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Shen Yaozi on 2007/11

For example, oil fields have oil veins, gold mines have gold veins, and underground water has water veins. There must be unique phenomena on these veins, such as plants on water veins being more lush and dense than elsewhere, which only experts or meticulous people can observe. The meridians in the human body are to the zang-fu organs as the mineral veins in the earth's crust are to the mineral sources. Just as there is water flow in water veins, there is meridian qi flowing in the meridians. After the physical body has grown, the zang-fu organs are the source of meridian qi, and acupoints are like the key locations where water veins emerge on the surface—water holes. The water emerging from these holes can nourish the surrounding life, and by observing the amount of water in these holes or the lushness of the surrounding vegetation, one can infer the surplus or deficit of the water veins and sources. Similarly, the qi points in the human body are like water holes, irrigating the surrounding tissues, and through the condition of the acupoints and their surrounding tissues, one can understand the meridian and the deficiency and excess of their source, the zang-fu organs.

In modern terms, meridians are the information and energy networks of the human body. Before the physical body has fully developed, they also serve as the blueprint for the invisible information and energy fields that guide the gradual formation of the entire physical body. After the physical body has grown, they are responsible for the transmission of biological information, the regulation of energy and materials, and the reflection of pathological conditions among the various units of the human body.

The large and straight ones are called meridians (or channel), and the smaller branches that arise from the meridian are called collaterals (or collateral vessels), which can further divide into smaller collaterals and even smaller collaterals. The human body has eight extraordinary meridians, twelve pairs of regular meridians, dozens of major collaterals, and countless small collaterals, roughly symmetrical on both sides. The entire meridian network, like the vascular, nervous, and lymphatic networks, envelops and penetrates all major organs and every tiny corner of the body. The biggest difference is that the vascular, nervous, and lymphatic networks have a clear physical form that can be observed with the naked eye or modern instruments like microscopes, while the meridian network flows with invisible meridian qi.

Acupoints (also known as qi points, commonly called acupressure points) are the hubs on the meridians, like the interchanges on highways or routers in the internet. Proper stimulation of a certain acupoint can enhance or reduce the activity of a certain meridian. By stimulating the appropriate acupoints (either supplementing or draining), the unbalanced meridian network and the connected zang-fu organ functions can be brought back to a balanced state, and the regulation of information, energy, and materials in the human body can return to normal, thereby restoring the physical body to a healthy state.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) discovered the existence of the meridian system as early as three thousand years ago, and its description is so comprehensive that it remains unparalleled to this day. In the early modern era, the existence of the meridian network was questioned because it could not be directly detected. In fact, as early as the 1970s, the existence of the meridian system had been proven by a large number of repeatable experiments, but many in the medical community were still unaware of this and continued to doubt its existence. Proving the existence of meridians does not require any expensive or sophisticated instruments. In 1976, Chinese scholar Zhu Zongxiang and others measured 14 highly sensitive sound conduction pathways on the body surface by lightly tapping the skin (see Figure 1). These pathways completely matched the classical 14 meridians of TCM. These pathways are only 1-3mm wide, with stable, unchanging, continuous, and uniform positions, can be blocked by finger pressure, and are present in over 95% of the population. Many subsequent experiments have been conducted, confirming the existence of the human meridian system. Interested readers can refer to Professor Zhu's "Acupuncture Meridian Biophysics" (Zhu Zongxiang, 1989), or "The Secrets of the Fourteen-Meridian Imaging" (Meng Jingbi, 1998).

Clinically, acupuncture at specific points can indeed elicit sensations along the pathways described in TCM texts, such as soreness or distension. The pathways of these sensations are generally consistent among individuals and match the descriptions in ancient medical texts, but their intensity varies significantly from person to person. A few individuals experience particularly sharp and intense sensations and are known as meridian-sensitive individuals (or simply meridian people). Regular acupuncture can also enhance this sensitivity. Whether the ancients three thousand years ago deduced the meridian system through the sensations of acupuncture remains unknown. As for the origin of meridians and acupoints, the author speculates that they are pre-existing, an inevitable pattern of the Earth's dissipative system under specific boundary conditions, derived from the background information field of life.

The meridian system is distributed throughout every corner of the body, similar to the vascular, nervous, and lymphatic networks, but the function of the meridian system surpasses that of the latter. How do we know this? Clinically, only the meridian system can regulate the functions of the vascular, nervous, and lymphatic networks through acupuncture, and not vice versa. Therefore, it is understood that the meridian system commands the vascular, nervous, and lymphatic systems; the former is the boss of the latter.

Some physicians argue that "the reason acupuncture can relieve pain is that it stimulates the production of the body's own endorphins (morphine-like substances) to achieve pain relief." So, once the endorphins wear off, wouldn't the pain return? Isn't acupuncture then similar to taking morphine? How is this different from taking painkillers? Wouldn't using transdermal morphine or oral administration be more convenient and effective than receiving a few acupuncture needles for pain relief? The reality is not so. To draw an analogy, to maintain the beauty of a garden, one must diligently weed; the beauty of the garden is the result, not the cause. The primary purpose of acupuncture is to clear the meridian channels and enhance the connection and balance between internal and external units. Once the channels are clear and balance is achieved, the body no longer needs to send pain signals to alert the boss (i.e., the patient), naturally leading to the secretion of endorphins and the cessation of pain without recurrence. Pain relief or endorphin production is a byproduct, not the main goal of acupuncture.

The vitality of the human body and TCM are constructed on the systems of zang-fu organs, meridians, and others, which are the guiding principles and framework of the human body. The function of the meridian system is responsible for the communication between zang-fu organs and various large and small units of the body, as well as the allocation of resources. Modern medicine still does not understand the existence of the meridian system, hence many diseases arising from meridian problems are often misunderstood or unresolved. Mistakes are often made out of ignorance, for example, modern medicine initially did not consider the appendix to be of any use and would frequently remove it, only to later discover that the appendix is closely related to the immunity of the intestines, and removing it would reduce intestinal immunity, thus no longer advocating for its removal as much. Similarly, modern medicine still generally does not understand the meridian system, and its surgical scalpels continue to cut across meridians without realizing it. One day, just like with the appendix, modern medicine will discover what a significant mistake it is to not avoid the main trunks of meridians with surgical knives.