Acupuncture to use a more neutral term, they often refer to these just as the

Three Shens of the body.

Question: Could you explain the outer one? Spiritual?

Answer: (answer refers to drawing) This is your Jing, this is your Essence and
this is your Spirit, I shouldn't say your Spirit, this is the Great Spirit, the Shen. So
what happens is the male and female come together, they reproduce, they have
conception. That conception means that the Jing of the male and female body is
going to create the shape, the Morphology of that person's body. The time that
conception occurs is when the Spirit comes into the Jing and when the Spirit
comes into this Jing, what we have is a Soul, which is called Ling. So the male
and female engage in sexual intercourse, during that time, that ritual we call
sexual intercourse, the conscious body, the Causal body says, well, it would be
really nice to have those persons as parents, to see the kind of lessons that they
could give us. So, the Causal body then comes in, theDa Qi, the Cosmic Qi, the
Y u n Qi, different ways of describing that, comes in and it gets captured by the
Essence, so then we have a Soul. Soul means an Embodied Spirit, that is all that
means. That Soul wants to have this Morphology, these genetic genes of the
mother and father. It also wants to have the Cosmic energy that occurs at the
time of conception. Lefs use Five Elements because that is easier. Let's say the
male is a Wood person, and the female is Wood and Metal person. That means
the child that is going to be born is most likely going to have a Wood
Morphology, maybe with some Metal, right, that is most likely. That is one part
of it, so it means you have the same features very similar to your father and
mother. And we know that the father and mother have a relatively good
relationship, however, the husband feels somewhat dominated by the Metal
quality of the woman. They get along because they both have Wood, but the
Metal in the woman makes the male somewhat submissive, somewhat
antagonized, so their arguments sometimes will be because Metal in the female
is overbearing on the Wood of the male. So let's say at the Cosmic energy that
was around at the time they were conceiving was very Metal. So now, this
Morphology changes/because even though we have Wood and Metal, because
the Cosmic Qi was so Metal, the Metal overrides and now this person has Metal
and very little Wood. So now this person that is going to be born is going to get
along with the mother, but the father will not be able to stand them. The child
and father relationship is terrible because the relationship with the Cosmic Qi
was terrible. This Cosmic Qi is Astrology and the Morphology is the shape. That
why I have talked about that Astrology is only half correct, Morphology gives
you the other half. I want you to understand that at the time that they are
conceiving, it is the Causal body that feels there is a need to create an existence.
So the Causal body is basically saying that I have a curriculum that I need to
learn. And as I come into the Essence that curriculum begins to get satisfied, that

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001

curriculum is then going to tell us what are the Yin and yangs of our lives. To
have a life is to have Yin and Yang, that's endemic to life. So it is almost like, my
Jing is going to be my nature, and the curriculum that I am going to experience
from the Causal body is going to be the temperment- the Wei Qi. The Yuan Qi is
goyig-tobe& nature of the person, and the Auric body is the Wei Qi. The
Causal body is going to be things that you have to experience that establishes
beyond the mood what your melody is going to be in life. In other words, think
of it this way, Yuan Qi is the musical score that you want to play. I want to play a
sad, tragic music score, okay then let's give you a sad, tragic life. Your Yuan Qi is
going to be tragic, that's your nature. So that means, my temperment is going to
be "I want to be a victim" "Iwant to be tragic" "\ want you to feel sorry for me"
That's going to be what I want to play out as part of the score, that is the melody.
Now, I can fine tune my body, like a musical instrument, I can make it very
high-pitched, very low-pitched, so yes, this is someone whose tragedy hits you
right away that is high-pitched, low-pitched creeps up on you. The depression,
that tragedy creeps up on you, that's the Wei Qi, that is the mood that you have.
So you want to think of Wei Qi, Yuan QL

(break in the recording)

. depending also on timing, the timing is part of the Ying Qi. Liver
Controls Blood that harmonizes Qi, but, Liver accepts the time. So, that's kind of
like the three bodies that we have. The Etheric Body, or the Spiritual Body is one
that doesn't want to be anything. The Causal Bgdy wants to be one thing, and
that one thing begins to establish the nature of myself. And once I begin to
express that nature throughout my life we call it&!$ tangma$ That's
. one's
archetype - so this person is a tragic archetype and this person's temperment is
one that invites tragedy. They want to be in a situation that they're going to be
taken advantage of. They want to be in a situation that they are going to be
victimized. They want to be in a situation that they become a martyr. So even if
you try to get them out of that they don't want to. They will sabotage your intent
toget than out of that because that is the lesson they need to feel. So that because
that's their lesson, their Auric Body, their so-called Tai Qing, the Grand Purity,
if s going to create a mood that people can feel. That they're sad already. If s
almost like some of you can and you have that mood that this person must be
depressed in life. Even though you might hide it, and try to suggest that your
"melody" is a little different, their mood seems to hit us, their Aura, their tone
seems to tell us there is some sadness in their life. And that might be a tone
that's consistent throughout their life, in which case it is not an acute mood, it is
a temperment. That's what I mean by Three Bodies.

