How An Acupuncture Meridian Was Engineered: The Birth & Growth of Lung-Meridian
Every one in the TCM acupuncture world knows that the organ lung is located on a Jingmai vessel called “Hand Tai Yin” (手太阴), the heart is on “Hand Shao Yin”(手少阴), and the fibroelastic sac containing the heart (pericardium) is on “Hand Jue Yin”(手厥阴). These 3 meridians run distally on the medial side of arm (from body trunk to hand).
The Yin Meridians on The Arm: Ancient vs Today
However, in Bianque medicine and the Huandi Neijing medicine (except a few specific chapters of Huangdi Neijing) , the situation was quite different. As disclosed in Mawangdui Silk Texts, Zhangjiasha Text (400s – 350s BC) and other ancient texts, on the medial side of arm, there were only two meridians labelled as Yin (versus Yang) called Arm Tai Yin (臂泰阴 or 臂巨阴) and Arm Shao Yin (臂少阴), but there was no Jue Yin.
There are remarkable difference in terms of Tai Yin meridian between these ancient texts and today's TCM textbook:
In short, everything is opposite against each other between ancient texts and TCM text.
It is noteworthy that in Bianque medicine and most situations in Neijing medicine, bleeding Tai Yin on the arm could effectively treat heart issues. This is further proved today at least by the live fossil of ancient needling therapy - Tung's acupuncture which treat cardiovascular issues by bleeding the anterior-median side of the elbow, an area which is close to an acupoint on Hand Tai yin meridian (called LU 5 in today's standardized TCM acupuncture).
Here we have a question. If heart occupies the Tai Yin meridian on the arm, then, which meridian is connected to the organ lung? We all know that in today's TCM acupuncture lung is located on Tai Yin meridian. We also know that lung is one of the most important Yin organs in TCM (liver, heart, spleen, lung and kidney). Particularly we know that in TCM theory, it is the lung that pushes blood into blood vessels all over the body (肺潮百脉). An organ so vitally important, is there a meridian which this important organ is connected to?
Don't get panic. In Bianque medicine, the meridian connected to lung had never existed until the author of Lingshu 71 of Huangdi Neijing re-routed the existing Heart-related Yai Yin meridian.
How Heart Was Replaced by Lung
In Lingshu 71 of Huangdi Neijing, the author of this chapter disconnected the Tai Yin meridian on the arm from the heart, and coined a new segment of mai vessel and added this new segment to Tai Yin meridian at the armpit. This segment of mai vessel goes to lung, which “enters the armpit, then turn a corner and reaches the lung” (入腋下,内屈走肺) , as described in Linshu 71.
This is the first cry of a new-born Lung meridian, although it runs proximally on the arm. This new-born Lung meridian is also mentioned in Lingshu 2 as a proximally running meridian but not a distal one. However, suddenly in Lingshu 10, the direction of this new-born lung meridian was 180 degree reversed. Now it runs from the chest to the tip of thumb. This is what we see in today's TCM acupuncture textbook.
To insert the new-born lung meridian into a meridian-loop, the author of Lingshu 10 further created a new segment of mai vessel which runs inside the body cavity from lung to large intestine (...下络大肠，...上膈属肺), and also coined a short mai vessel between the wrist to the tip of index finger where the Large intestine jingmai vessel starts ( 其支者，从腕后直出次指内廉出其端) .
Thus came the holy Lung meridian inserted into a meridian loop, infallible ever since.
Fetal Development: from Fertilized Egg to First Cry
All the Jingmai vessels in Bianque medicine were, in the very beginning, merely a single point somewhere on the arm (or leg) then gradually growing longer and longer with more body parts joining in, similar to a fertilized egg gradually growing into a 10 month-old fetus.
