In general, acupuncture and moxibustion are forms of alternative traditional Chinese medicine practiced that is widely practiced in China but can also be found in regions of south-east Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
China's popularity of acupuncture fluctuated due to the changes in the country's political leadership and a preference for rationalism or Western medicine. After reaching Korea in the 6th century AD, acupuncture spread to Japan by medical missionaries, and then to Europe by way of France. Following the spread to the United States and western countries in the 20th century, the spiritual elements of the practice were often abandoned so that needles could be tapped into acupuncture points to provide treatment.
Acupuncture is commonly practiced in conjunction with moxibustion. In acupuncture and moxibustion, practitioners believe that the body is connected to an infinite universe by channels, which can be stimulated to promote the body's self-regulating functions and bring health to the patient. This is done by burning moxa (it is made from the herb, named mugwort or artemisia) or inserting needles into the channels on the body with the aim of restoring the body's balance and treating disease.
There is the modern standardized form of acupuncture, which is based on eight principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine and an older system based on the ancient Taoist Wuxing, known as the five elements in the West. The needles in acupuncture are selected based on the individual condition and punctured and stimulated at selected points. In general, there are two kinds of moxibustion: direct and indirect, both of which involve holding moxa cones near a point or moxa sticks at a distance from a point on the body to warm the selected area.
Both acupuncture and moxibustion are taught orally through a master-disciple relationship or transmitted through clan members. Furthermore, the academic education process also facilitates the transmission of acupuncture and moxibustion at present. Nevertheless, the history of Chinese medicine shows an interesting irony in that the specialty of acupuncture, at the beginning of the twentieth century, was the most questionable part of Chinese medicine, but today is the most marketed aspect of Chinese medicine. She notes that today we only know acupuncture as we know it, and the needle that we use as an acupuncture needle is not what was commonly used a century ago. Acupuncture, as we know it today, was developed in the 1930s and became widespread in the 1960s.
References
(https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/acupuncture-and-moxibustion-of-traditional-chinese-medicine-00425) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine#Acupuncture_and_moxibustion) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acupuncture) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moxibustion)