| In the New Stone Age (about 7000B.C.~4000B.C.), the ancient Chinese people used small thin stones to stimulate some parts of the body to expel disorders. It is thought that the stone needles were the extant primitive medical tools in ancient China. According to their use they were classified into stone needles, stone implements and stone sickles.
Stone Needles
The polished stone needle unearthed in Inner Mongolia (New Stone Age) is 4.5cm in length. One end is sharp-pointed and the other end is in the shape of a flat arc knife. The body of the needle is slightly flat and ridged and the cross section is rectangular, so it could easily be held with the thumb and index finger.
Bian Stones
The size of the stone needle unearthed from the ruins of the Painted Pottery Culture in Henan province is 7cm in length and 3cm in width. It has a sharp point and both sides are knife shaped. It could be used to do bloodletting, debride dead tissue and pierce a carbuncle. It is now kept in the Shan' xi Medical Museum.
Bian Stone, from Zhong Guo Yi Xue Tong Shi (Chinese Medicine General History)
Jade Needles (in the period of the Shang and Zhou dynasties(16th centuryB.C.~11th centuryB.C.):
The longest is 18cm, while the shortest is 2.5cm. They are now kept in the Medical Museum of the Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Jade Needles, from Zhong Guo Yi Xue Tong Shi (Chinese Medicine General History)
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