扬州大学：《中医学》课程教学课件（英文讲稿）The basic functions of the meridians and collaterals

The basic functions of the meridians and collaterals

This channel starts fromthe tip of the radial side of theindex (PointShangyang, Li1).It runs upwards along the radial side of the indexand passesbetweenthe ossa metacarpaliaIand 1I,goes into thecepressionbetween thetendonsofm.extensorpollicislongusandbrevis,then alongthe antero-lateral aspect of theforearmto thelateral side oftheelbow (PointQuchiLil).Alongthe anteriorborder of thelateral sideof theupper arm,it ascendsto the highestpoint of the shoulder(Point Jianyu,LIi5),and thengoes along theanteriorborder of the acromion up to 7th cervical vertebra (PointDazhui,DU14),fromwhere itcomesdownwardsintothesupraclavicular fossa and communicates with the lung.Descendingthrough the diaphragm, it enters its pertaining organ, the largeintestine.The branch channel from the supraclavicular fossa runs upwards tothe neck,passes through the cheek, and enters into the lower teethand gum. Then it curves round the lips and meets at PointRenzhong(DU26),orphiltrum.theverticalgrooveonthemid-lineofthe upperlip.From there thechannel oftheleft side turns rightwhile the right side channel turns left.They go upwards to bothsides of the wings of the nose(Point Yingxiang,LI2o)and connectwiththe StomachChannel of Foot-Yangming

Thebasicfunctions ofthemeridians and collateralsThere are two basic functions of the meridiansand collaterals. One is to connect the externalwith the internal as well as to connecttheviscera withotherorgans.The other istotransport gi, blood, yin and yang to nourish theviscera and the body.In physiology,pathologyand treatment,the meridians and the collateralsare responsiblefor the transmission andconduction of physiologicaland pathological information as well as theregulation of the physiological functions of thebody

To connectthe external withthe internal as well as toconnectthe viscera withotherorgansThe body is an organic whole.It is the meridiansand collaterals that connect theviscera,thebody,the five sensory organs andthe nineorificestogether.The meridians internallypertain to the viscera and externally connect thelimbs.Sincethemeridians arecomposed ofvarious collaterals of different levels,they haveformulated the wholebodyinto a network.There are three basicwayswithwhichthemeridians to connect all parts of the bodytogether

Therelationshipsbetweentheviscera,the body,the sensoryorgansandthe orificesThe connection between the externalandtheinternal as well as the viscera and other organsismainlyaccomplished by the twelve meridiansOn the one hand thetwelvemeridians and theirbranchesaccomplish such aconnection byemerging from the external of the body andentering the internal of the body.On the otherhand,they reinforce such a connection with thetwelve branches,twelvetendonsand twelve skindivisions

The relationships betweenthe zang-organs and fu-organsThe twelve meridians has formed six pairs ofexternal and internal relationships whichenablethe zang-organs and the fu-organs in externaland internal relationships to connect with eachother.The meridians stemming from the visceraassociate with several internal organs duringtheir running processes. As a result each zang-organ or fu-organ is connected with severalmeridians

The relationships among themeridiansThe twelve meridians are connected witheach other,follow a certain running andinfusing order and together form a largecirculatory system.The twelve meridiansandthe eight extraordinary vessels haveformulated a crisscross network.Theextensive association among the meridiansand collaterals enables the body tobecomean organicwhole

Totransport qi,blood,yin andyang to nourish the viscera andthe bodyAll the viscera and other parts of the bodydepend on gi, blood,yin and yang to nourishand maintain their physiological functions. It isthe meridians that transport gi,blood,yin andyang to the whole body. In fact, the meridiansand collaterals are the passages of qi, blood, yinand yang.The purpose of the meridians toconnect the viscera and the body is to transportqi, blood, yin and yang.With the extensivedistribution of the meridians and collaterals, qiblood, yin and yang in the body can flow freelyto maintain a holistic balance of the body

The functional characteristics of theeightextraordinaryvesselsApart from sharing the same functions with the twelvemeridianstheeightextraordinary vessels still havethree specialfunctions.Thefirstisto strengthen the connection of the twelve meridians.Forexample,the governorvesselaccumulates giand bloodinall theyang meridians;the conception vesselaccumulates gi and blood inall the yin meridians,thethoroughfare vessel accumulates gi andbloodinthetwelvemeridians:theyang-linkvessel connectsall theyang meridians together;and the yin-link vessel connects all the yinmeridians together.The second is to regulate gi andblood inthetwelve meridians.When gi and blood in the twelve meridians areexcessive,they then flowintothe eight extraordinary vesselstostore up.If giand blood inthe twelve meridians are insufficient,theeight extraordinary vessels will infuse some qiand blood stored inthem into the twelve meridians. The third isto govern some of thespecial physiological activities of women.Since the thoroughfareconception and governorvessels all startfromthe uterus,they areclosely related to the menstruation,pregnancyandlaborof women.Sincethebelt vessel runs transversely around thelower abdomen,itcanprotect fetus andcontrolsleukorrhea