~

History indeed is what we come to now, and an interesting one it is. Of course, a great many books which have moxa in their titles and their contents have already been described during our survey of the literature on acupuncture, but there was a distinct, if subsidiary, tradition of writings which specialised in moxibustion and said little or nothing about acupuncture. There has been a tendency among historians of medicine to suppose that moxa-burning went back far into the mists of antiquity, even into neolithic times, c but this may not be anything more than an echo of the tradition about 'stone needles' which we have dealt with already (p. 70). The Shih Ching (Book of Odes, c. -7th century) has a reference to the gathering of mugwort, as we have seen (p. 171), but no indication of what it was used for. One of the earliest medical references occurs in the Meng Tzu 2 book, datable about - 300. Mencius is saying that if one of the feudal princes were really to love and serve the people they would all flock to him, and he would not be able to avoid becoming the hegemon (the successor of the Chou High Kings) even if he did not want that great position.