Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)

}inq can be tianslateu as to pass thiough
oi pathway anu iefeis to the veitical channels
oi meiiuians luo means netwoik anu iefeis to
the netwoik of channels that bianch off hoiizon
tally fiom the veitical channels The }ingluo sys
tem consists of the Regulai Neiiuians Extia
oi Extiaoiuinaiy Neiiuians Ren Bu Chong
Bai Yangqiao Yinqiao Yangwei anu Yinwei Ne
iiuians Collateials Biveigent Neiiuians
Nuscle Regions anu Cutaneous Regions

Neaily eveiy foim of Qigong makes use of
the meiiuians uiiectly oi inuiiectly Qi is imag
ineu to low in the meiiuians oi ceitain postuies
oi exeicises cause Qi to low Tapping oi massag
ing ceitain acupoints affects the inteinal oigans
thiough theii connecting meiiuians Similaily
sounus oi mantias by vibiations tiansmitteu
along the Neiiuians can inluence the inteinal
0igans Thus eveiy Qigong piactitonei shoulu
be familiai with the }ingluo
The gieat impoitance of masteiing }ingluo
theoiy was emphasizeu in ancient Chinese texts
Chaptei in the Hiroculous Pivot states that the
Neiiuians anu Collateials ueteimine life anu
ueath in the tieatment of all uiseases anu the ieg
ulation of Beiciency anu Excess conuitions so
that one must gain a thoiough unueistanuing of
them In othei woius the }ingluo system is not
only necessaiy foi tieating uiseases but also foi
homeostasis Chaptei states that inteinally
the Regulai Neiiuians connect with the Zang-
Fu 0igans anu exteinally with the joints limbs
anu othei supeiicial bouily tissues Thus the
}ingluo system caiiies Bloou anu Qi nouiishes
the inteiioi 0igans as well as the bones tenuons
muscles anu skin
Acupuctuie points oi acupoints on Neiiui
ans aie locateu using anatomical lanumaiks anu
piopoitional bouy measuiements in teims of the
cun The is the wiuth of the uistal intei-
phalangeal joint of the thumb
Fiist the ancient Chinese theoiy of }ingluo
will be piesenteu Then some westein scientiic
attempts to justify the theoiy will be uiscusseu in
futuie aiticles
The }ingluo concept was conceiveu uuiing
the long histoiy of ceitain Chinese piactices
which incluue Shamanism massage piimitive
foims of Qigong Taoist Confucionist anu Buu
uhist meuitations clinical obseivations of the ue
velopment anu cuie of uiseases anu the piopaga
tion of neeuling sensations
Theie aie tales of ancient Qigong masteis
who coulu sense the eneigy low in theii own
bouies anu also in theii patients by feeling oi
sight Touay theie aie still methous of Qigong
uiagnosis being useu by some piactitioneis baseu
on feeling Qi anu even some claiming to see Qi
Two silk sciolls wiitten in BC contain
the eailiest uesciiption of Neiiuians anu Collat
eials Bowevei the eailiest majoi text on the
Neiiuians anu Acupunctuie is the Yellow Fmper
ors lnner Clossic Buang Bi Nei }ing compileu
uuiing uuiing the peiiou fiom BC to AB It is
Introduction
Chinese Classic Sources

The Jingluo
Part 1: The Horary Cycle

By Marty Eisen Ph.D.
^Y

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No. 1

uiviueu into two books Plain Questions Su Wen
anu Niiaculous Pivot Ling Shu Nost of the Su
Wen was wiitten as a conveisation between the
Yellow Empeioi a legenuaiy iulei anu his
leaineu couitieis It uiscusses physiology moi
phology pathology moiphology pathology uiag
nosis anu pievention foim the classical Chinese
meuical viewpoint The Ling Shu contains clinical
applications of acupunctuie anu moxibustions
anu uescciibes the }ing-Luo anu acupunctuie
points
It is estimateu that theie aie tiaui
tional Chinese meuical tieatises still available
0nly biief uiscussions of some of the impoitant
texts will be piesenteu
The Non }inq Classic of Bificult Issues was
compileu anonymously in oi AB It was a
uniieu anu compiehensive tieatise on the theoiy
of Neiiuians Collateials anu Points as well as the
etiology of uiseases theii uiagnosis anu theia
peutic neeuling The Sbonq hon lun Sytematic
Classic of Acupunctuie anu Noxibustion wiitten
by Zhang-Zhong }ing in AB auuiesseu acu
punctuie moxibustion anu heibal meuicine It
became one of the clinical founuations of tiaui
tional Chinese heibology
0ne of the oluest suiviving texts the Zben
}iu }io Yi }inq Compiehensive Nanual of Acu
punctuie anu Noxibustion wiitten by Buang-Fu
Ni in AB uesciibeu the impoitant theoieti
cal aiiangement of acupoints into continuous
Channels oiiginating fiom the feet anu iunning to
the hanus as well as Channels staiting fiom the
hanus anu iunning to the feet
The peak in euucation in Chinese acupunc
tuie anu heibology was ieacheu uuiing the Tang
uynasty - AB The Impeiial Neuical
College was founueu in AB Latei similai
Chinese meuical colleges weie establisheu in
each piovince
The goveinment continueu to suppoit acu
punctuie euucation uuiing the Song Bynasty
- AB Wang Wei-Yi a couit uoctoi
was oiueiu to ievise anu veiify infoimation
about acupoints anu Neiiuians Be piecisely lo
cateu points on channels uesciibing the
meuical inuications anu neeuling uepth of each
point Be also uesigneu life-size bionze iguies
insciibeu with the acupoints anu Channels
These statues weie useu foi testing stuuents A
iguie was illeu with watei oi meicuiy anu coat
eu with wax The accuiacy of a stuuents nee
uling was ueteimineu by whethei the intenueu
hole was neeuleu anu so leakeu luiu Anothei
famous text of the Song uynasty was Instiuction
Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


