Acupuncture is a core clinical intervention of Traditional Chinese Medicine with abundant practical and imaging evidence. Modern neuroimaging technologies including fMRI, EEG and PET have captured its full dynamic physiological chain: local needle micro-perturbation triggers instantaneous nerve activation, propagates across whole-brain networks, and sustains long-term neural network reorganization after needle removal, providing objective proof of acupuncture efficacy. Nevertheless, existing explanatory frameworks only describe superficial neural physiological reactions and fail to resolve three core theoretical puzzles: the topological origin of acupoints as network hubs, the mechanism through which localized stimulation drives systemic self-repair of the human physiological network, and the physical logic behind differentiated therapeutic effects generated by varying needling techniques and depths. Rooted in the PFUSRC system’s Ψ-Ξ dual-end anchoring and ontology-projection stratification theories, combined with philological restoration of the Ling Shu·Nine Needles and Twelve Sources, this paper reconstructs the ontological mechanism of acupuncture and puts forward four core conclusions. First, therapeutic descriptions such as “soothing sinews and invigorating blood” were formed after the Ming Dynasty to summarize clinical outcomes, rather than the original mechanical explanatory vocabulary of the Huangdi Neijing. The three core verbs in ancient canonical texts—unblock, regulate, manage—all refer to restoring the body’s intrinsic operational order instead of constructing new transmission pathways. Second, acupoints are “confluences of reversal and compliance” within the Ψ-Ξ low-impedance conduction network, serving as multi-directional intersections for meridian signals. Modern anatomical research confirms acupoints feature denser mechanoreceptors and nerve terminals, with fascia forming continuous low-resistance conduction channels, consistent with the topological hub definition proposed herein. Third, the core therapeutic mechanism of acupuncture is delivering controlled Ξ-type micro-perturbation at topological convergence hubs to activate the body’s inherent Ψ-Ξ self-adaptive regulatory system, returning meridian conduction to steady-state order. The long-term neural network reorganization observed post-needling is the projection-layer manifestation of this self-repair process. Acupuncturists only act as perturbation triggers rather than primary agents of pathological repair. Fourth, acupuncture shares homologous intervention logic with modern neuromodulation therapies including vagus nerve stimulation, rTMS and DBS: both rely on precise micro-perturbation at regulatory hubs to activate endogenous homeostatic healing systems without destroying pathological tissue. In essence, acupuncture is not an external force to dredge stagnation, but a regulatory technique that leverages the human body’s innate topological projection structure and the self-healing capacity of the Ψ-Ξ coupling system to trigger order restoration at the confluence of reversal and compliance.
Zhenmin Wang (Sat,) studied this question.