St Margaret College Secondary School Verdala students learn about Chinese acupuncture
On Friday, 18 November St Margaret College Senior Secondary Science and Biology students had the opportunity to learn about Chinese Acupuncture at school.
Science Department teacher Martin Azzopardi sdc in collaboration with the Biology Department teacher Amy Theuma invited a medical team from the Chinese Mediterranean Regional Centre for Traditional Chinese Medicine in Kordin to hold a lecture about Chinese Acupuncture giving students the opportunity to come in touch with Chinese Medicine.
The lecture was given by Director Dr Xu Jinhua and Dr Hua on the China Corner of the Science department erected at St Margaret College in 2010 by Mr Martin Azzopardi sdc in collaboration with the Malta China Cultural Centre.
Acupuncture, or needle puncture, is a term invented by the Dutch physician Willem Ten Rhyne, who visited Nagasaki in Japan in the early part of the seventeenth century. The Chinese use the character ‘Chen’ to describe acupuncture which literally means ‘to prick with a needle’.
Traditional acupuncture is a healthcare system based on ancient principles. It has a very positive model of good health and function, and looks at pain and illness as signs that the body is out of balance. Acupuncture treatment, aims to restore the body’s equilibrium where the physical, emotional and mental aspects of the body are seen as interdependent.
Acupuncture has been practiced in China for 4,000 years and Chinese believe that the practice of acupuncture began during the Stone Age when stone knives with sharp edges were probably used to treat diseases. However, the first records about acupuncture dates back to 1500 BC during the Shang dynasty. The so called ‘Nei Ching Su Wen’ is the first known acupuncture book in China dating back to 1000 BC. The book ‘Nei Ching Su Wen’ is attributed to Huang Ti, the Yellow Emperor who is considered to be the founder of the Chinese civilization and the founder of the art of healing.
Following this lecture about Chinese Acupuncture students were invited to give their reflections and feedback about Chinese medicine. Here are some of the student’s reflections:
“I learnt that through Chinese acupuncture one can relieve his body pain without side effects.” by student Rowan Craus;
“It was a very interesting lecture for me as a Biology student where I’ve learnt about the interconnection between the meridian channels and body points in our body.” by student Chelsea Pullicino;
“I realized how different is Chinese medicine from our Western medicine.” by student Raquel Gili;
“I found the Chinese human body clock very interesting and practical. It was good to know that the best time to study is between 9:00am till 11:00am.” by student Grazia Magro;
“I really got interested in Chinese medicine especially when it comes to pain relief through acupuncture.” by student Emberton Agius;
“Very good to know that Chinese medicine can treat different pains through different methods without too much side-effects.” by student Kim Magri;
“I think Western medicine should open more to Chinese medicine which has been used for so long in life history of medicine.” by student Iven Azzopardi;
“Opting for Chinese medicine might take you longer to heal but the good thing is that Chinese treatment leaves you no side-effects.” by student Leon Buttigieg;
“I found this lecture about Chinese acupuncture very interesting as I never heard about such treatment.” by student Kieran Cioffi;