經絡圖與經穴圖之研究——以膀胱經為例

The Study of Acupoint and Meridian Maps Based on Bladder Meridian

The meridians and acupuncture points are one of the invaluable treasuresin Traditional Chinese Medicine. With collaborative efforts, the World HealthOrganization (WHO) had stipulated a standardized system of meridians andacupuncture points that can be used universally since 2006. These achievementsare also being reflected in the current textbooks which have provided explicitteaching materials of the meridians and acupuncture points for the new learners.However, the present Meridian-acupoint diagrams which are plotted usinglines connecting the acupuncture points, are in fact not the complete Map ofMeridian Pathways explained by the ancients. Hence in this paper, we proposeda discussion on the Foot Bladder meridian pathway so as to improve the currentmodel through the following 2 questions: 1. Are there only 2 branches of pathwayat the back of the body where the Bladder meridian descends? 2. Is there anyintersection of Bladder meridian at the posterior aspect of the thigh? Through theclassical literatures of The Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon (Huang Di Nei Jing),The Systematized Canon of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing)written by Huang-Fu Mi and The Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency (ZhouHou Bei Ji Fang) written by Ge Hong, as well as the modern studies of acupunctureinducedsensation transmission and anatomical discussions, we discover thatthere should be 3 branches of pathway at the back of the body where the FootBladder meridian descends. We have named them separately as the medial branch,the middle branch and the lateral branch. The middle and lateral branches arecurrently well-known as the branches that are 1.5 cun and 3 cun lateral to theGoverning Vessel on the midline respectively. The medial branch, which is 0.5 cun lateral to the Governing Vessel, is related to the Hua Tuo’s Paravertebral Points(Hua Tuo Jia Ji) that are classified under the Extraordinary Vessels and the FourLiao Points (four sacral foramina) that are classified under the Primary Meridians.In addition, we have also discovered that there is no actual intersection of theFoot Bladder meridian at the posterior aspect of the thigh. The intersection on thediagram is an illusion created due to the sequential connection of the acupuncturepoint numbers.