Question: As practitioners where is our intercession with our clients? If the

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &Jeffrey C.Yuen. 2001

lesson in that example needs to he tqgk or victim, at what level are we
hterceeding in our treatment?

So why don't you think about the pathways this ev-. Tomorrow
morning when we meet again,, if you have any questions about them.,. If not we
are going to be looking at Needling techniqaee. We are going to explore a Htde
about Astrolo@ati Acupuncture and thenwe're going to talk a little bit about the
Pulses that they talk about in the Su Wen. Then, as I said we'll look at
-
Cultivationas a whole, which, has been really my theme throughout returning
back to this Cultivationconcept
G16Mi-s

fa
~- - ~ M t m ~ % w h t F d b b ~ m ~ i m ~ &
morning is actually the Astrological and Seasonal influences that are talked dot
about in the Su Wen. And then from there we'll move into the Needling
techniques, and then consequently we'll be able to break for lunch at that point
When we return back this afternoon we'll look at some of the Pulses that are
described in the Su Wen, which again obviously is really talking about the
comparison of LU-9 to ST-9as one of their primary sets of Pulses. And then we
have what they call the Seasonal Pulses where you are essentially looking at the
source Points on the Yin Organs in relationship to their respective Seasons. For
example as we move into Autumn you would be most interested in LU-9, the
Source Point for Metal. As we move into Winter we'd be interested in K-3 in
terms of how that person is resonating with the Season of Winter. Then we
should be able to finish up with the themes of Cultivation and what that might
mean, as least as defined by the Su Wen.

So the Astrological influences are obviously quite important - they begin in

the early chapters of the Su Wen. In Chapter 3 already there is a discussion on
the Seasonal influences. As we get into the later chapters, into the chapters in the
60's, you start to see a great emphasis on the Astrological influences. That of
course has evolved into Astrological Acupuncture where they use the Su Wen
as the basis of their model. When you look at Astrological Acupuncture, what
you very often have are several systems of Astrological Acupuncture. There is of
course Ling Gui Ba Fa - the Mystical Tortoise Eight Method - which basically
utilizes the Eight Extraordinary Channels' Opening Points in trying to tap into
one's potentiality. Because the Eight Extraordinary Channels' Opening Points
evolved during the Ming Dynasty, we know that the Ling Gui Ba Fa is not really
that ancient of an Astrological system. There is also the Zi Wu Fa, which is the
highest point of Yang and the lowest point of Yin., is basically the concept where
they use the Antique Points as the Points you would manipulate based on the
person's date of birth as well as based on the Cosmic Qi..

To understand Astrological influences, yesterday I said there were basically

two components you were interested in. The first component is the Morphology.
The Morphology, while if s not talked about in the Su Wen, there are definitely
text books that come out during this period of time where there is a great
emphasis on the dynamics of human shapes and human forms. For example, we
know the first systemized text of Acupuncture, the Jia Yi Jing, talks about body
type. They identify types based on Five Elements - what is a Wood type like, what
is a Fire type like. They identify also according to the concept of Yin and Yang -
this is a Taiyin type, this is a Shaoyang type.

There are text books that occur in the early part of Chinese Medical history
that talk about Morphology. Morphology basically is the evaluation of the

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C3 New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC Yuen. 2001
 -
Essence of the mother and the father the male and female - and how it is has
created the particular shape, the particular physiognomy that you basically
possess. So Morphology's theories are quite simple. If you are very bony you tend
to be more Yang, if you are very fleshy you tend to be more Yin. So a bony person
would be either Wood or Fire, or potentially Earth, and a fleshy person would be
either Earth,Water or Metal. Metal, Water and Earth are Yin elements. Wood
and Fire are Yang elements. Then, from that particular perspective, they would
look at other features to determine what is your Elemental characteristic. That's
the Morphology, which is not the scope of our discussion because that's not
included in the Su Wen. But the Morphology is the Essence that is being
conveyed, that is unfolding through your existence as a reflection of the genes or
the Essence that you inherited from your parents.

