Table 1.
Timeline of influential acupuncture publications in English.
| Published year | Category | Textbook / Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | * C | The Treatment of Disease by Acupuncture, 3rd edition, by Felix Mann |
| Introduction to acupuncture, dismissive of traditional acupuncture, but some clinical content, especially for medical doctors seeking a simplified approach | ||
| 1975 | * C | An Outline of Chinese Acupuncture by Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine |
| Introductory book on acupuncture for Doctors in China, translated to English – minimal clinical content | ||
| 1978 | * C | Acupuncture The ancient art of healing, 3rd edition, by Felix Mann |
| Introductory book on acupuncture – minimal clinical content | ||
| 1978 | * C | Current Acupuncture Therapy by Jane Lee and CS. Cheung |
| Introductory book on acupuncture – minimal clinical content | ||
| 1978 | * C | Principle and Practice of Scientific Acupuncture by Anton Jayasuriya and Felix Fernando |
| Introductory book on acupuncture – somewhat more clinical content | ||
| 1980 | * C | Essentials of Chinese Acupuncture by Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing Colleges of TCM |
| More detailed book on acupuncture for doctors in China, translated to English – slightly more clinical content that the Outline of Acupuncture | ||
| 1983 | * C | Acupuncture: a Comprehensive Text by Shanghai College of TCM (translated by John O‘Connor & Dan Bensky) |
| First book on TCM in English – more clinical detail with some treatments | ||
| 1983 | * C | The Web that has no Weaver by Ted Kaptchuk |
| Popular book detailing TCM, but not a clinical text – theory with diagnosis but no treatment details | ||
| 1985 | ⁎⁎ C | Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine by Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai Colleges of TCM (translated by Nigel Wiseman & Andy Ellis) |
| First detailed clinical text on Chinese medicine, including some text on acupuncture | ||
| First translation to apply a glossary based translation methodology | ||
| Level of clinical detail and more detailed language difficult for many Western practitioners to absorb and use | ||
| 1986 | ⁎⁎ C | Foundations of Chinese Medicine by Giovanni Maciocia |
| More details of clinical content, but almost no use of a glossary and often very simplistic approach to descriptions allowing more readers to use the content – but at expense of clinical details | ||
| 1987 | ⁎⁎ C | Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion by Xinnong Cheng |
| English translation from Chinese text with more details of clinical practice and techniques than the previous Outline and Essentials texts | ||
| 1988 | * J | Hara Diagnosis by Kiiko Matsumoto, Stephen Birch |
| Introduces Japanese acupuncture but minimal clinical content | ||
| 1988 | ⁎⁎ C | Fundamentals of Chinese Acupuncture by Andrew Ellis et al. |
| Glossary based translation and compilation with more details of clinical practice and techniques | ||
| 1989 | ⁎⁎ M | Acupuncture, Trigger Points and Musculoskeletal Pain by Peter Baldry |
| First detailed textbook for medical practitioners describing trigger point based system of acupuncture | ||
| 1990 | ⁎⁎ J | Introduction to Meridian Therapy by Denmei Shudo |
| First detailed clinical textbook of Japanese acupuncture detailing very shallow and light needling methods | ||
| 1994 | ⁎⁎ C | The Practice of Chinese Medicine by Giovanni Maciocia |
| More detailed clinical textbook of TCM practice | ||
| 1995 | ⁎⁎ M | Acupuncture Energetics: a Clinical Approach for Physicians by Joseph Helms |
| Detailed textbook on medical acupuncture clinical methods | ||
| 1995 | ⁎⁎ J | Chasing the Dragon's Tail by Yoshio Manaka et al. |
| Detailed clinical text describing Japanese acupuncture methods especially with shallow, light needling | ||
| 1998 | ⁎⁎ J | Japanese Acupuncture: a Clinical Guide by Stephen Birch, Junko Ida |
| Text detailing Japanese acupuncture treatment methods including non-inserted and shallow insertion acupuncture | ||
| 1998 | ⁎⁎ M | Medical Acupuncture a Western Scientific Approach by Jacqueline Filshie and Adrian White |
| Detailed textbook on medical acupuncture clinical methods | ||
| 1999 | ** C, J, M | Understanding Acupuncture by Stephen Birch & Robert Felt |
| First history clearly describing the variety of acupuncture methods of different countries. No clinical details |
⁎
, textbook introductory and basic with less clinical details;
⁎⁎
, textbook has more clinical details; C, Chinese based needling; J, Japanese based shallow needling; M, medical acupuncture (including shallow needling).
This is a summary of influential publications in English that the authors (TA and SB) came across or contributed to during and after their initial studies in United Kingdom and in the United States, between 1979 and 1982, where there were almost no publications available in English that could be used as textbooks.