Professor Ming Qing Zhu 朱明清教授
Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture (ZSA) was founded by Professor Ming Qing Zhu. In 1987, at the founding and academic exchange congress of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies in Beijing, Professor Zhu demonstrated ZSA live on a patient with acute stroke hemiplegia — who stood and walked on the spot. From that moment, his reputation became international. Dr. Ru Shan Shy and Dr. Sheng Chun Chang began studying under Professor Zhu in 2008, and since 2013 have continued in clinical practice, teaching, and the development of ZSA education. This long clinical transmission is the foundation of Zhen Ding Shan’s clinical and educational work today.
As the founder of Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture, Professor Zhu is also one of the developers of the international standard for scalp acupuncture, and serves as Visiting Professor at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Qingdao University and Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. For decades he has devoted himself to the clinical practice, teaching and international transmission of ZSA.
Scalp acupuncture is a form of acupuncture that uses specific zones of the scalp as the primary sites of treatment. Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture builds on this foundation, developing a system with its own 19 treatment zones, clinical reasoning and treatment methods.
Teacher Li Ding, Professor Zhu’s own teacher, represents the previous generation’s academic and clinical lineage in acupuncture; Professor Zhu carried forward his teacher’s academic and clinical inspiration, further building and developing Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture. Dr. Moyee Siu and Dr. Zhi Yun Peng are the co-founders of ZSA, and took part over many years in its founding, development and spread.
Medicine knows no borders; illness knows no East or West.
“There is only one human species, and so there is only one human medicine for every race and culture. Medicine knows no national borders — there is no such thing as a ‘Chinese medicine disease’ or a ‘Western medicine disorder.’”
醫無國界，病無中西
— Dr. Ming Qing Zhu
Key roles
- Founder of Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture
- One of the developers of the international standard for scalp acupuncture
- Visiting Professor at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Qingdao University and Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
- 1964 — Graduated from the first acupuncture class of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine; began his career at the university’s affiliated Shuguang Hospital
- Served as a village doctor during the Cultural Revolution
- Medical Director, Guiyang TCM Hospital; Assistant Professor, Guiyang TCM College
- Director, Acupuncture Anesthesia Department, Lishui District, Zhejiang
- Research Director, Beijing Research Institute of Acupuncture and Traumatology
- Instructor at Traditional Chinese Medicine teaching hospitals and research institutions across China
- 1987 — Invited to Taiwan by the Red Cross and China Medical University as an “Outstanding Individual from Mainland China”
- 1989 — Emigrated to San Francisco, USA
- 1990 — Acupuncturist of the Year Award, International Congress of Chinese Medicine and Qi Gong
- With Dr. Moyee Siu, opened Zhu’s Neuro-Acupuncture clinic in San Jose, USA, and founded the Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture Research and Education Foundation (U.S.A.)
- 2014 — Retired from practice in the United States and returned to Asia to pass on ZSA through a series of courses
Publications
- Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture
- Treatment of Acute Syndromes Using Acupuncture and Moxibustion
- Color Atlas of Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture — published in Chinese, English and Japanese; English edition (2007) co-authored with Moyee Siu
- 1989 — 『朱氏頭皮針』 (Japanese edition; Ming Qing Zhu and Zhi Yun Peng; Toyo Gakujutsu Publishing); revised edition 2013 (Ming Qing Zhu, Moyee Siu and Zhi Yun Peng)
- Zhu’s Scalp Acupuncture Medical Practice Series – Basic (Ming Qing Zhu and Moyee Siu; People’s Medical Publishing House)
Clinical teaching
Professor Zhu’s teaching was never only about treatment zones — it was about how to bring traditional acupuncture, the channels and Qi and blood, needling technique, visual diagnosis, Qi reaching the site of disease, and Dao Yin into the treatment of real patients.
Professor Zhu would first explain the disease, the patient’s current clinical state, the treatment approach and its key points, then demonstrate it himself. Students would then practise directly, with hands-on teaching, real-time feedback and immediate correction of treatment zone, needle placement, technique and Dao Yin. Finally, attention returned to the patient — observing whether symptoms, movement, sensation and function had changed, and rethinking the next step of treatment accordingly.
Lineage with Dr. Ru Shan Shy and Dr. Sheng Chun Chang
The name 鍼鼎善 (Zhen Ding Shan) grew out of discussions between Professor Ming Qing Zhu, Dr. Ru Shan Shy and Dr. Sheng Chun Chang; it began as 鍼鼎 (Zhen Ding), and Professor Zhu later added the character 善 (Shan) himself.