The study traces the origin of "acupuncture" and its conceptual evolution. In the context of Western medicine

the term "acupuncture" has undergone a semantic drift process

evolving from its initial connotation as referring to traditional acupuncture techniques in China and Japan

to its generalization encompassing various surgical clinical procedures

and finally returning to its original meaning. This process represents both an innovative application by Western surgeons

based on their increasingly profound understanding of "acupuncture" over time

and an inevitable transformation for acupuncture and moxibustion to survive within the Western medical system in cross-cultural contexts

mainly due to cultural differences in cross-cultural communication of acupuncture and moxibustion. The terminological changes in "acupuncture" reflect a survival status of acupuncture of traditional Chinese medicine in different medical backgrounds. It suggests that the international communication of acupuncture and moxibustion in China should strengthen the translation of the concepts and terms of traditional acupuncture and moxibustion

and especially

pay more attention to the theoretical connotation behind the terms in translation.