Channels and Collaterals

The channels and collaterals are distributed all over the human body, linking the interior zang-fu organs with the various tissues and organs of the superficial portion of the body make the body an organic integrity. In the network of the channels and collaterals, the channels are the main trunks that pertain to the respective zang-fu organs, while the collaterals are their minor branches distributed over the entire body.

I. NOMENCLATURE AND CLASSIFICATION

The system of channels and collaterals mainly consists of the twelve regular channels, the eight extra channels and the fifteen collaterals. The twelve regular channels, together with the Ren Channel and the Du Channel of the eight extra channels, form the fourteen channels, along each of which are points for applying acupuncture and moxibustion.

The complete name of each of the twelve regular channels is composed of three parts: (1) hand or foot, (2) yin or yang (yin is again divided into Taiyin, Shaoyin and Jueyin, and yang into Taiyang, Yangming and Shaoyang), and (3) a zang or a fu organ. The hand or foot in the name of a channel depends on whether the channel starts or terminates at the hand or the foot, while yin or yang and a zang or a fu organ are determined by whether it takes its course along the medial or the lateral aspect of the limb, an~ which zang or fu organ it pertains to. For instance, the channel which terminates at the hand, runs along the medial aspect of the upper limb and pertains to the lung is named the Lung Channel of HandTaiyin.