Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Woodcut illustration from an edition of 1848 (28th year of Daoguang reign period of Qing dynasty. So the tradition goes: At the wu wu time on a wu wu day of a wu wu month in a wu wu year = in that year the iron was held in the red horse's mouth, and the twelve needles were first created. The first of these needles was called the Blue/Green Dragon needle (qinglong zhen). It was 1 chi (Chinese foot) 2 cun (Chinese inch) in length, and was suited to all twelve months of the year. The second needle was called the White Tiger needle (baihu zhen). The third needle was called sangmen zhen (Corpse Portal/lychgate needle). These three needles were used by the spirits (shenxian): they had the power to make mountains burst open and the earth split asunder, to turn back the tides and bring about rebirth. Therefore these three needles were prohibited by Zhou Wen Wang, first ruler of the Western Zhou dynasty. Henceforward nine needles have remained in the world for mortal use. Woodcut Library of Zhongguo zhongyi yanjiu yuan (China Academy for Traditional Chinese Medicine) Qiong Yao Shen Shu (Qiong Yao's Magical Book) Qiong Yao Zhenren (The Immortal Qiong Yao) -- Ming period (1368-1644) Published: 1848