Is it due to Nixon's visit to China that Chinese acupuncture has attracted widespread attention in mainstream Western society?

Yes.

Acupuncture became popular in the United States in the 1970s. Before that, although there were a number of Chinese medicine practitioners in the United States in Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco, those who were proficient in acupuncture had not been heard of.

Documentation, as early as the 30s, there is no _ Chinese Acupuncture Research Society member Fang Fuxing immigrated to the United States, acupuncture activities in the state of Luo. 1947 U.S. medical community had academic discussions on Chinese acupuncture. 1955 Stanford University has invited Japanese acupuncture experts to the United States to give lectures, but there is no acupuncture research.

From February 21 to 28, 1972, U.S. President Richard Nixon visited China, accompanied by 500 journalists. Journalist James Ralston (Jame Reston) suffered from appendicitis, appendectomy at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, the application of acupuncture therapy to eliminate post-operative pain, success.

James also visited the acupuncture anesthesia during the Chinese period, after returning to the United States, that is, on July 2, the New York Times wrote about the report, with a large eye-catching headlines published on the front page, in the United States has caused a sensational effect, which prompted the National Institutes of Health (NIH) noted that China's acupuncture and moxibustion therapy.

Expanded Information

The first U.S. government-approved acupuncture clinic was formally established in Washington, D.C., in July 1973, with Dr. Gregory Kors as its director, and Su Tianyou, a member of the Chengjiang School, hired to lead the clinic's acupuncture treatments. Originally named Su Zuo Ren, Su Tianyou was born in 1911 in Yangjiang County, Guangdong Province. He followed his father to Hong Kong for education at an early age and later studied acupuncture under Zeng Tianzhi.

Tzeng Tianzhi was a senior member of Cheng Tan-an, the founder of the Chengjiang School. In addition to practicing medicine, T.Y. So also held classes to train acupuncturists, and in March 1975, T.Y. So and his American disciples founded the New England School of Acupunc-ture in Boston, which taught in English for one year at first, and three years at a later date.

The first book of acupuncture in English was "Meridian Acupuncture", and his disciples wrote a preface to this book, which called Su Tianyou "the father of American acupuncture". By the end of the 20th century, more than 20,000 people were practicing acupuncture in the U.S. In 1997, the U.S. Office of Alternative Medicine was established.

In 1998, there were colleges of medicine in the United States that offered courses in traditional medicine, more than 20 acupuncture journals, and more than 100 acupuncture colleges. In the United States, acupuncture is mainly used for the treatment of common diseases and drug rehabilitation, and has also been reported to be used in the training of astronauts and the treatment of spaceflight syndrome. It can be seen that after acupuncture was introduced to the United States, it was combined with the American scientific culture and innovation.

Baidu Encyclopedia - The Legend of Acupuncture Fever in the United States