Bio's

Master Tung Ching Chang has been referred to as The Greatest Acupuncture Technician who ever lived.

He was a scholar of the I-Ching, and a traditional Chinese physician from the Shandong Province in Northern China, famous for the miraculous and spontaneous results he would obtain using just a few needles. The acupuncture points he used are unique in that they are located opposite the affected area. In most cases, the patient notices the effect immediately upon insertion of the needle.

Dr. Tung's Points were a treasured family secret, handed down and refined over many generations. After fleeing for his life during the cultural revolution in China, Master Tung began to teach his secret acupuncture point system.

When Dr. Tung died in 1975, he left behind his point book and his legacy. Two of his students, Dr. Miriam Lee and Dr. Young Wei-Chieh, introduced Master Tung's Points to the U.S.

Dr. Young Wei-Chieh studied with Master Tung in Taiwan. Today he is considered the leading authority on Master Tung's acupuncture. Dr. Young has been Susan's teacher since 1987.


Dr. Young Wei-Chieh, Ph.D., is a certified Chinese Medical Doctor in Taiwan, and a NCCA-certified acupuncturist and herbalist in the United States. Now practicing in Rowland Heights, California, he is originally from Taiwan. He was born into a family with a Traditional Chinese Medicine background, and so he began learning TCM, orthopedics, traumatology, and acupuncture from a young age. In 1965, he began to study with Master Tung Ching-Chang as a direct-line disciple, and after four years of apprenticeship, he became Master Tung's clinic assistant and taught Tung’s Acupuncture.

After graduation he started his own clinic. In the early 1970s, Dr. Young developed a powerful needling technique named "Chien-Yin (Pulling & Guiding) Needling Technique,” as well as a theory to explain Master Tung’s Acupuncture, "Zhang-Fu Bei Tong (Organ Divergent Communications) theory.” Dr. Young published "Zhen Jiao Jing Wei" (The Longitude and Latitude of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), the first book documenting Master Tung's points with expanded theories and clinical experiences. Master Tung highly commended the work.

Over the past thirty years, Dr. Young has continued to share his discoveries by teaching seminars and publishing books and journal articles. After decades of clinical practice, independent study, and learning from master-level doctors, Dr. Young decided to reach for a higher level. He received his Doctorat.Doctorate degree in Medicine at Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ph.D. in Philosophy at Beijing University, and Ph.D. in Oriental Medicine from Samra University of Oriental Medicine.

In 1976, Miriam Lee was one of the very first to be licensed as an acupuncturist in the state of California. In 1974, she was arrested for practicing medicine without a license.

At her trial, her patients filled the courtroom in protest of her arrest, claiming their right to the only medicine that had truly helped them. Within a few days, acupuncture was legally made an experimental procedure by Governor Ronald Regan. In 1976, Governor Jerry Brown signed the legislation that once and for all legalized acupuncture.

The Acupuncture Association of America was founded on July 31st, 1980, and run by Dr. Miriam Lee until 1998 when she retired and passed the care of AAA over to her primary student, Susan Johnson, L.Ac. The purpose of the organization was to promote public education about acupuncture, provide continuing education for licensed practitioners, to guide and support legislative advocacy, and to promote research in the field of acupuncture.

For nearly a decade, AAA single-handedly supported lobbyist, Mr. Art Krause. Dr. Lee would offer Master Tung's Points classes to her students and licensed practitioners, in order to raise the money needed to support this legislative work. Krause, well respected in Sacramento, was able to negotiate agreements with influential politicians over a cup of coffee. Things were very different in those days. Among the friends of AAA and acupuncture, were Senator Art Torres and Senator Herschel Rosenthal, both instrumental in getting many acupuncture bills made into law. It is directly through the efforts of all of the above people, and a few others, that we can boast having the most comprehensive scope of practice, primary care physician status, primary insurance coverage and MediCal, not to mention licensure itself.

In 1989, The Council of Acupuncture Organizations was formed to unite the profession statewide in the legislative process, and to share the financial support of our lobbyist, Mr. Krause. This group was composed of nine different acupuncture organizations throughout California including, three Chinese, two Japanese, two Korean and two Caucasian groups. This was the first and only real attempt to date to bring these different acupuncture communities together. Unfortunately, the group only met for two years, but during that time, the CAO was able to procure acupuncture coverage through Worker's Compensation.

As acupuncture politics evolved through the nineties, many new organizations were formed, both state and nationwide. The Acupuncture Association of America, having had a very significant role in the early formation of California acupuncture, was then able to focus on its primary purpose of providing quality continuing education classes. Dr. Lee sponsored many different well known practitioners from China to come to her clinic in Palo Alto to teach seminars. These courses covered a variety of topics such as, Tung's Points, herbal formulation, scalp acupuncture, wrist and ankle points, and TCM gynecology and oncology.

Having now retired, Dr. Miriam Lee resides in Southern California with her family. Susan Johnson has stepped forward to teach Dr. Tung's Points and Miriam's style of acupuncture, and to continue the work of the Acupuncture Association of America..