南阳作为医圣张仲景的故里，张仲景对中医药的贡献深刻地影响着南阳人对艾草艾灸的人文情怀， 群众知艾、用艾意愿居高不下。艾灸时，燃烧的艾绒化为温热之气，由表及里、循经走络、直达病灶，从而祛除寒邪、扶阳补正。
《伤寒杂病论》中 “柏叶汤”和“芎归胶艾汤”两个方剂均记载有艾叶的使用。在中医著名医学典籍《黄帝内经》中也有应用艾草的记载：“药之不及，针之不到，必灸之”。民间至今还流传着“家有三年艾，郎中不用来”的谚语。《本草纲目》记载“艾灸用之则透诸经，而治百种病邪，其沉疴之人为康泰，其功大矣”。
“莫遣净名知我笑，休将火艾灸浮云。”不难看出，诗人白居易也曾用艾灸来治疗疾病。

       As the hometown of medical saint Zhang Zhongjing, Nanyang's contribution to traditional Chinese medicine profoundly influences the humanistic feelings of Nanyang people towards mugwort and moxibustion, and the people's willingness to know and use mugwort is high.  During moxibustion, the burning moxa velvet turns into warm air, which runs from the outside to the inside, follows the meridians and reaches the lesions, thereby eliminating cold evil, supporting yang and replenishing the condition.
In "Treatise on Febrile Diseases", both the prescriptions "Bai Ye Decoction" and "Xinggui Jiao Ai Decoction" record the use of mugwort leaves.  There are also records of using mugwort in the famous medical classic "Huangdi Neijing" of traditional Chinese medicine: "If the medicine is not enough, if the acupuncture is not enough, you must moxibustion."  There is still a proverb among the people that "I have three years of wormwood, but I don't use it for doctors."  "Compendium of Materia Medica" records that "when moxibustion is used, it can penetrate the meridians and cure hundreds of diseases. If the person with severe diseases is healthy, it will be of great success."
"Don't let Jing Ming know my name and I laugh, don't use fire to moxibustion to the clouds." It is not difficult to see that the poet Bai Juyi has also used moxibustion to treat diseases.