Korean Journal of Acupuncture

Society for Meridian and Acupoint (경락경혈학회)
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A Study on the Validity of Refuting Literature about the Bonghan theory

봉한학설에 대한 반박문헌의 타당성에 관한 고찰

  • Lee, Sang-Hun (Division of Standard Research Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Meridian Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine) ;
  • Zhang, Wenji (Division of Standard Research Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Meridian Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine) ;
  • Soh, Kwang-Sup (Biomedical Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Lee, Byung-Chun (Biomedical Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Sung, Baek-Kyung (Biomedical Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Seoul National University) ;
  • Ryu, Yeon-Hee (Division of Standard Research Acupuncture, Moxibustion & Meridian Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine)
  • 이상훈 (한국 한의학 연구원 침구경락 연구센터) ;
  • 장문희 (한국 한의학 연구원 침구경락 연구센터) ;
  • 소광섭 (서울대학교 물리천문학부 한의물리 연구실) ;
  • 이병천 (서울대학교 물리천문학부 한의물리 연구실) ;
  • 성백경 (서울대학교 물리천문학부 한의물리 연구실) ;
  • 류연희 (한국 한의학 연구원 침구경락 연구센터)
  • Received : 2010.07.09
  • Accepted : 2010.09.14
  • Published : 2010.09.27
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Abstract

Background : The Bonghan theory is a hypothesis on the anatomical structure of the acupuncture point and meridian system. It has been regarded as a misunderstanding of the lymphatic system, or as a made-up story, for the past 40 years. Since 2002, Many studies have been published either to support the theory or to refute the old viewpoint. Objective : The purpose of this study was to find out the validity of the refutation by reviewing the publications. Methods : Searches were made from online databases (Riss4u.net, Google.com, Sciencedirect.com, Pubmed.com, baidu.com, and ci.nii.ac.jp) from 1960 to 2009. The search terms that were used were "Bonghan," "Bong han," "봉한," "thread-like structure," "KИM БOH XaHOM", "CИCTEMA KEHPAK," "鳳漢," "鳳漢管," and "鳳漢学說." References from the searched publications were also used. Results : Since the 1960s, 107 publications were identified as related works, but only 11 publications sought to refute the Bonghan theory. Two publications were researches, and nine were reviews. In the analysis of the correlation of the arguments with the publication contents, it was found that the research of G. Kellner reviewed the Bonghan system properly but that V. V. Kosmatov did not classify the ear-reflex zone as a traditional acupuncture point. For the review publications, only two reviews contained proper arguments, but seven publications were identified as broad interpretations, wrong translations, etc. Moreover, the two proper reviews were grounded on the research of G. Kellner. Conclusions : We found that the scientific origin of the refutation of the Bonghan theory is only one research by G. Kellner. This result suggest that Bonghan theory was not discussed enough to determine the invention.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

Supported by : 한국한의학연구원

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