From Hal Gold
The cartoon by Kate Charlesworth in Feedback
(27 November) of a primitive
acupuncturist banging a rock on his patient’s head wasn’t far off the mark.
The original acupuncture needles used in China, which one source here in
Japan dates to the 3rd century BC, were indeed made of stone. An expression
still in limited use in Japanese today to denote therapy translates as “medicine
and stone”, a leftover from the days in China when these were the two materials
for treating maladies.
Kyoto, Japan
