日本鍼灸史学会について

本会の前身である日本鍼灸臨床文献学会が京都府青年会館にて「鍼灸臨床文献学の確立をめざして」とのテーマを掲げ第1回学術大会を開催したのは1993年（平成5年）3月27日（土）・28日（日）のことです。国内における鍼灸に関する一次資料復刻がひととおり落ち着いた頃でした。学術大会要旨の中で当時の篠原孝市代表は、総体としての鍼灸医学に対する鮮明化や内容解析の必要性と、それとも関連する教育機関において学ぶべき鍼灸の基本概念（経脈、経穴、虚実、補瀉、経穴の主治症、脈診など）の曖昧さに対する強い危機感について言及しています。鍼灸やその臨床について語られる時、どうしても他人にとって閉じた印象を与えてしまうのは、それ自体が言語化されていないか、言語化されていてもそれが「依って立つところ」がないことに起因します。そういった個々人の臨床経験を集めても、ただバラバラに個々人の経験が存在するだけでしかなく、私たちが様々な立場や「流派」を超えて、鍼灸医学について議論や理解を深めることは困難です。私たちが行う鍼灸医学の概念は、伝統的な医学や鍼灸の文献の中にあります。私たちはそれら文献を基盤として鍼灸に関する討論ができる場として、本学会を運営しております。

2004年には学会名を日本鍼灸史学会に改名いたしましたが、文献を調査対象とするというスタンスは変わっておりません。そこからさらに22年が経過し、現在では国内に留まらず世界中のWebサイトで書影そのものを手軽に確認できるという時代となりました。今後、ますます文献に触れる機会が増えるということは、鍼灸という東アジア特有の伝統医学について、さらに研究を深める可能性が拡がるということでもあります。それにより他人と共有できる鍼灸医学の可能性に大いに希望を頂いています。

　　代表　寺川華奈　　

About us

It was on March 27 (Sat.) and 28 (Sun.), 1993, that the predecessor of our present society, the Japan Society for Clinical Bibliography of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, held its First Academic Conference at the Kyoto Prefectural Youth Hall under the theme, “Toward the Establishment of Clinical Bibliology of Acupuncture and Moxibustion.” This was a time when the reprinting of primary source materials related to acupuncture and moxibustion in Japan had largely reached a point of completion.

In the conference abstract booklet, then Representative Koichi Shinohara expressed a strong sense of urgency regarding the need to clarify and analyze acupuncture and moxibustion medicine as a comprehensive medical system. He also pointed to the ambiguity surrounding the fundamental concepts that should be taught in educational institutions—such as meridians, acupoints, deficiency and excess, tonification and sedation, the indicated effects of acupoints, and pulse diagnosis.

When acupuncture and its clinical practice are discussed, they often give the impression of being closed or inaccessible to others. This is due either to the fact that they have not been sufficiently articulated in language, or, even when they have been verbalized, they lack a clearly defined theoretical foundation. Simply collecting individual clinical experiences results in nothing more than a scattered accumulation of personal accounts. Under such circumstances, it becomes difficult for us to transcend differences in position or “schools” and to deepen discussion and mutual understanding of acupuncture medicine.

The concepts underlying the acupuncture medicine we practice are found within the corpus of traditional medical and acupuncture literature. Based on these texts, our society has been operated as a forum where discussions on acupuncture and moxibustion can take place upon a shared scholarly foundation.

In 2004, the name of the society was changed to the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion History. However, our stance of taking classical and historical literature as the primary object of investigation has remained unchanged. A further twenty-two years have passed since then, and we now live in an era in which even images of historical texts can be readily accessed on websites around the world, not only within Japan. The increasing opportunities to engage directly with such literature expand the possibilities for deepening research into acupuncture and moxibustion as a traditional medical system unique to East Asia. Through this development, we hold great hope for a future in which the knowledge of acupuncture medicine can be more widely shared and collectively understood.

Executive Director　Kana TERAKAWA