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 L0034712 and L0034713). 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 filiform needle, the long needle and the big needle.

The filiform needle was 3.6 cun, according to the Jiu zhen shi'er yuan section of the Divine Pivot, or 1.6 cun according to the Jiu zhen lun section. The body of the needle was said to be as fine as a hair or as the proboscis of an insect. This was the needle that was most frequently employed in clinical practice. It was used to regulate and free the flow in the channels and collaterals, and to treat cold and heat related arthalgia.

The long needle was 7 cun in length. Sharp, slender and elongated, it was used for deep puncturing, to treat wind-damp blockage disease.

The big needle was 4 cun in length with a large, cylindrical body and a somewhat rounded tip. It was used for drawing blood and treating accumulation of liquid in the joints, etc. 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