[Our viewpoints on relationship between discovery of meridians and pulse-feeling diagnosis].

Some scholars believe that the ancient Chinese physicians found meridian phenomena on the basis of pulse-feeling diagnosis. But the authors of the present paper don't think so, and that the relationship between the discovery of meridian phenomena and pulse-feeling diagnosis is not so simple. In the present paper, the authors analyze their correlation from the following 6 points. (1) In ancient China, the difference between the pulse-feeling locations on the human body and the number of clinical disorders is huge, which is very difficult to make them to be corresponding. (2) Shenmen (HT 7), one acupoint of the Heart Meridian of Hand-Shaoyin and one of the positions for pulse-feeling diagnosis, is not identical to the running course of meridians described in the early historic stage of China. (3) Taking the corresponding correlation between the upper-lower parts of the Meridian of Hand-Yangming to make a deduction on other meridians is definitely jug-handled. (4) It is logically unreasonable to demonstrate the relationship between the meridian and pulse-feeling diagnosis by taking the Luomai (collaterals of meridian) as the example. (5) The running pathways of the Eight Extra-meridians which also belong to the meridian system are not identical to the regularities of "Biao" "Ben" pulses. (6) In the ethnic traditional medicine, there exists an upper-lower corresponding pulse diagnosis, but, no similar text descriptions have been found in the medical works on meridians. Therefore, the meridian system is not found by means of pulse-feeling diagnosis, and rather, the meridian theory promotes the development of pulse-feeling diagnosis in clinical practice.
PMID: 22073893