Acupuncture

Acupuncture is believed to have originated around 100 BC in China, around the time The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine by Huangdi Neijing was published, though some experts suggest it could have been practised earlier. Acupuncture grew and diminished in popularity in China repeatedly, depending on the country's political leadership and the favour of rationalism or Western medicine. Acupuncture spread first to Korea in the 6th century AD, then to Japan through medical missionaries, and then to Europe, starting with France. In the 20th century, as it spread to the United States and Western countries, the spiritual elements of acupuncture that conflict with Western beliefs were abandoned in favour of tapping needles into nerves.