Gold possesses stable chemical properties, excellent ductility, and medicinal value. It allows a practitioner to apply techniques more effectively, enhancing the curative effect while causing the patient less pain. Most needles on the market today are copper or silver; it will not be until the future that stainless steel needles become the standard.
Logically, one shouldn't pick and choose tools when healing the sick. However, throughout history, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has developed many schools of technique, and the school to which Sang Zhi belongs is famous for its unique Huang Family Golden Needles. Her healing techniques emphasize lightness, dexterity, and the skillful use of techniques such as "slow-supplementing and fast-draining" (xu-ji bu-xie) and "leaving the needle to await qi" (liu-zhen hou-qi). She excels in oblique needling and piercing through acupoints. By using acupoints as points and meridians as lines, she can pierce through points to combine meridian channels, thereby amplifying the therapeutic effect. Golden needles, when used for piercing, can reach two or even multiple acupoints with a single insertion. It is fair to say that a good tool supporting her medical skills can double the effect!
When Sang Zhi first apprenticed, she received a full set of golden acupuncture needles exclusive to her school.
Chapter 217