Acupuncture has a long history. According to textual research, it originated from the clan commune system in the primitive society of our country. There have been human activities in China since 4 million years ago, from about 40,000 years ago to the clan commune system, and continued until 4,000 years ago. The ancestors of this era used stone tools as their main production and living tools, so it was called the Stone Age in archaeology. From ancient times to 1000 years ago, it was the Paleolithic Age, from 1000 years ago to 7 million years ago, and from 7 million years ago to 4,000 years ago, it was the Neolithic Age. Acupuncture therapy was born in the Neolithic Age. There are some legends about the origin of acupuncture in ancient books, all referring to this era. For example, as recorded in Huangfu Mi's Century of Emperors, teacher Xi Shi "tasted hundreds of kinds of medicines and made nine needles", while Miro's History of Taoism said that teacher Xi Shi "tasted grass to cure people's diseases". Huangfu Mi's Preface to Acupuncture A and B says: "The Yellow Emperor visited the followers of Qi Bo, Gao Bo, Yu Shao ... and what did acupuncture do", while Sun Simiao's Preface to Emergency Money said: "The Yellow Emperor was ordered to make nine needles".

The origin of massage may sprout from human self-protection instinct. In primitive society, in the arduous labor and production process, human beings often get hurt and pain, and do not consciously touch the injured part and its surrounding parts with their hands. When this kind of touch relieves the pain, primitive people accumulate experience from experience, develop from spontaneous instinct to conscious medical behavior, and then become an ancient massage skill through continuous summary and improvement. According to the statement that the ancient Shang Dynasty was located in the central area and was guided by Su Wenyi's Theory of Law, Prescription and Medicine, some modern scholars suggested that the massage method was invented by Yin people.

In primitive society, primitive people will certainly have some injuries when they are engaged in productive labor or fighting with wild animals. When there is pain, they naturally touch and press with their hands, and gradually get the effect; When a certain part of the human body is injured and bleeds, people instinctively press with their hands to stop bleeding; When an injury causes a local bulge, people instinctively make the bulge smaller or disappear by touching and rubbing, thus alleviating swelling and pain. In addition, it is also found that scraping some parts with stone chips can relieve some specific pains. Humans instinctively repeatedly apply some touch and massage techniques that can get rid of diseases, and these techniques have been developed and accumulated over time. In the long-term cognitive practice, massage has gradually evolved from an unconscious accidental action to a systematic treatment method that people can freely use. About thousands of years ago, our ancestors laid the foundation of massage and gradually formed the subject of massage in China.