ByY HEINER FRUEHAUF
National University of Natural Medicine,
College of Classical Chinese Medicine

In an earlier publication I tried to articulate the problems that may arise from a categorical imitation of the P.R.C. brand of hospital"TCM" in the West, by illuminating the historical context that spawned this system and reminding practitioners that the "T" in Traditional Chinese Medicine stands for an autonomous and sophisticated knowledge base that goes far beyond the limited confines of the P.R.C. model. My co-author Deng Zhongjia, a well-known advo­cate for preserving the conceptual endowment of Chinese medicine in the Daoist classics, once summarized this argu­ment in the following way: "The administrative forces of TCM have chosen to make the concept of science an equiva­lent to Western medicine, thus effectively renouncing the 'traditional' aspect of our craft. Our roots have been shoved into the museum; there they stand on a pedestal gathering dust."

BY HEINER FRUEHAUF
National University of Natural Medicine,
College of Classical Chinese Medicine

3. Applied Symbol Science: The Example of the Acupuncture Point Tianfu LU-3 天 俯

In addition to the general process of signification outlined in Part One of this article (JCM 68, February 2002), the acupuncture point names reveal an even deeper and more detailed level of the symbolist science of defining organ network function. I am choosing the third point of the lung channel as a model for the multidimensional facets of mean­ ing that we see contained in virtually every acupuncture point name. Like other points, Tianfu associates a particular station on its channel with functional entities in the spheres of Heaven, Earth and the social realm of the Human Being.