.

During the Qianlong period, the Medical Encyclopedia of the Qing Dynasty, Essentials of Bone-setting Mind Method, compiled by * * *, systematically summarized and sorted out the achievements and folk experiences of bone-setting massage since the Song Dynasty, and summarized it into eight methods: "touching, receiving, lifting, pressing, kneading, pushing and taking". It can be seen that the Ming and Qing Dynasties were the most prosperous period for the publication of massage monographs in China history. Almost all the existing massage ancient books were published in that era.