We know that life is not just, at least according to the Chinese, a product of
male or female interaction, where they are exchanging their Jing. It is also a
product of Yun Qi. (&f- ). Yun Qi would be the Qi that we talk about when
we talk about Astrology. Y un Qi would be the equivalent of Da Qi when you talk
about one's own physical body physiology, when you're breathing in the Cosmic
Qi of the Universe. We call that the Great Qi - the Da Qi. If you are looking at it
in terms of that there is an energy that we are not only breathing in but we
breathe in to the Essence. The Kidneys grasp the Qi from the Lungs, and that
Lung Qi that is being grasped during the time of conception - that the Kidneys,
the Essence is grasping - is referred to as Yun Qi. If s the same idea. Just one, you
look at it in terms of how the Kidneys grasp the Qi of the Universe - we call it Da
Qi - in terms of normal physiology. In terms of intercourse, the Essence, the
Kidneys, also are trying to grasp this Da Qi, but at that point it is the Qi of
Astrology, Yun Qi.

The Yun Qi is comprised of different elements. You have the year and you
have month as the two major components of one's life. The year represents your
potentials - so you're born in the year of the Dragon or the year of the Rat (if you
are using the animals as a way of describing the year you're born). You can also
use the Five Element theory to describe the year you were born - that's another
aspect. So for example, anyone born in this year, this year is considered, in
Elemental language, a Metal year. If s a Metal-Yang year. So, Metal will
predominante. If s often expected that if if s a Metal Year, in terms of pathology
Seasonal discussion (and this is again presented in the Su Wen), that when you
look at a Metal year, Metal Controls Wood. So Spring of this year, which has
already passed, you would expect that there's going to be dot of dryness. You
expect that there would be less rain, because Metal Controls Wood. We would
expect that people born during the Wood year not to fare very well in a Metal
year, especially if you were born in a Wood-Yin year, since Metal of Yang is going

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, ConL Ed.Dept &JeffreyC Yuen. 2001

to come and not only hurt Wood, but if s going to hurt the Yin of Wood. If you
are born in a Wood-Yin year if s not considered a very auspicious year for you.
That's how fortune tellers would also be able to tell you if this is a good year in
general or a bad year. However, your month might be a month that is a Metal
month. So then, while you were born in a Wood year, the Metal in your month
is going to override some of the negativity that this year, as a Metal year, is going
to present. However, because you are born in a Wood year and a Metal month,
there are intrinsic conflicts that arise based on the Astrology. You also look at
conflicts that arise because of the month and the year. The year is often referred
to as the Eight Extra Channels - if s the Eight Extra Channels that deal with your
potentials, what you are going to be born with. It is the archetype. It embraces
many things.

The month, depending on the traditions that you follow, either is going to be
the Tendinomuscular Channels (for some of you who have read, and when we
study the Ling Shu we will definately get into it, that each month is associated
with certain Bi-Syndrome. What they call Monthly Rheumatism. So when you
get allergies or when you get certain types of Bi-syndomes that occur at a certain
month every year, it could be not necessarily geographical, it could be
Astrological. The month is going to be reflective of this idea of the Sinew
Channels. The month is very easy to figure out. It basically starts with Shaoyang
and then it reaches biggest Yang, Taiyang, and then you have the illumination of
Yang which is Yangrning. Then after Yangming the Yang begins to decline and
give birth to Yin, so then the fourth month is going to be Yang Ming the fifth
month is going to be Taiyang, the sixth month is going to be Shaoyang. For
example, January would be considered Shaoyang. Again, Sinew Channels begin
with the Leg Channels, so January is considered a Gallbladder month. February,
Taiyang, would be considered a Bladder month. March would be considered a
Stomach month (Sinew Channels) so they would say this is Stomach
rheumatism, as some books have called it, or they would say Stomach Bi-
Syndrome occurs. If you have allergies in the month of March, then most likely,
the allergies you have in March are due to a condition in the Stomach
Tendinomuscular Channel. (At least in some traditions that use the Sinew
Channels to represent the month. Some would say if s the Primary Channels -
that's the difference.) Then of course, April would be Large Intestine, May would
be Taiyang Small Intestine, and then June would be Shaoyang Tripple Heater.
That's how they go. The Yang reaches its peak and then begins to decline to give
bith to the Lesser Yin. When you are looking at July you are looking at the Lesser
Yin of the Leg, Shaoyin, reflective of the Kidney Channel. Then you have Taiyin,
and the Yin goes up, and then you have the Absolute Yin of the legs. Then it
declines going back from Jueyin to Taiyin to Shaoyin. So when it ends, December
would be the period of the Heart. Can you follow that? You have the twelve

