Meridians and Meridians and collateralscollaterals

Meridians and Meridians and collateralscollaterals

Lecturer: QU Hongyan

A General Introduction to the Meridians and Collaterals A General Introduction to the Meridians and Collaterals

A general introduction to the twelve regularmeridians

A general introduction to the twelve regularmeridians

Basic functions, circulation routes and function features of eight extra meridians

Basic functions, circulation routes and function features of eight extra meridians

ContentsContents

Meridians and collaterals

Meridians and collaterals or “Jing Luo” in Chinese, are pathways that transport qi and blood, and connect the internal zang-fu organs with the surface and other part of the body.

Jing, meridians, means “go through” or “a path”. They are strong and large. They run longitudinally and interiorly within the body.

Luo, that is collaterals, means “something that connects” or “a net”. They are the branches of the meridians, thin and small. They run transversely and superficially, and crisscross and net the whole body.

trunk

branches

Merid

ian

syste

m

Meridians

CollateralsFifteen connecting collaterals

Superficial collaterals

Tertiary collaterals

Eight extra meridians

Twelve divergent meridians

Twelve regular meridians

Physiological functions of meridians

Communicating the exterior with the interior, connecting with viscera Circulating qi and blood and coordinating yin and yang Resisting evil qi and manifesting symptoms and signs of

diseases Transmitting sensation and regulating the deficiency and excess

Twelve regular meridians

The nomenclature of the twelve regular meridians is based on three factors, which are hand or foot, yin or yang, and zang or fu organs.

e.g. Lung meridian of hand-taiyin Large intestine meridian of hand-yangming Gallbladder meridian of foot-shaoyang

Flowing orders of Twelve Regular Meridians

Hand Hand

Foot Foot HeadHead

Chest or Abdomen

Chest or Abdomen

Three yin meridians of handLung meridian of hand taiyinPericardium meridian of hand jueyiHeart meridian of hand shaoyin

Three yang meridians of handLarege intestine meridian of hand yangmingSanjiao meridian of hand shaoyangSmall intestine meridian of hand taiyang

Three yang meridians of footStomach meridian of foot yangmingGallbladder meridian of foot shaoyangBladder meridian of foot taiyang

Three yin meridians of footSpleen meridian of foot taiyinLiver meridian of foot jueyiKidney meridian of foot shaoyin

Head

three yang meridian of hand three yin meridian of handChest Hand three yang meridian Abdomen of foot three yin meridian of foot Foot

Directions of twelve regular meridians

• Three yin meridians of hand run from chest to hand

• Three yang meridians of hand run from hand to head

• Three yang meridians of foot run from head to foot

• Three yin meridians of foot run from foot to abdomen and chest.

If we extend our arms overhead, the yin

meridians run upward while yang ones run

downward

Distribution of the twelve regular meridians • The Twelve Regular Meridians

have lateral and symmetrical distribution on the head, face, trunk and limbs.

• The six yin meridians are distributed on the medial side of the limbs and on the chest and abdomen.

• The six yang meridians are distributed on the lateral side of the limbs and on the head, face and trunk.

Lung

Gallbladder

LiverLarge

Intestine

Stomach

Spleen

HeartSmall

IntestineBladder

Kidney

Pericardium

Sanjiao

ChestChest

Tip of index finger

Beside the

nose

Tip of great toe

In the chest

Tip of small finger

Inner canthus

Tip of small toe

In the chest

Tip of ring finger

Tip of great toe

External canth

us

ConnectionsConnections

Yin meridians and yang meridians connect in the hand or the foot.

Two yang meridians with the same name connect in the head or facial region.Hand yin meridians and foot yin meridians connect in the chest.

Exterior-interior relationship Yin meridians, which are considered relatively inner, belong to zang organs and interact with fu organs.

Yang meridians, which run relatively superficially, belong to fu organs and connect to zang organs.

The heart meridian belongs to the heart and connect to the small intestine

The small intestine meridian belongs to the small intestine and interact with the heart.

i.e.

Lung meridian of hand-taiyin

Large intestine meridian of hand-yangming

Stomach meridian of foot-yangming

Spleen meridian of foot-taiyin

Heart meridian of hand-shaoyin

Small intestine meridian of hand-taiyang

Bladder meridian of foot-taiyang

Kidney meridian of foot-shaoyin

Pericardium meridian of hand-jueyin

Triple energizer meridian of hand-shaoyang

Gallbladder meridian of foot-shaoyang

Liver meridian of foot-jueyin

The Eight Extra Meridians are the meridians whose courses are different from the twelve regular meridians, eight in all, namely Governor Vessel, Conception Vessel, Thoroughfare Vessel, Belt Vessel, Yin Link Vessel, Yang Link Vessel, Yin Heel Vessel and Yang Heel Vessel.

The Eight Extra MeridiansThe Eight Extra Meridians

Differences compared with twelve regular meridians

They do not belong to any zang-fu organs directly;

They have no exterior-interior relationship amongst themselves

They travel in an extraordinary way compared to the twelve regular meridians

Apart from GV and CV which have their own points, the other meridians share the points with the twelve regular meridians.

Functions of the Eight Extra Meridians• They distributed longitudinally and horizontally among the twelve r

egular meridians, working not only as strengthening the association between the twelve regular meridians, but also as dominating and controlling qi and blood, as well as balancing yin and yang.

• They regulate the qi and blood of the regular meridians, such as in storage, drainage of the qi and blood.

• If the twelve regular meridians were likened to the rivers and great rivers, the eight extraordinary meridians would be likened to the lakes and reserviors.

Physiological functions ：

（ 1 ） regulates qi and blood of yang meridians and be named as se

a of yang meridians ；

（ 2 ） reflects the function of brain, kidney and spinal cord ；

（ 3 ） governs reproduction

Governor Vessel

Conception Vessel

Physiological functions:

（ 1 ） regulates qi and blood of yi

n meridians and be named as sea of

yin meridians ；

（ 2 ） regulates menstruation and

pregnant fetus.

Conception Vessel governs uterus and gestation

Thoroughfare Vessels

Physiological functions:

（ 1 ） regulates qi and blood of tw

elve regular meridians ；

（ 2 ） governs reproduction ；

“the sea of twelve regular meridians”

“the sea of five zang organs and six fu

organs”

Belt Vessel

Physiological functions:

restrains the other meridians

like a belt