Preface
Recently, I偶然 came across a message posted by one of the founding members of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (BUCM) Moxibustion Society (hereinafter referred to as the “Moxibustion Society”):
Hello, fellow members of the Moxibustion Society! I’m Li Bing, a first-year graduate student (Class of 2024) from the First Clinical Medical College and also one of the authors of the Society’s inaugural 2025 textbook. I have intermittently worked part-time in moxibustion for about two years. However, due to the heavy workload expected in my third year of graduate studies, I hope to deliver one final hands-on, in-person society class before graduation. The tentative outline is as follows. Could you please let me know whether most of you have exams next week and whether the timing would be convenient? Thank you!
The message is simple—but deeply moving. To ensure this final class reaches as many people as possible, I am publishing this article.
Main Text
From our very first meeting, classmate Li Bing demonstrated remarkable determination and composure—qualities that signal great potential to become a pillar of the field. She has consistently engaged in practical moxibustion application and teaching, accumulating extensive experience. I have already received her preliminary course syllabus, outlined below:
- Origins: My Personal Journey Learning Moxibustion
- A Preliminary Survey of Disease Indications for Moxibustion
- Heat-Sensitive Moxibustion and Wu Wei (Non-Action) Moxibustion
- Theoretical Foundations for Eliciting the “Moxa Sensation” (Jiu Gan)
- A Brief Introduction to Acupoints and Their Functional Properties
- Moxibustion—Preventing “Excess Heat” Reactions and Burns
- Discussion: Is There an Optimal Sequence for Moxibustion Application? How Should Practitioners Protect Themselves?
- Informal Discussion and Hands-On Practice
In my view, if you have little or no prior exposure to moxibustion—having only taken the standard university course on acupuncture and moxibustion techniques, or having lit just a few moxa sticks—this session will be highly rewarding.
That said, seasoned moxibustion practitioners are also warmly welcome! Your constructive criticism and suggestions regarding the course content would be greatly appreciated.
Tentative Time and Venue:
Liangxiang Campus, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine
May 26, 2026 — Exact time to be confirmed
Expected Attendance: 15 participants
How to Register:
Add the staff member’s WeChat account and leave a note: “Moxibustion Learning Registration”
Main Text 2: Brief Record of the Founding of the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine Moxibustion Society
Although I am a TCM student, environmental constraints—particularly repeated fire-safety incidents linked to moxibustion on campus—have long prohibited its practice within the university. Consequently, I had virtually no hands-on moxibustion experience. My only exposure was limited to a single session in our acupuncture and moxibustion techniques course, where the instructor guided students through lighting moxa sticks to experience the sensation firsthand; and later, assisting nurses at a hospital using pre-fabricated moxibustion boxes. At that time, a family member fell ill, and after much trial and error, I concluded moxibustion was the most suitable treatment—and thus sought dedicated training opportunities.
After graduating with my bachelor’s degree in 2023, I traveled to Zhejiang Province under the initiative of Zhong Yijia (WeChat Official Account: Qilu Man), where I studied moxibustion under Master Luo Siyu (WeChat Official Account: Lang He Tang). One of the most profound insights gained during this training was realizing that moxibustion can elicit a distinct “moxa sensation” (Jiu Gan)—analogous to the “deqi” sensation in acupuncture. For details, see [[A015 On the Moxa Sensation]] (Click here to read). This insight stood in stark contrast to my previous understanding—that moxibustion was merely “roasting the body with a moxa stick.”
Later, upon returning to Beijing, I organized several small-scale activities and discovered that most participating students could indeed perceive the moxa sensation. Moreover, we observed that the presence of this sensation strongly correlated with therapeutic efficacy—just as deqi is essential for acupuncture effectiveness. Yet this sensation cannot be reliably elicited using moxibustion boxes; it requires direct manual application by the practitioner—much like how one cannot sense deqi without physically handling the needle.
To help more students develop a deeper, experiential understanding of moxibustion, we needed a dedicated space for hands-on practice. After exploring multiple options, external venues proved unsuitable, while on-campus moxibustion training labs were inaccessible to individual students. The most viable path forward was establishing a student-run club—since official club status would allow us to formally apply for access to training facilities, enabling students to move beyond passive lecture-based learning into active practice.
Why did we specifically seek approval for a moxibustion-focused club? Because other societies under the BUCM Acupuncture Society umbrella—including those specializing in abdominal acupuncture and Yin-Yang Nine-Needle techniques—are predominantly needle-oriented. Only the Five-Element Acupuncture Society incorporates moxibustion—and even there, it remains merely an auxiliary modality. In short, from classroom instruction to extracurricular activities, BUCM suffers from a serious lack of hands-on moxibustion training. This gap severely constrains students’ understanding of moxibustion and warrants the creation of a dedicated Moxibustion Society to address it directly.
Throughout the club’s formation process, we received generous support from numerous colleagues both inside and outside the university. One particularly memorable moment was receiving an encouraging video message from Professor Huang Zuozhen of the School of Sinology—an elderly scholar whom none of us had ever met in person. Our members were exceptionally diligent: they secured endorsements from nearly every relevant faculty member, completed all required application documentation, drafted the first edition of the society’s course textbook, and formulated fire-safety protocols, among other tasks. Ultimately, we successfully established the BUCM Moxibustion Society—a specialized club focused exclusively on moxibustion, operating under the BUCM Acupuncture Society.
Finally, special thanks go to the following teachers and members:
- Prof. Zhang Haibo, Prof. Huang Chang, Prof. Liang Ye, and Prof. Zhang Honglin from the School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine—providing core institutional support for the founding of the Moxibustion Society
- Master Beishan of Wu Wei (Non-Action) Moxibustion (WeChat Official Account: Wu Wei Jiu)—offering abundant learning resources, practical training materials, and venue support
- Yang Kejie, former President (Class of 2023) of the BUCM Acupuncture Association—providing substantial assistance in the Moxibustion Society’s application process
- Xu Mingyang, BUCM student—principal author of the clinical section in the Society’s first-edition textbook
- Wu Yicong, BUCM student—principal author of the moxa material section in the Society’s first-edition textbook; consistently supplying stable, high-quality moxibustion materials
- Li Xiangyu, BUCM student—principal author of the medicated-moxa section in the Society’s first-edition textbook
- Chen Fangfang, BUCM student—principal author of the moxibustion equipment section in the Society’s first-edition textbook; also a core instructor in early society classes
- Wan Qin, Feng Wenqi, Lu Siyun, Tan Xiayan, and Su Lingqi, BUCM students—core members of the early preparatory team and contributors to the first-edition textbook
- Yan Yi, BUCM student—Chief Editor of the first-edition textbook and the Society’s inaugural President, who steered the Society through its most challenging initial phase
Attached below is the official club establishment application form—thank you to every teacher and student who signed their support.
