Premium lessonThe great systems

The six stages (Shanghan Lun)

Tai Yang, Yang Ming, Shao Yang, Tai Yin, Shao Yin, Jue Yin: the route of penetrating Cold.

18 min
Lesson 6 of 23
Course: Acupuncture III

How it starts

Around the year 200, Zhang Zhongjing wrote the Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage) after losing most of his clan to a series of epidemics. His contribution was not a list of remedies but a model of progression: disease advances through layers, each layer has its own signs, and treatment depends on the layer, not on the name of the condition.

The rest of the lesson opens with Acupuncture III.

In this lesson you will learn

  • Recognize the six stages by their guiding signs.
  • Spot the moment when a presentation moves to a different layer.
  • Choose the right strategy for each stage.
  • Know when the model falls short and a referral is needed.

What is inside

  1. 1The three Yang stages
  2. 2The three Yin stages
  3. 3The transitions: the useful part of the model
  4. 4How it is used today

One of the 23 lessons in

Acupuncture IIIClinical Practice

“From pattern to needle, with the patient in front of you.”

5 modules
23 lessons
7 hours
Advanced

The real consultation: differential diagnosis of patterns, the great classical systems (six stages, four levels, Sanjiao), Nakatani's Ryodoraku protocol with electrodermal measurement, and reasoned protocols by body system. It ends with clinical management, applied chronoacupuncture, and an integrated case.

By the end of the course, you will know how to

  • Differentiate Zang-Fu patterns from tongue, pulse, and symptoms.
  • Apply the six stages and the four levels to a febrile presentation.
  • Perform and interpret a complete Ryodoraku measurement.
  • Design a reasoned treatment for the twenty most common reasons for consultation.
  • Keep a clinical record and follow-up with clear referral criteria.

What you will study

Module 1 · 5 lessons

Differential diagnosis

The patterns, one by one, with what sets each apart from its neighbors.

  • Qi, Blood, and Fluid patterns
  • Heart, Lung, and Spleen patterns
  • Liver and Kidney patterns
  • Fu organ patterns
  • Combined patterns

Module 2 · 2 lessons

The great systems

When illness advances in layers: the classical maps of progression.

  • The six stages (Shanghan Lun)You are here
  • Four levels and Sanjiao (Wen Bing)

Module 3 · 3 lessons

Ryodoraku

The bridge between the channel and the ammeter: measure, read and treat.

  • Nakatani and electrodermal measurement
  • Reading the Ryodoraku chart
  • From chart to treatment

Module 4 · 8 lessons

Reasoned protocols

Real presenting complaints, with differential, points and referral criteria.

  • Neck and low back pain
  • Shoulder, elbow, and knee
  • Headaches and migraine
  • Digestive system
  • Respiratory and allergies
  • Gynecology
  • Insomnia, anxiety, and mood
  • Dermatology and miscellany

Module 5 · 5 lessons

The complete acupuncturist

What separates someone who needles from someone who treats.

  • Clinical record, consent, and follow-up
  • Applied chronoacupuncture
  • Integrating acupuncture and herbal medicine
  • Integrated clinical case
  • Final exam · Acupuncture III

Requirements

Acupuncture I and II.

How it works

Acupuncture Pathway

Save with a bundle

Acupuncture Pathway I-III

All three acupuncture courses, saving you €80, plus three years of Atlas Pro.

$4903 courses

You save $80 compared with buying the courses separately

3 years of Atlas Pro included

Valued at $237 free

Already have Atlas Pro? Nothing is overwritten: 3 years is added on top of whatever you have left.

Complete Training

All five courses, saving you €180, plus five years of Atlas Pro and the game included.

$6905 courses

You save $180 compared with buying the courses separately

5 years of Atlas Pro included

Valued at $395 free

Already have Atlas Pro? Nothing is overwritten: 5 years is added on top of whatever you have left.

Read “The six stages (Shanghan Lun)” today

This lesson and the rest of the course: 23 lessons, 7 hours, quizzes and exercises. You pay once and it is yours for life, with one year of Atlas Pro as a gift (if you already have it, it adds to the time you have left).

Acupuncture III

One-time payment