Compilation Introduction

Acupoint Anatomy is one of the National “Thirteenth Five-Year-Plan” Innovative Textbooks for Higher Education in Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry.With the development of the international education of traditional Chinese medicine，teaching in English of foreign students has been opened in many universities or colleges of traditional Chinese medicine in China.To meet the need for teaching in English，we complete the textbook compilation of Acupoint Anatomy（English Edition） .The textbook is rewritten on the basis of the Applied Acupoint Anatomy of Traditional Chinese Medicine ，one of the National “Twelfth Five-Year-Plan” Textbooks for Higher Education in Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry，written by Shao Shui-in and published by China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine in May，2014.The textbook is subsidized by the Top Teacher Inheritance Research Project of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and it is suitable for the foreign students majoring in traditional Chinese medicine，acupuncture and moxibustion，and Tuina.

Acupoint Anatomy is the study of the hierarchical and adjacent structures of the acupoints and the accident and prevention of acupuncture and is a bridge course between the basic and clinical medicines.The course is a cross-subject one combining the Science of Acupoints and Topographic Anatomy ，is a study in the transformation from scientific payoffs to teaching practice and is also an innovative subject integrating modern and traditional medicines in the field of the integration of TCM and Western medicine.The textbook is compiled in terms of the compilation principles of 3-Essentials，5-Propertities，and 3-Specifics，and the learner-centered compilation idea to meet the need for the development of TCM international education and talent training.It is of the systematicness and integrality of the knowledge of the subject and embodies scientificness and advancement.The textbook with concise sentence and clear emphasis is straightaway，well arranged，and is of the characteristics of TCM and extensively practical application value.

The textbook includes introduction and the anatomy of acupoints on the head，neck，thorax，abdomen，nape-back-lumbosacral region，upper limbs and lower limbs.There are 129 color pictures originating from Illustration of Acupoint Sectional Anatomy， compiled by Yan Zhen-guo and published by Shanghai Scientific and Technic Press in 2002.The textbook discusses 151 commonly used acupoints involving their body surface location，manipulation method，clinical indications，needle-inserting layers，adjacent structures，and the acupuncture accident and prevention.We want learners to grasp completely the anatomical structure of acupoints and lay a good foundation for further clinical subjects to improve the treatment effect of acupuncture and avoid the acupuncture accidents.

We get strong support from Shan Bao-zhi，a senior editor with Doctor of Medicine degree at China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine，and zealous help from the fellows from many TCM universities or colleges.Yan Zhen-guo，a lifetime professor at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine，has checked and polished the textbook carefully.We express our sincere thanks to them.We welcome any good suggestions from the textbook readers to make its revised edition better in the future.

Shao Shui-in
Oct.2015
（ The Compilation Introduction is translated by Shan Bao-zhi ）