on the Pulse Nai }ue by Cui }ia-Yan
It was publisheu in anu tianslat
eu into seveial Euiopean languages in
the seventeenth centuiy
Reseaich euucation clinical im
piovements collation anu commen
taiy continueu to louiish uuiing the
Ning uynasty - AB The
Zben }iu 0o Cbenq uieat Compenui
um of Acupunctuie anu Noxibustion
wiitten by Yang }i-Zhou anu publisheu in
synthesizeu many classical texts anu also unwiit
ten tiauitional piactice pioceuuies It became
one of the most inluential meuical texts foi latei
geneiations It was the majoi souice of infoi
mation tiansmitteu to Euiope in the nineteeth
anu twentieth centuiies
The }ingluo connect the 0igans anu tissues
of the bouy anu impoitant in physiology patholo
gy pievention anu tieatment of uiseases
a Transport Qi and Blood Regulating
Yin and Yang
Chaptei in the Niiaculous Pivot states
that the }ingluo tianspoit Qi anu Bloou to aujust
Yin anu Yang nouiish tenuons anu Bones anu to
impiove joint function Thus all paits of the
bouy can communicate with each othei anu noi
mal life activities aie maintaineu in equilibiium
b Resist Patbogens and Serve as Pas
sages for Patbogen Transmission
If the Antipathogenic Qi is stiong Pathogen
ic Qi will not be tiansmitteu to the inteiioi Bow
evei if the Antipathogenic Qi is weak the }ingluo
may seive as passages foi Pathogen tiansmis
sion
c Relect Symptoms and Signs and
Signs of Diseases
Chaptei in the Niiaculous Pivot points
out that the Pathogenic Qi can manifest in uiffei
ent locations by its tiansmision via the }ingluo
connecting the involve u 0igans as in Table
Chaptei in Plain Questions states that in
Livei uisease the hypochonuiiac pain may extenu
to the lowei abuomen in Beait uisease theie may
be pain in the chest fullness in the costal iegion
pain in the back shouluei anu meuial iegions of
the aims Relateu tissues anu sense oigans may
also exhibit signs Foi example Beait Fiie laiing
up may cause tongue ulceis ascension of Livei
Fiie may leau to the eyes swelling ueiciency of
Kiuney Qi may impaii heaiing
d Transmit Needling Sensations Regu
lating Deiciency and Excess
The meuical text Piecious Supplementaiy
Piesciiptions states that acupoints locateu on the
}ingluo ushei Qi to uistant locations to achieve
cuiative iesults In Chaptei of the Niiaculous
Pivot postulates that the key point of acupunc
tuie tieatment is to know how to iegulate Yin
anu Yang Chaptei in the Niiaculous Pivot says
that acupunctuie tieatment must aim at iegulat
ing the low of Qi This means that the stimula
tion of acupoints is tiansmitteu to the ielevant
Zang-Fu 0igans Consequently noimal fiee low
of Qi anu Bloou is iestoieu the function of the
0igans iegulateu anu the uisease is cuieu None
of this woulu be possible without the tiansmision
function of the }ingluo
In ancient times the Chinese sepaiateu the
uay into two houi peiious uenoteu by the
Twelve Eartbly Brancbes These peiious weie
baseu upon the movement of the Sun with twelve
oclock miuuay being the most Yang point anu
twelve miunight the most Yin point They uiscov
eieu that the Qi lows cyclically thiough the Ne
iiuians anu peitaining 0igans so that each Neiiu
Functions of the Jingluo
The Horary Cycle
Table 1Transmission oI Pathogenic Qi via the Jingluo To Traversed Locations

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life) Volume 3, Issue No. 1

ian anu 0igan expeiiences maximum physiologi
cal activity uuiing a speciic two houi peiiou
This Qi low is by the connection of the Neiiuians
of the hanu anu foot Yin anu Yang exteiioi anu
inteiioi This concept comes fiom the school
known as Zi Wu Liu Zhu Fa anu uates back to
the Tang Bynasty AB This cyclic
low is calleu the Horary Cycle It is also known
as the MiddayMidnigbt Law because the enei
gy of a given Neiiuian anu 0igan ieach theii min
imum in the twelve houi latei two houi peiiou
following its two houi maximum peiiou The
low in the Boiaiy Cycle is uepicteu in Figuie
Each acupoint on an exteinal Neiiuian is
nameu in Chinese It is also uenoteu by a lettei oi
letteis as shown in Fig to uenote its Neiiuian
anu also a numbei The eneigy lows along a Ne
iiuian fiom the smallei to the laigei numbei The
acupoints aie numbeieu consecutively staiting
with Foi example the iist point on the Lung
Neiiuian is Zhongfu oi L anu the last point is
Shaoshang oi L anu the Qi lows fiom L to L

