Many of you have heard of the story that acupuncture
arrived in America when Nixon
famously visited China
during his presidency. This exposure to Chinese culture most certainly helped acupuncture to grow, but it was not the true beginning of acupuncture in the United States.The historical reality is that there was a Chinese doctor who first made acupuncture available. Who that was is unclear. What is known is that Chinese medicine arrived in the U.S. through the doctors who immigrated here, some as early as the 1800's.
Many Americans would agree that TCM came to the USA in 1972 when then President Nixon's Secretary of State, Henry A. Kissinger
, traveled to China accompanied by a journalist for the New York Times. While in China, the journalist became ill and ended up in a Chinese hospital requiring an emergency appendectomy. Acupuncture was used as an anesthetic. Intrigued and impressed with the effectiveness of his experience with acupuncture
, the journalist wrote about his experience and the acupuncture treatment in the New York Times, exposing many for the first time to acupuncture.Many don't know that it was actually in 1966, when a young Chinese doctor immigrated here that the first
roots of TCM were laid in American soil.
Learn more about Chinese medicine and it's healing powers.
