Grasping the Wind: An Exploration Into the Meaning of Chinese Acupuncture Point Names (English and Chinese Edition) PDF
Preview Grasping the Wind: An Exploration Into the Meaning of Chinese Acupuncture Point Names (English and Chinese Edition)
Grasping the Wind Grasping the Wind - by - Andrew Ellis, Nigel Wiseman, Ken Boss Paradigm Publications • Brookline, Massachusetts - 1989 - Grasping the Wind Published by Paradigm Publications 44 Linden Street Brookline, Massachusetts, 02146, U.S.A. ISBN 0-912111-19-4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: Grasping the Wind / by Andrew Ellis, Nigel Wiseman, Ken Boss p. cm. Bibliography: p. 456 Includes index. ISBN 0-912111-19-4: $24.95 1. Acupuncture --Popular works I. Wiseman, Nigel. II. Boss, Ken, 1959- . III. Title. RM184.E443 1989 615.8'92--dcI9 Copyright © 1989 Paradigm Publications All 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, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior writ ten permission of the publisher. Paradigm PubUcations Publisher: Rohert L. Felt Editor: Martha Lee Fielding Chinese Character Typesetting: Leadtech, Taipei, R.O.C. Additional Software and Distribution provided by Redwing Book Company, Brookline, Massachusetts Cover Painting: The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 70.76 River Village in a Roins/onn, Lu Wen-Ying, Ming Dynasty Grasping the Wind Preface "The names of the points are not merely nominal; each has a profound meaning." Sun Si Miao For Western students of Chinese acupuncture, who have only to memorize a numbered sequence channel by channel, recognition of the significance and usefulness of the names of the acupuncture points is easy to miss. In comparison with what the Chinese student must cope, the Western sys tem is convenient, logical and easy to learn. Yet alphanu meric codes deprive Western students of a great advantage, both in possible insights into Chinese culture and medicine, and in learning about the points themselves. It is to aid this perceived lack that we set about the task of translating and compiling. Readers may note that all the material presented in this text has been drawn solely from Chinese sources. The explana tions of the point names are those expressed by Chinese au thors, both ancient and modem. Each point name is pre sented in Chinese, English translation, alphanumeric code and pinyin. Alternate names that may be encountered are listed, as are relevant translations for each character in the point name. Appendix A, The Glossary of Single Charac ters provides more extensive character definitions. Because the point's location, as expressed in the classics, will often shed light on the name of the point, the classical location is given for each point name. This information is largely drawn from the Great Compendium of Acupuncture, except where other sources were more revealing. -i- Grasping the Wind Often, a point name will contain either a direct or veiled reference to the point's function in the context of point as sociations. These special groupings are included where ap plicable. Appendix B contains further discussion of special point groupings and the characters that are used to denote them. Explanations of point names constitute the major portion of the text. More than one explanation for a point name is given where it adds to the reader's understanding of func tion, location, or context. A work such as this is inevitably the work of many people. No list could include all the individuals who have made this book possible. Special thanks go to Bev Cubbage for her typing of the original draft, Huang Sheng-Jing for her pa tient explanations of the difficult passages and her proficient typing of Chinese characters, James Cleaver for his careful ly considered comments on parts of the manuscript, Fan Shi Lei for her willingness to be a walking Chinese reference, and Hsii Fu-Shu, Shi Neng-Yun, Chen Jun-Chao, and Doc tor James Tin Yau So, the teachers who have nurtured my interest in Chinese medicine. Two main styles of Chinese characters are used in this text. Kai Shu, a font that preserves the strokes used to form the characters when hand writ ten, is used for headings. Students interested in writing Chinese may thus see something of their construction. The text characters are Zhong Ming, a modem style designed for readability when printed. There are stylistic differences. SM, for example, when printed in Zhong Ming appears as: ~. When -It. printed in Kai Shu it is: See Appendix A and Appendix B for further discussion of shu. -ii- Grasping the Wind Table of Contents Part I: Characters Introduction 1 Influences on the Development of Point Names 1 Point Name Taxonomy 3 A Brief Discussion of Chinese Characters 9 Radicals 10 Character Categories 16 Part II: Point Names The Lung Channel 23 The Large Intestine Channel 36 The Stomach Channel 56 The Spleen Channel 100 The Heart Channel 120 The Small Intestine Channel 128 The Bladder Channel 143 The Kidney Channel 196 The Pericardium Channel 223 The Triple Burner Channel 231 The Gallbladder Channel 252 The Liver Channel 291 The Conception Vessel 303 The Governing Vessel 327 Appendix A: Glossary of Single Characters 353 Appendix B: Special Point Groupings 414 Index One: (English) Main Point Names 419 Index Two: (Pinyin) Primary & Alternate Point Names 429 Bibliography 456 Alphanumeric Point Index 461 -iii- Grasping the Wind PART I Characters -iv- Grasping the Wind Introduction Influences on the Development of Point Names he cultural milieu in which Chinese point nomenclature evolved reflects the pervasive philosophical and metaphysical world view supported by the pillars of Taoism and Confu cianism. It includes a veneration for custom and history, a propensity to observe and correlate the phenomena of nature, and a long medical tradition of apprenticeship and secret teaching. The Taoist view of man as a microcosmic representation of the universe, the Confucian edicts of social form and pro priety, and the observation of and dependence on nature characteristic of China's agrarian society are reflected in Chinese medicine as a whole, and specifically in the selec tion of point names. The careful observation of the geo physical characteristics of the earth, the cycles of the sea sons, the stars, the heavens, helped develop a medical lan guage of metaphor and imagery replete with words that mirrored these cosmologic, geographic, and sociologic phe nomena: pathogens termed wind, cold, heat, dryness, damp, fire and summerheat perturb a body that is described in terms of seas, valleys, rivers, channels. Stars and constella tions serve as guideposts, and divinities haunt each region. Emperors and ministers rule the land, distributing grain and protecting the borders. With heaven above and earth below, man was viewed as a flowing intercourse of yin and yang -1-
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