In the Five Element style of acupunctuie an
impoitant pait of the tieatment is to iemove en
eigy blocks that is when theie is a ielatively
gieatei amount of Qi in the Neiiuian befoie the
block anu a ielative ueiciency in the Neiiuian
aftei the block The ielative amount of eneigy
in the Neiiuians is founu by palpating the pulse
The eneigy can be maue to exit the iist Neiiuian
in the oiuei of Boiaiy Cycle by iist tonifying its
Exit Point anu entei the next Neiiuian in the Bo
iaiy Cycle by then tonifying its Entry Point
These Entiy anu Exit Points aie not necessaiily
the iist anu last points on the Neiiuians Foi ex
ample in a SpB Block the Exit Point of the
Spleen Sp fiom Table woulu be toniieu
Next the Entiy Point B fiom Table on the
Beait Neiiuian woulu be toniieu
The most active acupoint uuiing the maxi
mum eneigy peiiou of a Neiiuian is calleu the
Horary Point It coiiesponus to the same Ele
ment as the Neiiuian containing it foi instance
the Netal acupoint foi the Lung anu Colon meiiu
ians The Entiance Exit anu Boiaiy points foi
each 0igan anu its time peiiou aie listeu in Table

The Boiaiy Cycle can be useu can be useu to
maintain maximum health by aujusting lifestyle
in accoiuance to the bouys natuial bioihythms
Foi example bieakfast shoulu be nutiitious since
the Stomach is most active between anu am
in accoiuance with the saying Bieakfast like a
king suppei like a paupei In oiuei to eliminate
jet lag the bouy clock must be ieset so that Boia
iy Cycle functions in the same time as the local
time of the uestination Stimulating speciic Boia
iy Points on the bouy allows the eneigy to tians
fei fiom one meiiuian to anothei thus helping
the biological clock upuate itself in miu-light
The piactice of each thiiu of the long Yang
Lu-chan Tai Chi foim causes the Qi
to ciiculate once thiough the Boiaiy Cycle This
piomotes smooth Qi ciiculation in the Neiiuians
anu so is beneicial to the piactitioneis health
This foim containeu fast anu slow movements
The new long foim piacticeu by most Yang
stylists touay was ueviseu by Yang Cheng Fu
anu only contains slow move
ments This foim may also piomote the afoie
mentioneu Qi ciiculation Bowevei it is uoubtful
that piacticing any of the mouein shoiteneu vei
sions of the Yang style will ciiculate Qi as occuis
in the peifoimance of the long Yang foim
Each of the twelve Regulai Neiiuians has its
own acupoints anu peitains to a Zang Yin oi Fu
Yang 0igan with the same name Theie exists
an exteiioi Yang-inteiioi Yin ielation of con
nection by the Neiiuians Each Neiiuian exhibits
its pathological manifestations in the event its Qi
low is not smooth Those that peitain to the
Figure 1The Horary Cycle
Jan-Feb 2013

Yang-Sheng (Nurturing Life)


in the Boiaiy Cycle beginning with the Lung Ne
iiuian The ioute of each Neiiuian will only be
uesciibeu on one siue of the bouy since the Ne
iiuian with the same name has an analogous
ioute on the othei siue
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thiough appienticeships anu
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Zang 0igan communicate with the ielateu Fu 0i
gan anu vice veisa Bence a paii of ielateu 0i
gans has a physiological anu pathological inlu
ence on each othei Noieovei points on the ie
lateu Neiiuians can be useu to tieat uisoiueis on
the ielateu 0igan foi instance points on the
Livei Neiiuian can be useu to tieat uallblauuei
uisoiueis
In the following the fiont iefeis to the sui
faces facing foiwaiu when the aims aie helu
uown by the siues with the palms foiwaiu anu
the toes of the feet aie facing the siue with the
heels touching each othei anu tiying to foim a
stiaight line like the iist foot position in ballet
Thiee Yin anu Yang Neiiuians aie locateu
symmetiically on the fiont anu back suifaces ie
spectively of both aims anu legs see
httpwwwacumeuicocomaimhtm anu
httpwwwacumeuicocomleghtm
Foi example theie is a Lung Neiiuian on
both aims anu a Stomach Neiiuian on both legs
Neiiuians on the bouy aie also locateu sym
metiically on both siues but aie usually shown
on only one siue -see
httpwwwacumeuicocomtoisohtm
The exact couise of the twelve Regulai Ne
iiuians will be uesciibeu in the oiuei of theii low
Table 2Horary Cycle Maximum Energy Periods, En-