Under the guidance of Yin-yang, Zang-fu organs, five elements and other theories of traditional Chinese medicine, and with the theory of meridians and acupoints as the core, acupuncture and moxibustion is a subject that absorbs the relevant achievements of modern anatomy and physiology to study the prevention and treatment of diseases by stimulating specific parts of the human body with acupuncture, moxibustion and other methods.

Acupuncture is a bright pearl in the treasure house of traditional Chinese medicine, which is shining on the world medical stage. In 2010, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included "Chinese acupuncture" in the "list of representative works of human intangible cultural heritage".

Acupuncture has become an important part of world medicine owing to its wide range of indications, significant effect, facilitating the operation and safety.

The MOOC “Introduction to Acupuncture and Moxibustion” is a popularized professional course for college students, doctors of traditional Chinese and Western medicine and acupuncture amateurs. It was identified as the first batch of national top-quality online courses in 2017, and won the first prize of "Most beautiful MOOC" in 2018.

This course integrates acupuncture and moxibustion and tries to present the general picture of them in a concise way. The content is into three parts. The first part traces back to the origin, introduces the long history of acupuncture and moxibustion with historical allusions and knowledge of astronomy, geography, philosophy and archaeology, so that students can understand the origin of acupuncture and the historical background of theory formation. In the second part, the core content of the complex theoretical system of acupuncture and moxibustion–meridians and acupoints–is explained concisely and clearly by means of illustration and metaphor, which lays a foundation for the systematic study of meridians and acupoints in the future. The third part shows the unique clinical thinking and multifarious treatment methods in acupuncture therapy.

The lecturers of this course are all from the School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, including famous lecturers from excellent teaching team of Beijing. The teaching methods include online video, self-study of related materials, homework, online discussion, unit test, final assessment, etc.

This course aims to help learners have a general understanding of acupuncture and moxibustion and ignite learners’ interest in further study by offering an introduction of the key knowledge of this discipline in the form of short videos.

Welcome to the Introduction to Acupuncture and Moxibustion and the world of acupuncture and moxibustion.

Through the teaching of the Introduction to Acupuncture and Moxibustion, students can understand the basic framework and the connotation of the core theory of acupuncture and moxibustion, be familiar with the development of acupuncture and the formation of the theoretical system, and master the role and position of acupuncture and moxibustion in the world medicine. By making full use of MOOC as a carrier, students can be inspired to love traditional medicine and lay a foundation for in-depth and systematic study of acupuncture.

This course is for anybody interested in learning acupuncture-moxibustion and Chinese culture. It will be particular suitable for freshmen in Chinese medicine universities and health care professionals who what to know and perhaps further study acupuncture.

1.Acupuncture and Moxibustion. English Textbook Series of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. Zhao Baixiao. Du Huanbin. Lixing Lao. People's Medical publishing house. 2017.

2.《走进针灸的世界》.赵百孝、马文珠.人民卫生出版社. 2017

3.《针灸学》（第2版）.张吉主编.高等中医药院校教学参考丛书.人民卫生出版社. 2007