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

months following the six concepts that the beginning of the year starts out with
very little Yang, Shaoyang, the Lesser Yang. Then the Yang reaches its peak,
called Taiyang, and then we have Yangming, just the Illumination of Yang.
Then the Yang needs to give birth to Yin, so this that has peaked off needs to
now decline. So it is going backwards from Yang Ming, to Taiyang, to Shaoyang.
So that by the time it has now declined, now you have the beginning of Yin. This
is Yang, this is Yin.

So then you have now the beginning of Yin which is Lesser Yin, Shao Yin.
Then you have Taiyin, where the Yin reaches its peak. Then the Yin is really
concentrated. Taiyang means you have the Biggest peak of Yang and then it
shines out - that's Yangming. I'm now holding something in Taiyin. Jueyin-
would be where if s really banked, compact, if s all held in now - Jueyin. The
Sinew Meridians begin with the articulation of the legs before it reaches the
arms. Likewise you have the legs and then as the Yin begins to drop it gives birth
to Yang. Jueyin begins now to release itself, Taiyin releases itself, Shaoyin
releases itself, so that now there's no Yin left, and now the Yang can come and
give birth. So again, from legs to arms. What you're doing is just putting in those
respective Channels or Organ associations to the terminology of Yin and Yang.
So Shaoyang Leg - Gallbladder. Taiyang Leg - Bladder. Yangm ing Leg - Stomach.
This would represent January, February, March, April, May, June. Then comes
the beginning of Yin. Shaoyin would be July; Leg Shaoyin - Kidney.August,
September. So September would be Leg Jueyin, and Leg Jueyin would be Liver.
This would be seen as a Liver month, if you're looking at the Sinew Meridians.
Again, if if s a Liver month, and you happen to be born in a month that reflects
Earth, Earth obviously won't feel very good this month, becuase this happens to
be a Wood month. Wood antagonizes the Earth. That Wood could be obviously
Yin-Liver or Yang-Gallbladder.

Question: With the months, the time is kept by Lunar Cycles. Is that correct?
Answer: The Chinese use the Solar and the Lunar systems.
Question:: So the months are going to be not quite the same thing we think of in
terms of January, February and so on. What's the easiest way to adjust for that?
Answer: Just think we are one month ahead. So if this is September, if s August
in the Chinese calendar. That's the easiest way of doing that.

You have this idea that first you have a big potential, that's the year. Then
you the month which can be seen as the Sinew Meridians or the Primary
Meridians. Then you have the date and the time. The date refers to Stems and
Branches. That you can calculate, but very simply you can look that up in a
Chinese Almanac. In fact in the Su Wen they say why go through all the trouble

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63New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
calculating, just look it up in the Almanac. Alot of Chinese practitioners are not
Astrologers. You don't necessarily have the training to be Astrologers. Not to say
there aren't, but they say simply explore the Almanac. That the Almanac will
contain the date, and the date will give a more specific time, or the date will give
a more specific point that one can treat. And then time would be, as we know,
following the Primary Channel. So right now you know if s the time dock. You
have Gallbladder beginning from llpm to lam. You're following that particular
time dock that we have for the 12 Primary Channels. From there they're able to
evaluate what point they can use today. This year has a certain potential, this is a
certain month, date and time. Then the person gives you their birth date which
then gives you a Point that they can also use and that would be the balancing of
the two Points. One to balance your constitutional make-up and the other is to
balance the Cosmic make-up. Where Astrological treatment comes into play,
because remember you're not changing one's destiny, you're making the person
become aware of what their nature is, what their Essence has to offer, either by
studying Morphology, by looking at their Morphology, or by studying Astrology.
By looking at the year you can basically guage what their Yun Qi is like. That
gives you a sense of their nature. As you begin to allow them to understand and
present their nature to them, it gives them a better way of embracing their
Destiny. Destiny evolves from Nature. In Chinese they would say the the Essence
is what gives you life - Ming, as in Ming Men. But that life has a lesson that
needs to be Fullfilled. Thafs what the Spirit, or this Y u n Qi that came into the
Essence is drawing you to do. Very commonly in Chinese, they would say life,
Ming, Y u n . This idea of Ming Wan. W a n is the Cantonese pronunciation of that
word that you say Yun Qi. So that you have a life that is given by the Essence of
your parents, but part of it is a life that needs to have a Destiny. That you have
unfinished business, and that's why the Spirit - Y u n Qi, the Cosmic Qi - got
captured by the Essence. It wanted to be embodied to FulFull its Destiny.
Astrology gives us a better due to what our Destiny might be. The Morphology
gives us a due to what our Essence, what our Life is going to be like. One you can
say is the potentials that are going to be lived out by virtue of one's Astrology.
The basis of Astrological Acupuncture is not to change one's Destiny, but rather
is to make one become more attuned to and more aware of one's Destiny. By
tapping into Points that basically strengthen, that basically makes you become
aware more of yourself, you f e d stronger about who you are. So if s a system that
I advocate when people have low self esteem, if s a system that helps you to
balance yourself more in relationship to the Seasonal changes, similar to a Four
Gates type of treatment, but obviously a little bit more sophistocated than the
Four Gates. Here if s in relationship not just to the Cosmos, if s in relationship to
yourself. Thafs where Astrological Acupuncture comes into play. It's not about
changing or altering one's Destiny, especially in Duoism you can't run away from
what is going to be your lesson of this life. If you do run away they would say you

