Table Of ContentU Shi Zhen
Pulse Diagnosis
bs
Ld $hi Zhen
First published 1981 . Sydney, Australia
Hoc Ku Huynh and G.M. Seifert.
Copyright O 8985 Noc Ku Huynah and G.Ma Seifert*
N.1 rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
Librav of Congress Cataloging in Bobliicarmtl@nD ata
Li, Shih-chen, 151 8 - 1593.
Pulse diagnosis.
Translation of: Pin-hu mo hsueh pai hua chieh.
Originally published: Sydney, Australia:
H.K. Huynh and G.M. Seifert, 1981
Includes index
1. Pulse - Early works to 1800.
2. Diagnosis - Early works to 1800.
3. Medicine, Chinese - Early works to 1800
I. Title. [DNLM: WZ 290 L693peI
RC74.L513 1985 416.07'54 85 \m3506
ISBN 0-8121 11 -06-2
Paradigm Publications 44 Linden Street, Brookline, MA.
Cover Design and Pulse IlIustrations by Herb Rich Id1
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Anabelle Kristevic for her work on
the manuscript; and N.S.W. College of Natural Therapies, par-
ticularly the Oriental Medicine Faculty. Uimmy Chan Seifert
contributed the translations on which the introduction is based
and Sharon Kells assisted greatly with her journalistic skills.
Their help is gratefully acknowledged.
ki Shi Zhen is arguably the greatest natural historian that
China has ever produced. He was born into the family of a
physician in 1518 and was a native of Hu Bei province. In his
later years he was nick-named Bin Hu after the province.
His masterpiece, the Ben Cacp Gang Mo (Compendium of
Materia Medica) contains 52 volumes and took 30 years to
complete. However, he also wrote several other texts, including
the book on which this translation is based, the Bin Wu Mah
Xae (Theh lse Studies of Bin Nu).
The Bin Hn MaS Xne is divided into two sections. The first
section is based on the Si Yan Jo Uao (Essentials of the Four
Words) written by Cui 9ia Yan of the Song Dynasty (420 A.D.
-
Wen. The second section discuss& 27 pulses and their diagnos-
tic value and is written in a type of formal verse with seven
characters per line. Since these verses made it easy to read and
remember and since it established a good theoretical frame-
work, it became a standard text superceding the Mai Xoe.
Today, this book is still considered a good text for
beginners and an important reference f or practitioners. In
ordkr to make it more easily understood and because after
translation it is impossible to keep the original verse form,
annotations and simple explanations have been added. Pulse
diagrams based on electrocardiogram readings have been
added. These are the current standards used throughout all
China.
Table of Contents
I. The Jing Mai and the Maii Qi
1. The Physiology of the Jing Mai
2. Function of the Mai Qi
3. Direction of the Blood Circanldon by the Stomach Qi
and Zong Qi; the Consequential Theory of Blood Flow
Through the Jing Mai Following the Movement of Qi
4. SigniPicance of the Wrist Pulse and the Relation
between Respiration and Blood Circulation
2. Pulse Positions and Diagnostic Techniques
1. The Three Pulse Positions - Cun, Guan, Chi
2. The Three Positions of the Zang Fu Organs and the
Difference in Male and Femde Pulses
3. Seven Diagnostic Techniques and Nine Conditions
4. Using the Wrist Pulse to Distinguish Disease Changes
Over the Whole of the Body
3. The Normal Pulses of the Five Organs and Their Different
Qua~ties
1. The DiflFerent Levels of the Normal Pulses
2. The Different Qualities of the Normal Pulses
3. Harmonious Pulses of the Four Seasons
4. Udng the Pdncipd Pulses to Differentiate
1. The Four Principal Pulses: Floating, Sinking, Slow and
Rapid
5. Types of Pulses
1. The Floating Pulse and Its Seven Types
2. The Sinking Pulse and I[ts Five Types
3. The Slow Pulse and Its Related Types
4. The Rapid Pulse and Its Related Types
5. The Long, Wiry and Short Pulses
13. Symptoms and Pulses in Edema and Fullness and
Swelling
14. Symptoms and Pulses in Accumulation and Stagna-
tion and Attacks by Perverse Evil
15 . Symptoms and Pulses in Yong Abscesses, Ju
Abscesses and Sores
16. Symptoms and Pulses in Lung Abscess, Lung Atrophy
and Appendicitis
8. The Pulse In Pregnancy and Pediatrics
1. The Pulse During Pregnancy
2. Pediatric Pulses
9. Diagnosing Disorders of the Eight Curious Channels
I. Pulses of the Eight Curious Channels
2. Diseases of the Eight Curious Channels
88. The Exhausted Pulses
1. The Exhausted Pulses of the Zang Fu
2. Exhausted Pulses of Yin and Yang
The Twemty-seven Pulse States
1. Floating Pulse
2. Sinking Pulse
3. Slow Pulse
4. Rapid Pulse
5. Slippery Pulse
6. Choppy Pulse
