ST ea or) ‘Tui na has a long history with many periods of flourishing and development. “The fist massage techniques were born instinctively from the needs of the people who were living physically hard lives, exposed to the elements and prone {o frequent injuries. They discovered that An (pressing) would stop bleeding and Mo (rubbing) would ease pain and reduce swelling. Evidence from archaeologi- cal digs suggests that massage was fist practiced over 3000 years ago. Ancient dracle bones and tortoise shells were discovered upon which there are inscrip- tions that refer to a female shaman known as a Bi who cured people with ‘massage. Medicine was inseparable from ritual life and was directed and devel- ‘oped by the shamans ofthe time who became the first doctors. Massage became {quite sophisticated even in these early times, Im the late Zhou dynasty (700—d818c), texts on the development of Chi medicine refer to massage or ‘An Wu’, as it was then called, These texts met ‘various techniques including the compound techniques. There is also mention of a famous Dr Bian Que working with a combination of massage and acupunc- ture. At the same time there ate records of widespread folk use of massage therapy in the writing of the philosophers of the time such as Lao Zi (reputed author of the ‘Dao De Jing’) ‘A ten-volume work specifically on massage called ‘Huangdi Qibo Anmo: Shijuan’ Classics on Massage of the Yellow Emperor and Qi Bo attributed to the Qin dynasty (221-2078) was the frst detailed work of its kind. Unfortunately this classic of mastage was lost. It came out at the same time as 'Huangdi Neijing’ Classic of Imernal Medicine of the Yellow Emperor, which mainly recorded the theory of Chinese medicine and the use of acupuncture but di also include several chapters and sections devoted to massage therapy, including descriptions of 12 techniques and their therapeutic effects and clinical applications, ‘The next important reference to Chinese massage therapy is by one of China's great medical geniuses, Zhang Zhong Jing (aD142-220) who lived during the Jater Han dynasty (AD25-220). He was possibly the world’ first medical special ist, having a special interest in febrile diseases. His contribution was to establish the principles of drug combining, one of the great achievements of Chinese herbal medicine. He applied these principles to the use of herbal ointments in ‘massage therapy to increase the therapeutic effects. This process was called Gao ‘mo (ointment massage). Hua Tuo, another famous doctor of the time and China's first recorded surgeon, mentions Gao mo applied for expelling pathogenic factors that had invaded the Exterior. Gao mo continued to develop and grow in popularity and several texts were written on its uses, including prescriptions for making ointments and the diseases that they could treat, During the Sui (4D589-618) and Tang (AD618-906) dynasties, massage therapy really started to flourish. A department of massage therapy was founded within the Office of Imperial Physicians and the practice and teaching of Chinese ‘massage therapy blossomed, There was an experienced massage doctor in charge of the daily treatments and teaching who worked with a team of massage prac- titioners and massage workers. Massage treatment and the teaching of students were promoted. The work done during this time laid the foundations for what would become modern Tui na.