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &Jeffrey C Yuen 2001
have to come back again, because you haven't graduated from that particular
lesson. It's not to say why don't I just sit back, if I don't get everything done this
lifetime I have another lifetime. No, rather the lesson is I want to get everything
done this lifetime so I don't need to come back. So I can be with all that there is
around me, which is, once again, the Great Spirit.

Question: When you talk about Four Gates, are you talking Shangwan, Xiawan,
Neiguan, Waiguan, or L14, LV3?
Answer: I'm talking about Hegu and TaiChong. LV-3 and LI-4. That's a very
popular treatment. They do it for jet lag. If s kind of like an Astrological concept.
What you're doing is you're intervening with the beginning and the end of the
12 Primary Channels. Using one Yang aspect, Large Intestine rather than Lung,
and using the Yin aspect, Liver rather than Gallbladder. In other words the
beginning of the 12 Primary Channels is Lung and it ends with Liver. Four Gates
is getting the whole 12 Meridians to circulate through by going to use their
Source Points. I can get the dynamics of all 12 Meridians flowing smoothly
through the body. So consequently let me use LU-9 and LV-3. But both of them
are Yin. Why don't I select one tha's Yang and one thafs Yin. That's why you use
LI-4 and LV-3. You can obviously have also selected LU-9 as the Yin point and
then used Gallbladder for the Yang point - GB-40.They could have been doing it
that way. Some people also have Four Gates where they use basically the
beginning and the end of the 12 Primary Channels' external Branches, namely
LU-1 and LV-14, so if s almost like a loop around the chest. which tends to be a
little bit more powerFul than the Four Gates, so that if s not really used for
someone who has an Excess condition. Then it tends to be more agravating.
That's where the concept of Four Gates comes in - that you're opening the
gateway from the beginning to the end of the Channels, so you're land of
allowing a flushing through the 12 Primary Channel System. But it takes away
from the idea of what the Season is, it takes away from the idea of what the
climate is, it takes away from the idea of what the Astrology is.

What I'd like to explore with you toady is a simple application of Astrological
Acupuncture. If s one that I think is the easiest to learn among the differect
systems and I'm sure that you should be able to apply some of this in your
regular practice already. Before we do that let's get some of the very basic
information about what is talked about in the Su Wen in relationship to
Astrology. Chapter 9 begins the discussion of Cycles of Six. Again the Cycle of Six
is based really on the concept of Liu He, Six Harmonies. Cycle of Six means that
we have 60 days within the Chinese calendar, which is based on Stems and
Branches, the 60 days goes through a fluctuation of Taiyang, Shaoyang,
Yangming, Taiyin, Shaoy in, Jueyin. That's a fluctuation that takes place. Those
-
are the so called Six Influences. Then you have the 60 days just so you

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@ New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
understand what I'm saying. Especially if you have just recently graduated from
Chinese Medicine [school] this may sound a little confusing.

