There are standard acupuncture charts that can be purchased on the market that help a person identify names as well as locations of meridians and acupoints on the front and back of the human body. The acupuncture chart will present a thorough and accurate location of the points of the 14 meridians as well as some of the extra points. Most acupuncture charts would show names as well as locations of meridians and acupoints on the front, back as well as lateral sides of the human body and in addition, will also have the international standard nomenclature as well as alphanumeric codes.

Sometimes the acupuncture charts come in sets and these may be further divided into smaller sets that show the acupoints on the whole body surface, the back and neck, front, back and lateral sides of the human body, the trunk of the body as well as other parts of the anatomy contained in different layers. Also included are charts that show the upper limbs. The acupuncture chart may be prepared in the combined form of the whole anatomy as well as regional anatomy.

The Chinese acupuncture chart is the most famous of all tools used in Chinese medicine and even though these charts have been known from many years ago they became more prevalent during the Ming dynasty when the Chinese printed vernacular literature in greater numbers. These acupuncture charts appeared in manuals dealing with Chinese medicine and the purpose was to both teach and remember the acupoint locations. The reason behind making an acupuncture chart was not for acupuncture itself but for Chinese medicine in general and included massage, moxibution, reflexology and a number of other topics.

Charts Aid in Understanding the text through Illustrations

The acupuncture charts do not really tell how to needle the body and instead are diagrams that show the path of channels or meridian conduits as well as the location of acupuncture points. Since there are a great deal of acupuncture points, the acupuncture charts display only certain segments of the channels and acupuncture points, and this depends on the particular body part, body function or disorder that needs to be treated and which is being discussed in the text of the chart.

This means that there would be separate acupuncture charts for the ear, stomach, head, foot, and the back and some charts may also describe healing methods of hot and cold diseases as well as other ailments. The bottom line with the acupuncture charts is that it is there to act as a visual enhancement to the text and is not intended to act alone but only to illustrate or aid in understanding the main text.