Call (480) 451-8880 or click HERE to start your healing journey!
Call (480) 451-8880 or click HERE to start your healing journey!
To the acupuncture community, Dr. Shi Xue-Min is remembered as a distinguished acupuncturist, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and a highly respected supervisor of doctoral candidates in China. He is particularly renowned for developing the stroke acupuncture technique Xing Nao Kai Qiao (醒脑开窍, XNKQ), translated as “activating the brain and opening the orifices.” This innovative method has transformed stroke rehabilitation and remains one of the most influential contributions to modern acupuncture.
Dr. Shi’s career was forged through resilience. During the turbulence of the Chinese Revolution, he was among the few who preserved his position and continued to advance the field of acupuncture. Later, after establishing The First Teaching Hospital of the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Tianjin, his leadership brought extraordinary growth—from a modest 200 beds to 2,200 beds. A decade ago, he expanded further by establishing another major teaching hospital campus, now holding nearly 5,000 beds, making it one of the largest of its kind.
From 2009 to 2019, Dr. Shi traveled to the United States every year to teach Xing Nao Kai Qiao in hands-on training courses that we hosted at Eastern Medicine Center. Together, we organized multiple U.S. teaching tours, sharing XNKQ not only for post-stroke recovery but also for a broad range of neurological disorders and their complications. In his later years, Dr. Shi continued to travel worldwide to pass on his methods, mentoring clinicians across continents.
Over his lifetime, Dr. Shi received numerous national and international honors recognizing his groundbreaking contributions to medicine. Perhaps even more importantly, he mentored nearly 200 students at the master’s and doctoral levels, shaping generations of acupuncturists and researchers who carry his vision forward.
Tragically, in May 2025, Dr. Shi passed away at the age of 86 due to an unexpected pneumonia. His loss is deeply felt across the acupuncture and medical communities worldwide. While he could no longer continue his annual teaching tours in the United States, his spirit, teachings, and philosophy remain alive in the work of his students and in every clinic that practices Xing Nao Kai Qiao.
Dr. Shi’s legacy is not only the hospitals he built, the awards he received, or the thousands of patients he treated, it is the enduring principle that acupuncture must serve humanity with compassion, resilience, and innovation. Though he is no longer with us, his ideas live on, guiding practitioners to bring healing and hope to patients everywhere.