Acupuncture and Tuina Department

The Department of Acupuncture and Tuina of Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, was established in 2023. The department adheres to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnostic and therapeutic approaches as its foundation, while also applying modern TCM diagnostic and therapeutic equipment such as the TCM Four-Diagnostic Instrument and the three-dimensional dynamic spinal posture assessment system. It is a distinctive integrated Chinese and Western medicine specialty department integrating medical care, teaching, and scientific research.

The department has established the Huang Yuanyu Medical School Heritage Studio (also the Sun Qiaxi Famous TCM Physician Workstation). Professor Sun Qiaxi serves as an adjunct professor; he is the sixth-generation direct inheritor of Huang Yuanyu, the imperial physician of the Qing dynasty, a first-batch famous TCM physician of Shaanxi Province, and an expert receiving a special allowance from the State Council. He is a leading figure in the Huang Yuanyu medical school. The workstation led and completed the proofreading and collation of the Huang Yuanyu medical school series Huang Yuanyu’s Thirteen Medical Books (2 million Chinese characters), which was published successively by the People’s Medical Publishing House in 2024. It is currently the most comprehensive and authoritative collated edition of Huang Yuanyu medical school materials at home and abroad. Among them, Treatise on Formulas for Women and Treatise on Formulas for Children was published for the first time, filling a gap in Huang Yuanyu’s academic content in gynecology and pediatrics. With the workstation as its TCM platform, the department was selected as a demonstration institution for the construction of a monitoring and evaluation site for TCM medical service quality supported by full-process diagnostic and treatment data by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The department has the Qihuang Scholar Fang Yigong Expert Studio for Acupuncture and Moxibustion to Regulate Menstruation and Promote Fertility. Professor Fang Yigong serves as an adjunct professor and is a Qihuang Scholar (clinical type) under the National TCM Leading Talent Program, a chief researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, and chair of the Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine Special Committee of the China Association of Acupuncture and Moxibustion. The studio’s TCM acupuncture and moxibustion fertility-assistance clinic specializes in the “Fang’s Thirteen-Needle” acupuncture method for regulating menstruation and promoting fertility.

The department currently has 8 clinical physicians, 1 therapist, 2 adjunct professors, 1 physician with an associate senior professional title, and 6 PhD holders. It currently operates specialty clinics: the TCM Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Tuina Clinic and the TCM Acupuncture and Moxibustion Fertility-Assistance Clinic.

Technical Advantages

Acupuncture and moxibustion: 1. The “Fang’s Thirteen-Needle” method for regulating menstruation and promoting fertility; acupuncture and moxibustion for fertility assistance, with a TCM acupuncture and moxibustion fertility-assistance clinic. 2. Electroacupuncture for neck, shoulder, low-back, and leg pain. 3. Warm-needle therapy for spleen and stomach disorders. 4. The traditional qi-regulating acupuncture technique, “Hua Tuo acupuncture,” for orthopedic and internal medicine diseases. 5. Electroacupuncture pudendal nerve stimulation for pelvic floor dysfunctions such as urinary incontinence and urinary retention. 6. “Fang’s Scalp Acupuncture” for neurological diseases. 7. Floating-needle therapy for neck, shoulder, low-back, and leg pain. 8. Fire acupuncture: mainly used for conditions such as sequelae of herpes zoster. 9. TCM cosmetic acupuncture and moxibustion for melasma, simple obesity, and other conditions. 10. Acupotomy for joint pain in the neck, shoulders, lower back, legs, and other areas.

TCM internal treatment: Application of Huang Yuanyu’s modified “Xia Qi Decoction,” developed and transmitted through six generations, to treat miscellaneous disorders in internal medicine, gynecology, and other specialties.

TCM external treatment: 1. Umbilical moxibustion for miscellaneous disorders in internal medicine, gynecology, and other specialties. 2. Du-moxibustion and dragon moxibustion for orthopedic diseases. 3. Acupoint application therapy and winter-disease treated in summer Sanfu plaster therapy.

Tuina: 1. Spinal neuromedicine—American-style chiropractic manipulation combined with traditional Tuina bone-setting techniques, integrating myofascial and overall force-line concepts, for common Tuina-department diseases such as neck, shoulder, low-back, and leg pain. 2. Traditional Tuina combined with myofascial and Anatomy Trains techniques.

Other therapies: Cupping, moving cupping, flash cupping, bloodletting cupping, and Yi-cupping are used to treat colds, cough, lumbar disc herniation, cervical spondylosis, periarthritis of the shoulder, and other diseases. Traction and Chinese herbal fumigation-washing therapy are also provided.

Academic Status

Huang Yuanyu Medical School Heritage Studio (also the Sun Qiaxi Famous TCM Physician Workstation)

Qihuang Scholar Fang Yigong Expert Studio for Acupuncture and Moxibustion to Regulate Menstruation and Promote Fertility

Clinical internship and observation teaching base for undergraduate students of the School of Acupuncture and Tuina, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University

Member institution of the Zhejiang Province Facial Paralysis Acupuncture and Moxibustion Diagnosis and Treatment Specialty Alliance

Receives visits and exchanges from multiple foreign institutions, including the St. Petersburg branches of several university medical schools and several medical universities—L.G. Sokolov Federal Medical and Biological Agency Scientific Clinical Center of Russia’s “Northwestern District.”

Receives trainees for further study from multiple institutions, including the Naval Sanatorium and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine.

Scientific Research Achievements

The department has led 2 projects of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, served as a primary participant in 1 joint project of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Health Commission, and served as a primary participant in 1 province-ministry jointly established project of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It was the chief editor of Huang Yuanyu’s Thirteen Medical Books (Jingui Xuanjie, Suwen Xuanjie, Lingshu Xuanjie, Nanjing Xuanjie, Shanghan Xuanjie, Shanghan Shuoyi, Sisheng Xinyuan, Suling Weiyun, Sisheng Xuan Shu, Changsha Ya Jie, Yuqiu Ya Jie, Treatise on Formulas for Women, Treatise on Formulas for Children), published by the People’s Medical Publishing House, totaling 2 million Chinese characters. It was a contributing editor of 3 medical works published by the China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine, including Ma Ruiting’s Continuation of Clinical Case Collection and Famous TCM Physicians of Xi’an Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has published 4 SCI papers as first author or corresponding author.