What are meridians?

The earliest books that recorded meridians were the Eleven-pulse Moxibustion Classic of Warring States and Huangdi Neijing. Later, there were The Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion A and B in the Jin Dynasty, The Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion at Tongren Acupoints in the Song Dynasty, The Fourteen Classics in the Yuan Dynasty and The Collection of Acupuncture and Moxibustion in the Ming Dynasty.

Meridian is the general name of meridian. Meridians are the trunk and collaterals are the branches.

Meridians are distributed in every corner of the human body, forming a circular network system, which plays a role in conveying nutrition and regulating the functions of various parts of the human body, and is of great significance to maintaining human health. Meridian is a channel that runs the whole body's qi and blood, connects the viscera and limbs, and communicates with the upper, lower and inner parts.

The human body has the twelve meridians, which has a certain route and handover sequence, forming a continuous circulatory system. Collaterals branch from the meridians and subdivide layer by layer like branches, forming a network structure all over the body. They are distributed in all parts of the human body, and there is no specific way.

Diseases of human internal organs can be reflected from meridians, and drug treatment also takes meridians as the channel, through the conduction and transportation of meridians, so that drugs can reach the place where the diseases are located and play a therapeutic role.

The role of meridians in the meridian system is also different. Meridian is the backbone of transporting nutrition, and collaterals are branches. If the meridians are compared to the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, the collaterals are tributaries of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and then gradually branch into streams and gullies to irrigate and moisten every inch of land.

Collaterals are divided into yang collaterals and yin collaterals. Yang collaterals are distributed on the skin surface, which plays a role in warming, nourishing and protecting the skin, thus protecting the human body from external pathogenic factors. Yin collateral is a collateral that runs in the body and distributes in the five zang-organs and is an organic part of the structure and function of the five zang-organs. The collateral distributed in the heart is called heart collateral, and the collateral distributed in the liver is called liver collateral. Yin collateral mainly transports qi and blood, nourishes and transmits information to ensure the normal function of the five internal organs.

Collaterals are divided into yin collaterals and yang collaterals, and also into meridians and veins. Meridian mainly transports qi, so it is also called qi collateral. Collaterals of veins mainly transport blood, so they are called blood collaterals. The function of qi collaterals is to protect human body, transmit information and regulate the functions of various tissues and organs of human body, including the functions of nervous system, endocrine system and immune system in modern medicine. Blood collateral is not only the main place for transporting blood, but also the main place for producing blood. Blood flows from meridians to collaterals, and nutrients are transported to human organs and tissues at the end of collaterals, taking away metabolic wastes, and then flowing into meridians from collaterals to complete blood circulation and realize the nutritional function of blood.