Stems and Branches... Gan (Â¥=(), Zhi ($_ ) ,Stems and Branches. As some
of you know there are 10 Stems and 12 Branches. The 10 Stems basically
represent the element of time, thafs Heaven. The 12 Branches represent the
element of Earth. Not in terms of Five Elements but in terms of Heaven and
Earth. There are 12 Terrestrial Branches. Time is the concept of the Five Element
theory, where we have obviously the component that represents the changes or
the transitions of time, from birth to its growth, maturity, to its decline and to its
decay. That's the element of time. If s built in that everything has its time, and
if s also built in that we will have a period where it's not our time. The Element
of time is that we're either moving forward in life or we are sometimes haunted
by the past and we move backwards in life. While we might be aging we're not
living in the proess of acknowledging that we're aging. We seek youth. We seek
cosmic surgery, we seek facelifts, and all these things to avoid that which is
natural in life. So that time exists in the presence of its opposite, the Five
Element theory exists in the presence of its opposites. We can go forward which
we would call Yang, we can go backwards which we would call Yin. Each one of
the Five Elements has its Yin and Yang aspect. We know that in terms of their
Organ associations. But there are 10 possibilities that come from these Five
Elements. Each one has a Yin and Yang. These are refered to as the 10 Steins. So
Wood has a Yin and Yang, Fire has a Yin and Yang. You add each Elements' Yin
and Yang and you have 10 possibilities. Again, the possibilities of the Element of
time.

Then we have the idea that time doesn't exist by itself, time exists in the
presence of Earth. Time exists and we can only measure it because of Space. We
measure by what time does to things in life. We measure it by what time does to
things on Earth, how Heaven influences Earth. If you don't observe the changes
in physical, substantial things, we wouldn't necessarily know there is time
outside of darkness and light. Time occurs within Space so that the Earth
Element which we say represents the transition of time, represents what time is
doing. Thafs why we say Earth serves as a balance or that which represents the
Transformation and Transportation of how things change - substance, food -
when it goes into our lives. So Earth then is taken out of the Five Element
theory and what you're left with is Four Elements. You have the Four Elements
with the cardinal points on top, Fire above and Water below. What we have is
the transition of each Element into the other, and that transitional point between
Yin and Yang, or Yang and Yin, becomes known as Earth. Earth now becomes the
cardinal point of this transitional phase that we have in life. And that becomes
now obviously, each Element had its Yin and Yang, but we have taken out Earth

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001

Shaoyang, beginning of life. Rather than call it Wood even though it contains
Wood, we can say Shaoyang. This we would say is where Taiyang, that's the
highest point, Fire, and again Taiyang includes Heart, they say Small Intestine.
Then comes the configuration where its Yin - Shaoyin. Then lastly you have
Taiyin. That would be components of Yin and Yang, the concept of just Yin and
Yang without the absolute of Yang, Yangming, or the absolute of Yin, Jueyin. We
wodd say that's the nature of how life is. That's life as you have a shape, as you
have a body. As you have a body and time plays its role on that body, this is what
begins to emanate from our lives. Shaoyang we would say is Gallbladder and
Tripple Heater. Taiyang we would say is Bladder and Small Intestine. Shaoyin we
would say is Heart and Kidney. (Just to be consistent I'm going to have the leg
Channels first). Taiyin we would say would be Spleen and Lung. Of course we
know that this idea of Shaoyang, Taiyang, Shaoyin, Taiyin, also represents the
concept symbollically, some of you already know, is the Yi Jing, the Book of
Changes. Change can only be measured in relationship to not Time, but in
relationship to Space. The change itself is Time. It is intrinsic that Time is going
to exist and change is going to take place. That's the symbofism of the Yi Jing,
that's the cash coins. But the Yi ling is saying that out of something that was Yin
grows something that was Yang. Out of something that was Yang, Shaoyang,
grows something that's even more Yang. Out of something that is Yang now
comes Yin, and out of something that was Yin, Shaoyin, comes even more Yin,
Taiyin. And then again, it's Yin because there's a hesitation to continue.
Yang is continuously trying to move through something. Yin is "wait a minute
let's stop," so it's a broken line. Yang is a straight line or a continuous line. But
life appears in the presence of its opposites, so I could go, Shaoyang can continue
to want to go toward Fire, becomming more Yang. Or, it could decide "well I'm
hesitant. I don't know if I want to be Fire. I think I still like the nurturing
component of Water. h t me go backwards. You see now you have 8 possibilities.
That's the Yi Jing. When you combine these possibilities you have now 64
possibilities. That's the b o k of Changes. You're following me so far? Yes...

