The historical background of recent-times“developing the Western and restraining the Chinese, and abolishing the old and conserving the new”determines the fact that the prominent feature of acupuncture development is actual effect. Shanghai famous doctors gathered, wrote kooks, established theories, run schools, paid attention to information exchange, participated in treatment for refractory and serious diseases including epidemic diseases, worked together to the academic inheritance of acupuncture and moxibustion and played an important role in preserving traditional Chinese medicine and spreading acupuncture and moxibustion.

Moxibustion is one of the main first aid measures in ancient. Emergency moxibustion has a long history， which can be traced back to the “Foot and Arm Eleven Pulse Moxibustion Sutra （《足臂十一脉灸经》）” and “Yin and Yang Eleven Pulse Moxibustion Sutra （《阴阳十一脉灸经》）” unearthed from the Mawangdui Han Tomb. “Emergency Standby Remedies （《肘后备急方》）” in Jin dynasty used emergency moxibustion to treat as many as 28 kinds of emergencies； In the Tang and Song dynasties， moxibustion continued to develop， and the first emergency moxibustion monograph “Moxibustion for Emergency （《备急灸法》）” appeared； During the Ming and Qing dynasties， moxibustion was widely used in surgical emergencies. The long period of clinical practice confirmed that moxibustion has a definite effect on syncope， asthma， pain and diarrhoea， carbuncle sores and ulcers， leakage and dystocia， epilepsy and convulsions， epistaxis and laryngeal paralysis， and other emergencies， involving the departments of internal medicine， surgery， gynecology， pediatrics and ear-nose-throat. Moxibustion has the function of warming the meridians， reinforcing healthy qi and dispelling the evil， restoring yang to save from collapse. Besides， modern research has also proved that moxibustion played the role of anti-inflammatory， analgesic， and enhancing the immune system. Tracing the theory of moxibustion for emergencies is conducive to provide new ideas for the application of moxibustion in modern clinical emergencies， better inherit and develope the emergency treatment technology of traditional Chinese medicine， and promote the diversified development of modern emergency medicine.