Meridians and collaterals

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Meridians and collaterals

• Lecturer QU Hongyan

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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.

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trunk
branches
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.
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Twelve regular meridians
Meridians
Eight extra meridians
Meridian system
Twelve divergent meridians
Fifteen connecting collaterals Superficial
collaterals Tertiary collaterals
Collaterals
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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

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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

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Flowing orders of Twelve Regular Meridians
Three yin meridians of hand Lung meridian of hand
taiyin Pericardium meridian of hand jueyi Heart
meridian of hand shaoyin
Hand
Chest or Abdomen
Three yin meridians of foot Spleen meridian of
foot taiyin Liver meridian of foot jueyi Kidney
meridian of foot shaoyin
Three yang meridians of hand Larege intestine
meridian of hand yangming Sanjiao meridian of
hand shaoyang Small intestine meridian of hand
taiyang
Foot
Head
Three yang meridians of foot Stomach meridian of
foot yangming Gallbladder meridian of foot
shaoyang Bladder meridian of foot taiyang
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Head
three yang meridian
of
hand three yin meridian
of hand Chest
Hand three yang meridian
Abdomen of foot three yin
meridian of foot Foot
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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
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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.

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Tip of index finger
Tip of great toe
Beside the nose
External canthus
Chest
Tip of great toe
Tip of ring finger
In the chest
In the chest
Tip of small toe
Tip of small finger
Inner canthus
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• Connections

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.
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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.
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Lung meridian of hand-taiyin
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Large intestine meridian of hand-yangming
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Stomach meridian of foot-yangming
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Spleen meridian of foot-taiyin
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Heart meridian of hand-shaoyin
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Small intestine meridian of hand-taiyang
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Bladder meridian of foot-taiyang
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Kidney meridian of foot-shaoyin
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Pericardium meridian of hand-jueyin
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Triple energizer meridian of hand-shaoyang
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Gallbladder meridian of foot-shaoyang
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Liver meridian of foot-jueyin
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The Eight Extra Meridians

• 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.

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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.

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Functions of the Eight Extra Meridians

• They distributed longitudinally and horizontally
  among the twelve regular 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.

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Physiological functions
(1)regulates qi and blood of yang meridians and
be named as sea of yang meridians (2)reflects
the function of brain, kidney and spinal
cord (3) governs reproduction
Governor Vessel
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Physiological functions
(1)regulates qi and blood of yin meridians and be
named as sea of yin meridians (2)regulates
menstruation and pregnant fetus.

• Conception Vessel governs uterus and gestation

Conception Vessel
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Physiological functions
(1)regulates qi and blood of twelve regular
meridians (2) governs reproduction

• the sea of twelve regular meridians
• the sea of five zang organs and six fu
• organs

Thoroughfare Vessels
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Physiological functions
restrains the other meridians like a belt
Belt Vessel
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Thank you!