by Bob Flaws

This blog is gonna be a short one, but it deals with something I feel very, very strongly about. Yesterday I happened to come across an excellent article I think every Western acupuncturist should read. It's titled "Curtains for the Windows of the Sky" and is by John McDonald, a well-know Australian acupuncturist and teacher. In this article (http://www.tcmcentral.com/TCM/Acu%20Edu/Library%20Articles/Library_Articles_Acupuncture_05.html), John traces the historical development of the concept of the Windows of the Sky. Turns out this is a completely Western idea based on mistranslation of a couple of key words from the Nei Jing. As such, the Windows of the Sky do not appear in any Chinese texts. This mistranslation was by Chamfrault and then was spread by Van Buren, Worsley, Mann, et al. What a cosmic joke! I can't believe it took 50 or more years for someone to become aware of this.

Follow up:

This just goes to show how important accurate technical translation is and even how much better it is to read the source material in its original language. In the case of the Windows of the Sky, we went from ancient Chinese to French to English. So plenty of room for error to creep in. (Think of a story repeated from one person to the next over several people.) People in the West have spun their wheels about these points for years. Some people have even made whole careers around their use.

Some people may think that I sound like a broken record, but, IMO, it's past time that we, as a profession, demand evidence for our theories and practices. That evidence may be clinical. It may also be citations to source materials. Please say "No" to blind acceptance. Be a discriminating consumer and demand evidence.

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