Let's rewind the history and fast playback how the Hand Tai Yin meridian connected to heart eventually transformed into a meridian connected to Lung:
- Fertilized Egg: Starts at armpit, ends at heart (Laoguanshan bamboo texts: Bie Mai 别脉)
- 5 month-old: Starts at forearm... ends at heart (Mawangdui silk texts)
- 8 month-old: Starts at palm... ends at heart (Zhangjiasha bamboo texts)
- 9 month-old: Starts at palm... ends at heart (Laoguanshan bamboo texts: 12 vessels 十二脉)
- First cry: Starts at thumb... enter armpit, turn a corner down and get to Lung (Lingshu 71).
- The second day after birth: Suddenly, the direction of this mai vessel makes a U-turn: not starts from thumb any more, instead, starts inside the middle body cavity (起于中焦) ...ends at the tip of thumb (出大指之端) (Lingshu 10).
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The Gender Transformation Happened Overnight
Amazingly, before the first cry, the fetus had a heart; but the moment after the first cry, the heart was suddenly transformed into lung (in Lingshu 71). More strikingly, until the first cry, the direction of the sequence of the fetus's gender DNA code was from A to B which, let's suppose, determined the fetus to be a girl.
All of a sudden, the new-born girl was turned into a boy because the direction of the sequence of the gender DNA code was 180 degree reversed in Lingshu 10.
The Clinical Significance of Lung Meridian?
Today's TCM acupuncture textbook simply copied what was written in Lingshu 10: Hand Tai Yin Lung-Meridian starts at Middle Jiao...via diaphragm gets to Lung ...ends at thumb, with a branch from wrist going to index finger ... (肺手太阴之脉，起于中焦，下络大肠，还循胃口，上膈属肺，...从肺系横出腋下，...下肘中，...入寸口，...循鱼际，出大指之端；其支者，从腕后直出次指内廉出其端。)
Will pricking the new-born Lung Meridian produce a better cure for lung disorders than for heart issues? If yes, is this the reason why the author of Lingshu 10 took so much trouble to disconnect the heart from Hand Tai Yin meridian and replaced heart with lung?
The answer is No. Definitely not. If you had ever tried Master Tung's acupuncture, you would know that the disorders related to lung can be effectively treated by numerous acupoints which are not necessarily located on Lung meridian. And the acupoints on “Hand Tai Yin Lung meridian” can treat cardiovascular (heart) problems even more effectively than the acupoints on “Hand Shao Yin - Heart meridian”.
The Science behind the Lung Meridian
The purpose of the author of LS 10, in establishing the lung meridian , was very scientific – to complete a blood circulation structure he or she designed – a meridian loop with a start point at the organ lung. Why he or she chose lung organ as the start point? This is because he or she believed: Lung is the driving force pushing blood and qi into blood vessels all over the body (肺潮百脉).
Blood and qi are transported through blood vessels, and this process is driven by the lung which takes air (qi) in through breathing and transforms the air into the power which drives blood to flow in blood vessels. Amazingly, this is an anatomical and physiological observation very close to the scientific truth made by the Chinese physicians and medical scholars 2000 years ago including the author of Lingshu 10.
Ironically, the modern history replaced the observation of the scientific truth with an esoteric mystery of “vital energy flows in mysterious meridians”.
Imagine the author of Lingshu 10 had a chance of waking up from his final-resting place and saw today's acupuncturists are talking about the mysterious meridian and esoteric “vital energy”? What would this 2000 years-old ancient medical scientist say?
He or she would be going to die laughing.
References
Mawangdui Silk Text : 足臂十一脉, 阴阳十一脉, 400s BC
Laoguanshan Bamboo Texts 老官山汉墓竹简: 十二脉, 300s BC.
Lingshu 2, Ben and Shu 本输
Lingshu 10, Jing Mai Vessesls 经脉
Lingshu 16, Ying Qi 营气
Lingshu 71, Xie Ke 邪客
Ren Yulan et al 任玉兰 .., 成都老官山汉墓出土医简《十二脉》《别脉》内容与价值初探, 中华医史杂志, 2017,47(1) : 37-40
Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, 90s, BC
The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine (Huangdi Neijing).
Wang Shuhe 王叔和, The Pulse Classics 脉经, 300 AD
Zhangjiashan bamboo texts 张家山竹简, 350s BC