Acupuncture needles: Round Sharp Needle (yuanli zhen)

Chinese woodblock print from an edition of 1680 (19th year of the Kangxi reign period of the Qing dynasty). It shows the structure of the Round Sharp Needle (yuanli zhen), one of the ancient 'Nine Needles' (jiu zhen) of acupuncture. It has a short, slender body and a rather large 'tail', with a rounded tip coming to a sharp point. It is 1.6 cun [Chinese inches] in length. It was mainly used to dispel sudden heat (baore) and malign Qi (xieqi).

IMAGE TITLE: Illustration of the Round Sharp Needle (yuanli zhen)