Korean Acupuncture (K-Acupuncture) [Part 5] The Eight Constitutional Acupuncture Meets the Classics: Inheriting and Innovating from Nanjing and Saam Acupuncture

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Modern Korean Acupuncture (K-Acupuncture) [Part 5] The Eight Constitutional Acupuncture Meets the Classics: Inheriting and Innovating from Nanjing and Saam Acupuncture

Today, we will explore the unique therapeutic method known as Eight Constitutional Acupuncture (ECA). In this article, we focus on how ECA inherits the principles of the Nanjing (Classic of Difficulties) and Saam Acupuncture, while at the same time creating its own independent theoretical framework.

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1. Inheritance from the Nanjing and Saam Acupuncture, and the Uniqueness of ECA

Eight Constitutional Medicine inherits the essential principle of the Nanjing (Difficulty 69) and Saam Acupuncture:
👉 “Excess must be reduced, and deficiency must be supplemented.”

However, Dr. Kwon Do-Won reinterpreted and refined this principle within the unique framework of the “Three-Dimensional Yin-Yang Five Elements” and the “Central Five Elements.”

• Three-Dimensional Yin-Yang Five Elements
  The Five Elements are not seen as a flat system of mutual generation and control, but as a three-dimensional, volumetric structure. From birth, each individual possesses an unequal distribution of the Five Elements. The body’s self-regulating force (homeostasis) strives to balance this inequality, and this becomes the basis of each constitution’s principle of equilibrium.

• The Role of the Central Five Elements
  When one of the Five Elements becomes the “center,” the dynamic of balance among the other elements changes. This adds a new and stronger controlling relationship on top of the traditional mutual control. This principle explains why each constitution has its own fixed hierarchy of organ strength and weakness.

• Transformation of the Nanjing’s 75th Difficulty
  The 75th Difficulty describes using the controlling (ke) relationships of the Five Elements to adjust excess or deficiency. ECA applies this principle, but determines the order and combination of acupuncture points based on each constitution’s Central Five Element.
  Example: For “Liver Excess (木實),” Saam Acupuncture and ECA differ. ECA prescribes supplementation in the order Water → Fire → Metal, showing how the Central Five Element directs both the flow of energy and the precise mechanism of treatment.

• Distinctive Principle of Supplementation and Drainage
  ECA also follows the logic:

  • To supplement (補), drain the “officer” (the controlling element) and tonify the “mother” (the generating element).

  • To drain (瀉), tonify the officer and drain the “child” (the generated element).
    Yet, this is interpreted through the Central Five Element, setting ECA apart from Saam Acupuncture.

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2. Two Types of Prescriptions in ECA

ECA prescriptions are divided into two main categories:

• Basic Prescriptions (基本方)

  • Correct innate imbalances of organ strength and weakness.

  • Address the fundamental constitutional disorder at its root.

• Auxiliary Prescriptions (腑方)

  • Supportive interventions for specific symptoms or comorbidities.

  • Subdivided into specialized categories:

    • Exocrine prescriptions (skin, mucosal, or inflammatory conditions).

    • Endocrine prescriptions (hormonal or autonomic imbalances).

    • Psychological prescriptions (stress, anxiety, depression, and nervous system regulation).

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3. Meridians and the Five Element Points: Regulating Energy Through the Body’s Network

ECA makes precise use of the Five Element Points (Jing-Well, Ying-Spring, Shu-Stream, Jing-River, and He-Sea) within each meridian.

• Diagnosis Through Pulse Reading
  By assessing the wrist pulses (cun, guan, chi), practitioners determine the strength, depth, and quality of organ energies.

  • Metal-Yang Constitution → Lung (Metal) pulse is strong, Liver (Wood) pulse is weak.

  • Water-Yin Constitution → Kidney (Water) pulse is strong, Spleen (Earth) pulse is weak.

• Prohibited Points in ECA
  Due to the logic of the Central Five Elements, certain points are deliberately excluded.

  • Taeyangin (太陽人) → draining points of the Water meridian are omitted.

  • Soeum type 1 (少陰1體質) → draining points of the Fire meridian are omitted.

This reflects the highly refined and constitution-specific regulation of the Five Element balance that distinguishes ECA from other approaches.

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Conclusion

Eight Constitutional Acupuncture inherits the wisdom of the Nanjing and Saam Acupuncture, but advances it with the innovative concepts of the Three-Dimensional Yin-Yang Five Elements and the Central Five Elements.

Through this framework, ECA provides a more precise method of correcting constitutional imbalances in the organs, standing as a distinctive acupuncture system that bridges classical theory and modern application.

👉 In the next article, we will explore the acupuncture prescriptions for one of the rarest constitutions: Taeyangin (Metal-Yang & Metal-Yin types).

📌 Previous post: [Part 4] Classical Wisdom of Acupuncture: Classic of Difficult Issues, Problems 69 & 75, and Sa-am Acupuncture
👉 Next post: [Part 6] Acupuncture Prescriptions for Taeyangin: Metal-Yang & Metal-Yin Types

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