Biography of Tung Ching Cha’ang

Tung Ching Cha’ang[1] [董景昌] was born on May 23, 1916, in the city of Ping Du in the Shandong district of East China to a middle-class family of acupuncturists. His father, Tung Sen Gong [董森公], was a talented and renowned acupuncturist in their hometown. In his youth, Tung assisted his father in treating community members and learned the family’s acupuncture techniques.

Tung’s family acupuncture was a closely guarded tradition passed on exclusively within the Tung family for generations. In the introduction to his book, Master Tung traced his family’s acupuncture lineage back to the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE). While Tung’s family acupuncture is primarily recognized for its points, these unique points represent only a fraction of a much broader tradition. This tradition includes unique channels, points, diagnostic methods, and acupuncture techniques. According to Tung, there were 740 points within this system, located on the limbs, ears, head, face, and trunk.

At 18 (1934), Tung opened his first clinic, receiving patients regardless of their ability to pay. With the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he enlisted in the army of China’s Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) to fight the Japanese, continuing his medical practice among soldiers. Following Japan’s surrender, he returned to the Shandong district and established his second clinic in Qingdao.

The Chinese Civil War erupted in June, 1946, leading Tung to rejoin the Nationalist Party army under Chiang Kai-shek against the Communist Party of China (CPC). In 1949, the CPC won the war, and Tung retreated with the Chinese Nationalist Party to Taiwan, where the new seat of the Republic of China was established.

In 1953, Master Tung left the military and opened his third clinic in Taipei, Taiwan. As his reputation grew, he was frequently called upon to treat cabinet members.

In November, 1960, Master Tung was invited to treat Cambodian Prime Minister Marshal Lon Nol, who had suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed. He traveled to the United States to receive extensive Western treatment, but his condition remained unchanged. He then returned to Cambodia to receive acupuncture in Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, but they, too, were ineffective. In October, he asked his personal assistant to travel to Taiwan to seek out prominent acupuncturists. Marshal Lon Nol hired Master Tung. Tung traveled to Cambodia, and within two days of treatment, the Prime Minister showed improvement, and Tung became his personal acupuncturist.

Throughout his career, Master Tung treated over 400,000 patients, regardless of their financial circumstances. As in his early practice, he provided care without charge to those unable to pay. Toward the end of his life, he received the honorary title “Representative of Good People and Good Deeds” five consecutive times.

In the early 1970s, Taiwan introduced a formal licensing for Chinese medicine practitioners. Lacking formal training, Tung was unable to obtain a license, forcing him to close his clinic. This setback devastated him – and soon after, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He passed away on November 7, 1975, at the age of 60, and on November 15, he was interred in the First Cemetery on Yang Ming Mountain in Taipei.

On July 1, 1962, Master Tung accepted his first student, Lin Ju Chu [林菊初]. In response to the Cultural Revolution of the People’s Republic of China (1966), Chiang Kai-shek issued a call to preserve Chinese culture. Answering this call, Master Tung began accepting more students at his clinic. In the introduction to his book, Master Tung wrote: “In response to the government’s call to revive Chinese culture and promote their country’s traditional and excellent medical skills, Tung’s miraculous acupuncture technique, although a family secret, was shared with society and therefore could contribute to the welfare of the people. In doing so, President Chiang Kai-shek’s call to revive the culture was put into practice, as well as the promotion of the medical ethical tradition of their ancestors (Tung’s ancestors) of saving lives and helping people.”

Throughout his life, he taught an additional 73 students, and according to his wishes, their names were inscribed on his tombstone.

• Hu Wen Zhi
• Young Wei Chieh

Tung’s approach to teaching acupuncture was distinctly traditional, diverging significantly from contemporary classroom instruction. His students primarily learned through in-clinic observation. Typically, 20 students were present, but only a few advanced students were permitted to accompany Master Tung into the patient’s room. The rest waited until he finished inserting his needles before they could enter to examine the treated points and question the patient. After three months, students were allowed to question Master Tung directly.

One of Tung’s students, Dr. Chuan Min Wang, describes Tung’s teaching style in his book (Wang, 2013): “Master Tung taught through observation, including his diagnosis and treatment. Students were allowed to ask patients about their condition and discuss the points Master Tung needled. No question, no answer. After the student carefully prepared his questions, he could knock on Master Tung’s door to ask. Once asked, Master Tung would offer his answer. If the question was not prepared well, he would ask the student to further study the issue on his own.
When learning how to needle, students initially began by needling themselves. By getting a firsthand feeling of various needle sensations, students could improve their technique.”

Master Tung endured a challenging upbringing marked by war and hardship. His ancestors’ writings were destroyed in the war. Despite this, he retained the essence of their teachings. In the introduction to his book (Tung, 1973) he wrote: “Tragically, my ancestors’ writings were lost in a fire due to the war. Fortunately, I had an extraordinary memory and managed to preserve the core of their teachings. After arriving in Taiwan, I treated approximately 300 thousand patients who benefited from my family’s acupuncture technique. The efficacy of the Tung family acupuncture technique is evident through the clinical evidence derived from 300 thousand patients.”

In 1968, Master Tung published a booklet for his students entitled Tung Lineage Acupuncture Study of the Orthodox Channel Curious Points, Lecture Notes (Tung, 1968), detailing 163 of his points. In 1971, he released a case study on the treatment of Cambodian Prime Minister Marshal Lon Nol (Tung, 1971), followed by another case study of the Cambodian Prime Minister in 1972 (Tung, 1972).

In 1972, he contributed a trial edition of “Tung’s Acupuncture and Moxibustion Meridian and Acupuncture Points” to the third edition of Practical Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion Meridians and Acupoints by Mr. Guo Jia Lioang.

In 1973, he published his most influential work: DongTung’s Acupuncture and Moxibustion Channels and Unique[2] Acupuncture Points (Tung, 1973). Master Tung dictated the book to Yuan Guo Ben [袁國本]. While it is a fundamental text presenting the most clinically useful points, the book suffers from simplistic point location descriptions and unclear illustrations, and a dearth of explanatory principles. Moreover, it lacks an explanation of the method’s principles.

Master Tung did not live in peaceful times. Most of his life was spent under the threat of war. Despite these challenging circumstances, he skillfully preserved and developed his family’s acupuncture tradition. We are fortunate that he chose to share his method with students outside his family. Thanks to its simplicity and effectiveness, this acupuncture method has gained increasing popularity worldwide. Ultimately, we all have a responsibility to respect and protect Master Tung’s legacy.

[1] In Wade-Giles, the transcription system from Mandarin Chinese into Latin, Tung’s name is written: Tung Ching Cha’ang. In Pinyin, the most common notation system in China today, the spelling is Dong Jing Chang.

[2] In acupuncture, Qi xue translates to “Extra points of the 14 primary channels.” Qi [奇] denotes being surprised, unusualness, or wonder. Here, I opt for “Unique points” rather than “Extraordinary points” as Tung’s points are not extra points of the 14 primary channels (see chapter on Master Tung’s acupuncture channels).