It can be said that ancient Chinese doctors did not know blood pressure and hypertension. As a result, they had not managed to treat hypertension5 more exactly1 they had not aimed to drop the blood pressure, which they knew, elevated above normal range.
However, this does not mean that there was not the disease of hypertension in ancient China, also, this does not mean that ancient Chinese doctors did not have the experience of treating hypertension.

We have found that among the diseases described in Chinese ancient medical literatures, there are certain diseases which like hypertension in clinical manifestation, complications, prognosis and so on. These reflect that TCM had already recognised to some degree the disease, which is lately named ¡°hypertension¡± by western medicine. Nowadays, most of the Chinese medical scholars consider that in the theories of TCM, the disease of hypertension was factually included in the diseases such as ¡°stroke¡±, ¡°dizziness¡±, ¡°Liver wind¡±, ¡°liver yang¡±, ¡°fire syndrome¡± and ¡°headwind¡±. Chinese doctors had got plenty of experiences in diagnoses and treatment of these diseases.

About at the beginning of this century, the knowledge of modem medicine about hypertension began to influence TCM, and TCM doctors began to treat hypertension on purpose. Besides the four traditional diagnostic methods, TCM doctors also began to use sphygmomanometer to measure patients¡¯ blood pressure, taking it as an index to differentiate syndromes and to evaluate the therapeutic effects.

TCM has a plenty of methods to treat hypertension; acupuncture is one of The practice of hypertension treatment by acupuncture can be generally divided into two types: one is to treat the symptom of high blood pressure; and the other, to treat the patient as a whole. To treat the symptom of high blood pressure is more simple: some acupuncturists know that when certain acupoints are stimulated with needles, the elevated blood pressure will descend, so they always puncture on these points as soon as a diagnosis of hypertension is made; usually they do not take patients¡¯ concrete conditions into consideration. The acupoints usually chosen by these acupucturists are Renying (ST9), Zusanli (ST16), Shaoshang (LUll), Shaohai (HT3), Fengchi (GB2O), Taichong (LR3), Hegu (LI4), etc. Clinical practice has shown that stimulating these acupoints with needles can drop the elevated blood pressure to some degrees.

To treat the patient, as a whole is much more complicated, it must be based on differentiation of syndromes. An acupuncturist, by analysing the clinical phenomena of the cases, such as the symptoms and signs, including the pulse conditions and the tongue appearances, determine the type and nature of the case, and then choose an appropriate method to treat it. TCM doctors differentiate syndromes mainly based on various clinical phenomena, which a doctor can sense. In long period of clinical practices and observation of a large amount of cases, Chinese doctors have found that hypertension has four main types of syndromes as following:

1. Syndrome characterised by clinical phenomena such as dizziness, headache, flushed face and eyes, bitter taste in the mouth, restlessness, red tongue with yellow coating, taut and vigorous pulse. TCM considers that this kind of syndrome is due to that the liver yang is excessive, so called it ¡°Excessive liver-yang syndrome¡±. The treatment for this kind of syndrome is to reduce the liver yang.
2. Syndrome characterised by clinical phenomena such as headache, dizziness, dry mouth, restlessness, hot feeling in the palms and soles, palpitation, tinnitus, amnesia, sleeplessness, taut, thin and rapid pulse. TCM considers that this kind of syndrome is due to that the liver yang is excessive while the liver yin is insufficient, so called it ¡°Yin -insufficient yang -excessive syndrome¡±. The treatment for it is to supplement the insufficient yin and, at the same time, reduce the excessive yang.
3. Syndrome characterised by dry and uncomfortable feeling of the eyes, dizziness, weakness of waist and legs, tinninus, hot feeling in the palms and soles, sleeplessness, red and dry tongue with little coating, thin and taut pulse. TCM considers that this kind of syndrome is due to insufficiency of both the kidney yin and the liver yin, so called it the ¡°Yin-insufficiency syndrome of the liver and kidney¡±. The treatment for this syndrome is to supplement the liver yin and kidney yin.
4. Syndrome characterised by dizziness, headache, tinnitus, palpitation, tiredness, weakness of the waiste and legs, pale tongue with white coating, taut and thin pulse. TCM considers that this kind of syndrome is due to insufficiency of both yin and yang of the body, so called it ¡°Yin and yang insufficiency syndrome¡±, the treatment for it is to supplement the yin and yang simultaneously.

In China, the acupoints chosen most commonly to treat hypertension are Zusanli (ST36), Sanyinjiao (SP6), Taichong (LR3), Neiguan (PC6), Quchi (LIll), Xingjian (LR2), Hegu (LI4), Fengchi (GB2O), Renying (ST9), Taixi (K13), Shenshu (BL23), Ganshu (BL18), Baihui (GV20), Qihai (CV6), Fenglong (ST4O), etc. These acupoints can be divided into two groups according to their functions:

The first group: those used to reduce the excessive yang: such as Sanyinjiao (SP6), Taichong (LR3), Neiguan (PC6), Quchi (LIll), Xingjian (LR2), Hegu (LI4), Fengchi (GB2O), Renying (ST9), Taixi (K13), Fenglong (ST4O).