Question: Why does it start in the middle? Well, Shaoyang instead of the most...
It makes more sense to say why doesn't it start at the least point or the highest
point? It doesn't start at either extreme it starts in the middle which makes sense
to me if I look outside at the Earth and a tree for example, it makes sense you
have the Earth, you have like Water and Wood, which is where this is.
Answer: Because what you have in the concept of Time, is Time is represented
by birth. Birth is Wood. Birth is the beginning of Yang. If that birth reaches its
maturity which we call Taiyang. The highest point is where things have already
reached its fullest. It's no longer just the beginning of something. Then Shaoyang
means there's not that much Yung yet. It's building up. It's the birth of Yang.
Shaoyin means the birth on Yin. By the end of this you should be able to

63 New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &Jef£reC.Yuen. 2001

 the Six Zones, I use these ideas, zones to represent to talk about these elements,
Y Five Elements but what is important is that when you have the development of
L,% a thi$ just so that you understand how this is created. Yes you can learn the words,
for each on of these Trigrams that they have in the Ba Gua, but the words
themselves are interpretations, that's why everyone writes their own book on
the Yi Jing. You should be able to interpret now. If 1have this ( 7 - ), you
already know this is a quality of Wood, right? Out of Yin comes Yang. That's
Wood. What it's saying is that Wood wants to go forward ( ), or the Wood
wants to go backwards ( ). It's moving towards Yang or it's moving towards
Yin. So you have a Wood Yang, one can say Yang Gallbladder if you're applying
this from Medical Yi Jing. This is also how you can devise Medical Yi Jing. That
would be Gallbladder while this would be more Ever. There's a more Yin quality
to that Wood. Now, positive I'm using to represent Yang, negative I'm using to
represent Yin. Now, on top of this so called Trigram, these are Trigrams, and out
of these they combine with all the elements. So let's say you had this and you
had another Trigram, let's say the Trigram was Yang to Yin. ( ) Yang to Yin
would represent Metal, OK? kt's say this is a d i d line so it's Yang, Large
Intestine. Following me so far? Now let's say that what I had in terms of the
Hexagram was this ( ). This you see is the Wood(? ) Yang, Metal (=
)Yang. Follow? So if y6u look this up in an Yi Jing book, this would be a bad
reading, because Wood and Metal don't get dong. Right? This is not going to be
a good Hexagram that you are going to get - they don't get along. What you need
to do, if someone gets this if you are doing Medical Yi Jing, it's not that you treat
this, I mean you can, there are many interpretations, but the interpretation in
terms of Controlling one over the other, that means if this is the Medical Yi Jing
and the person happens to be a Wood type, obviously Metal is not going to be
very good. You might want to Disperse that Metal that's going into Wood. So
you go to the Metal point of Gallbladder, GB44, and you would Disperse that.
That person would now feel better. Others would say, well why not Harmonize
it. Why not bring the Water Element in,because Water now creates a
continuation of the flow. Why see it as Excess or Deficiency, why not just
Harmonize it. Being that both of them are Yang you would go to Bladder and use
the Water point of Bladder to balance out this Wood and Metal imbalance. Some
people would go to the Water point of Wood as well as the Water point of Metal
to balance the imbalance. It depends on how you, you h o w , some pevle like to,
you know, I don't like just use one point, one point won't do enough. You use
more Points and they'll come up with other things that's based on that concept-

Now what is missing within this concept is Earth, because Earth is taken out-
What Trigram tells us it's Earth? The Trigram that tells us it's Earth, remember
Earth is the transition. So what that means is that Wood when it's moving
towards Earth is when it's moving towards it's transition ( E), which is Yang.

98
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, a n t . Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
But how you know there's an Earth,because when they do the Yi ling it's always
a Hexagram, it's not just a Trigram. What they look at is that the Element that is
going to be moving into, needs to receive it. See, it's Yang. The next Element is
going to be Fire. So it has to have a solid line. That would then say this
Earth( ). That's the transition. In other words they're analyzing really each 7

