Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Detail of 17th century Chinese woodblock illustration showing the 'Nine Needles' (jiu zhen) (see also L0034713 and L0034714). The Nine Needles was the collective term for the needling instruments used in antiquity, i.e. chan zhen (arrow-headed needle), yuan zhen (round needle), chi zhen (spoon needle), feng zhen (lance needle), pi zhen (stiletto needle), yuanli zhen (round sharp needle), hao zhen (filiform needle), chang zhen (long needle) and da zhen (big needle). Precise descriptions of the Nine Needles (but no visual representation) can be found in Huangdi neijing (Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor), a classical medical text compiled in first or second century CE (in the Jiu zhen shi'er yuan and Jiu zhen lun sections of Lingshu, the Divine Pivot).

This detail shows, from right to left, the arrow-headed needle, the round needle and the spoon needle.

The arrow-headed needle was 1.6 cun [Chinese inches] long. It had a large head and sharp tip, and was used for dispersing blood and treating illnesses involving heat in the head and body.

The round needle was also 1.6 cun long. It had a cylindrical body and rounded end, and was used to massage the acupoints and to treat muscle and joint pain.

The spoon needle was 3.5 cun long. It had a thick body, which was rounded but slightly pointed at the end, like a grain of millet. It was used to exert pressure on the tracts, to direct the flow of Qi and blood. Woodcut and text

Library of Zhongguo zhongyi yanjiu yuan (China Academy for Traditional Chinese Medicine)

Lei jing tu yi (Illustrated Supplement to the Classified Canon) Zhang Jiebin Published: 1621-1627