Classical tradition
10 topics that run through the channels, told from the sources
Point names hold an entire cosmology: stars, spirits, palaces and prohibitions. Each topic gathers the points that share a lineage and reads them in the texts that explain them, from the Neijing to the Qianjin Yaofang, with the quotations checked against the originals.
Topics
- Heaven in the bodyStars, poles, planets, and storms in point namesTaiyi, the Purple Palace, the Dipper, lightning, and the lord of the clouds: the Chinese astronomy behind the names of acupuncture points, read in its sources.12 points
- The thirteen ghost pointsSun Simiao, Qianjin Yaofang, chapter 14The thirteen spirit points (十三鬼穴) in Sun Simiao's Qianjin Yaofang: the original text, the order of needling, and which point is which.16 points
- The points of the soulThe five faculties of the Lingshu and the points that bear their namesShen, hun, po, yi, and zhi according to the Lingshu, and the acupuncture points that bear their names, from Pohu to Zhishi, Shenmen, and Lingtai.15 points
- The gate of life and the cinnabar fieldMingmen, the Original Qi, and the points below the navelWhat Mingmen is according to the Lingshu and the Nanjing, why three points compete for the name of dantian, and how Taoist internal alchemy enters acupuncture.12 points
- The court of the chestThe Suwen's twelve officials and the palace names of the Ren MaiThe Heart as emperor and the twelve officials of the Suwen, and the chest points that sketch its palace: Juque, Danzhong, Yutang, Zigong, Huagai, and Xuanji.13 points
- The forbidden points of the Jiayi JingZhenjiu Jiayi Jing (Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion), book 5: the points forbidden to needle and moxaWhich points the Zhenjiu Jiayi Jing (3rd century) forbade needling or moxa, the reason the text gives, its contradictions, and how they are read today.33 points
- The twelve Heavenly Star pointsMa Danyang and the Zhenjiu Dacheng: twelve points for every illnessMa Danyang's twelve heavenly star points in the Zhenjiu Dacheng: the poem, what each point treats, and the song of the four major points.12 points
- Well, spring, stream, river, and seaThe Five Shu points in the Lingshu and the NanjingJing-Well, Ying-Spring, Shu-Stream, Jing-River, and He-Sea points: the water imagery of the Lingshu, the Five Phases of the Nanjing, and the mother-child rule.14 points
- Rivers and seas of the bodyThe geography of China in the channels: the Jing Shui and Hai Lun chaptersEach channel is a river of China and the body has four seas: the geography of the Jing Shui and Hai Lun chapters of the Lingshu and the points that mark them.11 points
- The point that hurtsAshi, palpation, and pain as a guide in the classical textsWhere the Ashi point comes from in Sun Simiao's Qianjin and how the classics found points by palpation: pain as the point, the dorsal Shu points, and Yixi.8 points