What is Classical Chinese Medicine?

And what isn’t (written with Boo Kartawick)

The roots of the medicine we practice as acupuncturists are deep, especially if you choose to adhere to the classical texts from which it originates. Most mainstream acupuncture that is practised these days is referred to as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which is misleading in its use of the work ‘Traditional’, given that it is relatively very recent. It differs from Classical acupuncture in several significant ways, but it essentially is a standardised, modernise

d, and simplified version of the original form of this highly nuanced practice.

The historical events that brought about this version of acupuncture started in the mid-20th century, following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong, when Chinese medicine (and society in general) underwent significant reform. After decades of war, the country faced widespread poverty, a severe shortage of Western-trained doctors, and the immense challenge of providing healthcare to a vast, largely rural population. In response, the government sought to create a medical system that could be taught quickly, practised consistently, and delivered at scale. Up to this point, Classical Chinese medicine had been taught and transmitted privately through families and apprenticeships rather than formal institutions, making it difficult to preserve within a standardised state system.

During this period of the Cultural Revolution and the political reform which Mao sought to bring about, Chinese medicine was standardised, simplified and systematised. Lineage-based classical approaches, which hitherto had relied on long apprenticeships, close study of the medical texts, and highly individualised constitutional diagnosis, were largely set aside in favour of a more uniform curriculum. Many of the practicing classical physicians were marginalised or murdered during this time, as part of the widespread suppression of all intellectuals which saw the eradication of countless books, teachers, and experts in their so-called “bourgeois” fields. This reform led to the creation of what is now known as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) - a consolidated system designed for accessibility, efficiency and mass education.

It is this style of practice that is now mainstream, and sadly there are very few teachers left who were classically trained and are willing, or able, to pass on that breadth of skill and knowledge. However, at Miller’s Way Project, our clinical work is rooted in the classical approach, and our founding practitioners have all trained extensively with teachers (principally Andrew and JulieAnn Nugent-Head, Dr Arnaud Versluys and Dr David White) lucky and dedicated enough to learn the medicine in this authentic apprenticeship style . This is incredibly rare in the world of modern acupuncture, which is largely practiced in a highly standardised, protocol-based manner, that neglects entirely the genuinely bespoke nature of the medicine and its focus on deep study and understanding of the extant classical texts or ‘jing’. Many practitioners will call themselves ‘classical’ but will have undertaken limited, if any, true study of these books containing the original descriptions of theory and techniques.

Thanks to our teachers, and our own individual explorations of various internal and external Daoist arts, the acupuncture we carry out for patients forms part of a broader, whole-body enquiry - one that considers form, motion, breath, lifestyle and long-term patterns alongside symptoms. This is why acupuncture at Miller’s Way sits in conversation with movement education, posture work and other hands-on therapies: because the body does not experience health in compartments, and we believe that symptoms should not be treated in isolation of the context and landscape in which they are occurring.