7. Empty Pulse
8. Full Pulse
9. Long Pulse
10. Short Pulse
11 . Flooding Pulse
12. Minute Pulse
13. Tight Pulse
14. Leisurely Pulse
15. Hollow Pulse
16. Wiry Pulse
117. Leather Pulse
18 . Firm Pulse
19. Soft Pulse
20. Weak Pulse
21, Scattered Pulse
22. Thin Pulse
23. Hidden Pulse
24. Moving Pulse
25. Hasty Pulse
26. Knotted Pulse
27. Intermittent Pulse
Appeadk A. Pulse Description Tables 10 2
Appendk B. The Twenty-Seven Pulses in English, Pinyin 116
and Chinese
Appendh @. Gomp~catedD iseases in English, Pinyin and 117
Chinese
Pulse Diagnosis
The Jing Mai and the Mrai Qi
1.1 The Physiology of the Jing Mai
Mai is the Chinese term for blood vessels. Those blood vessels which
travel along the channels are referred to as the Jing Mai. Together
with their branches they form a network which (externally). covers
the entire surface of the body and (internally) penetrates to its
deepest levels. They conduct the Qi and Blood and enable blood to
permeate the entire system, completing the circulatory process.
Their pulse beats have a close relationship to respiration and there-
fore to qi, as the lungs rule the qi.
The jing mai are distributed evenly throughout the body in a pattern
similar to the rivers and streams flowing through the earth. Inter-
nally they connect directly to the heart and externally they spread
through the skin, muscles and connective tissues in a criss-cross pat-
tan, carrying the blood as they go.
1.2 The Function d the Mai Qi
Pulse beats are produced mainly by the rnai qi, which means by a
contracting and expanding activity in the walls of the jing mai. The
m& qi not only obtains continuous nourishment horn the prenatal
kidney essence and the postnatal stomach essence, but dso is
founded on Ying (2i and Wei Qi. Blood circulation is continuous
and is therefore yang in nature; but the essence substance contained
by the blood vessels is yin. Hence the mai qi is yin within ymg.
Ying qi and wei qi are produced by the spleen and stomach. Ying qi
produces yin (blood), the function of which is to nourish the entire
body, and wei qi protects the superficial part of the body. Ying qi is
located at the level of the blood, so it circulates in the jing mai with
the yin (blood). Wei qi is a type of yang qi and it circulates outside
of the jing mai. These interacting internal-external, yin-yang factors
generate the pulse beats.
Blood Circulation
1.3 Direction sf Blood Ciacolation by Stomach Qi
and the Zong Qi; the Conseq~emtiaTl heou of Blood
How Through the Jing Mai following the Movement
of Qi
The theory of blood flow through the jing mai following the stomach
qi and Zong Qi proposes that circulation results from interaction
between the jing mai and yang qi. The jing msai belong to yin and
the qi belongs to yang. When the yin jing m i a nd $he yang qi com-
bine, pulse beats are produced - the yang qi creates a pump-like
movement, forchg the blood through the jing m&, The yang qi
includes the stomach qi and the zong qi.
1.4 Sigaificamee of the Wrist Pulse and the Relation
between Respiration and Blood Circsulation
There are twdve jing mai which together permeate the entire body,
and which are individually reflected at the wrist area of the hand T4i
Yin Oung) channel. This channel travels downward through the
throat and connects with the lungs, forming most of the respiratory
tract. The throat is the gateway through which qi enters and exits,
and the lung is the venue for exchange of qi. It is also the meeting
place of the "hundred vessels" and its yuan point, L-9 (t~wan),is
the great meeting place of all blood vessels. This point is located at
the wrist. The surrounding region is therefore used to gauge changes
to the qi in each of the jing mai and Zang Fu. One inhdation and
one exhalation is called one respiration and according to ancient cd-
culations a normal person has 13,500 respirations every day. Blood
moves forward through his or her channels by 6 cun per respiration
and over a twenfy-four hour period covers 81,000 culra. ff.l[owever,
according to present day calculations, a normal person has 24,000 to
26,000 respirations per day. Both ancient and modern sources agree
that $here are basically four pulse beats per respiration,
Description:The only English language ed. of the 16th-c. classic available. The Bin Hu Ma Xue, from which this translation was taken, was first written in 1518, and has been a necessary component of acupuncture education for over 500 years. This translation develops each of the basic pulses and their combinatio
