Shen-Hammer pulse diagnosis also known as Contemporary Chinese Pulse Diagnosis (CCPD) is the modern interpretation of the Ding lineage pulse method that originated in the Shanghai region of China and has been dated to c.15th century. This pulse system, passed down via the oral tradition through generations of family physicians is founded in centuries of ancient or Classical Chinese medical knowledge. Such wisdom was common in China prior to 1949 however little survived the ruthless modernisation that occurred with the Communist then Cultural Revolution.
During the middle of the 20th century Dr John HF Shen, OMD refined the Ding lineage pulse method and in 1970 took the knowledge to the USA. Over another 30 years he further developed the system with Dr Leon Hammer, MD who documented the operational definitions in his book Chinese Pulse Diagnosis, A Contemporary Approach (Hammer L 2005). During the years of their collaboration, based on their clinical observations they honed the technique by recording consistent pulse findings in different patients that presented with the same problems. The addition of this knowledge resulted in a method of pulse diagnosis that is thought to be more relevant to our current times and the symptomatology of modern diseases.