A comparative study on marma and acupoints

Abstract

Marma is an important component of Ayurveda. It was recorded in Susruta Samhita that there were 107 marma points in human body, which located at the anatomical site where muscles, veins, ligaments, bones and joints meet together and were regarded as seats of life energy. While acupoints in Traditional Chinese Medicine is defined as having the similar position as marma points, and also the function of regulating vital energy, these body points have been constantly combined with acupuncture technique, which encouraged doctors to stimulate applicable acupoints in order to relief pain and treat diseases. Given the similarity of their location and regulation of vital energy, this paper further conducted a systematic comparison of their origins, general features and clinical applications based on literature of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine. The results indicated that the main difference existed in their origin, with marma from the battlefield culture of ancient India and acupoints from medical experience of ancient Chinese. In general features, they showed diverse characteristics of medical theories through classified methods. As for clinical applications, acupoints have always been closely related to medical science in the whole progression, yet marma points were gradually endowed with medical functions. Overall, these body points appeared independently and conveyed the different body views bred by two civilizations. Through cross-region comparison, people's understanding of each traditional medicine and cultural connotation behind it could be deepened, which assisted to achieve the cooperation and innovation of traditional medicine.