line even though initially what I do is analyze this Trigram and that Trigram
and then you have to analyze the area in the middle of it. That determines if
there's any Earth existing or not. Are we dear about that? In other words, this
Wood is becomming Yang so that Element it should go into is Yang, so that there
are Earth qualities in here already in this Hexagram. If there are Earth qualities in
here we can say that there's Earth here as well. So that's how you analyze it. This
is Wood, Earth and Metal. But Wood again doesn't get along with Earth and it
doesn't get along with... Yes it would be more nourishing for Metal but we might
then say there's an Earth Element in t21& we have to also balance the Earth or
Disperse the Wood that's going into Earth.Thafs how they come up with the
Point combinations or Point selections in treating based on an Yi Jing reading.
Everyone know how they do Yi Jing readings? You just b a s i d y cast a coin.
Heads is Yang, tails is Yin. That's what it is. It's a coin casting but as you're casting
the coin you are having an intention of what you feel is appropriate. Some
people say just like that you take the Pulse and you measure the person's breath
or your breath, some people say it's the W a a n casting the coin or it's the client
casting the coin. My opinion is that it should be relevant to the client' so the
client should be casting the coin. Are we clear about that idea? So that's how you
do the Yi Jing. You basically can start comming up with all 64...Write your own
interpretation. All of you have studied Five Element theory. Some of you may
not have been from the Five Element school of thinking that muchJbut you can
come up with what are the atributes of Wood, Earth and Metal. How would we
describe this component - Wood, Earth and Metal. You seek security but yet
there's conflict, Wood.

You put in all these elements into it and you'll come up with a whole
paragraph and that becomes a textbookJ that becomes a reading. It can be
ConfuaousJmy underlying theme is for you to read it and become more morally
good or bad. So I might might add dot of things that involve morality into it -
that would be a Confucian Yi Jing. I can try to get you to be more reflective and
that would become a Daoist Yi Jing. Or Buddhist whit31 have elements of both.
That's how you come up with the different religious versions of their Yi Jing
system. It could be Medical Yi JingJyou just say this person has Wood, Earth and
Metal. That means they will have some abdominal distension, epigastric
distension, due to Wood Invading the Earth. That would be the negativity
because that's the bad part. If they have a Metal Deficiency then this is a good
reading because the Earth is now going to nurture that Metal. This is how they

G3 New England School of Acupuncture, a n t . Ed. Dept. & Jef£reC. Yuen. 2001
come up with the medical component of this. Are you dear? Are we dear about
the Yi Jing and how that is?

( break in recording)

It occurs in your body because of space.

The Eight Extra Channels is the Essence as it grows within time. It is the
unfolding of your genetic code. GB-41,TH-5,Bl-62, SI-3, Kid- 6. Now Heart, why
did they ? Heart, remember, in Classical thinking you don't use the Heart,
Pericardium would replace the Heart. PC-6, LU-7, SP-4. Eight Extra Channel
Opening Points comes from that. That's why some of you who have Kiiko's book
, can see she has reference to how the Ming Dynasty text used the I Ching, the Ba
Gua, and aligned the Ba Gua to Eight Extra Channel, to these so called Points.
However, I want to say that what I am teaching you is known as the
Pre-Heaven Sequence. If s not the Post-Heaven Sequence that you see in her
book. Pre-Heaven Sequence means that Yang, heaven, is going to be here (z),
and Earth is here ( ~), g
7
so that if s a little different than to have this pairing
( -2 ) where this ( =-E: ) is the highest point This is called Pre-Heaven
Sequence, so whenever you see three straight lines above, and three broken lines
below, thafs called the Pre-Heaven Sequence. That means that's what's going to
give birth to you, that's Yun Qi. Post-Heaven Sequence is what you make out of
it. And that's when you have this sequence of Fire and Water above and below.
This is Fire (^EE. ) and Water (=Â¥=:)okay, so that's a little different sequence. So, a
bit of a deviation, but now you understand what they mean by the Cycles of Six.. ..

Question:Can you just explain the discrepancies between the Six Harmony chart
and the I Chins, the Hexagram that you are explaining. In the Liu He chart the
Yang coming out of Yin was Shao Yin, but when you were explaining the I Ching
Hexagram that was Metal, Tai Yin. The Large Intestine was the Yang aspect of
the Metal which was the Yang emerging from the Yin, but in the Six Harmony
chart that pattern was Shao Yin-Kidney and Heart.
Answer: You're using the term Shao Yang to represent Lesser Yang, but in reality
notice that there are two systems. Thafs why in one I'm calling it the Elemental
system where you're identifying the things based on Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal,
and Water. That's the Elemental system. Whereas when you use the word the
Six Harmony system you have Shao Yang. So Shao Yang obviously, half of it at
least, is not equated with Wood. Gallbladder is equated with Wood, but Fire is
not equated with Wood. Tai Yang, we have, half of it is equal to Fire, the other
half is not. We have Small Intestine, but we have also Water. So, I think that's
where you are putting the two together and they are not equivalent to each

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC Yuen. 2001

other. That's the difference between that.

I call it Wood and I could say Shao Yang, but I could say that if s not really
one and the same thing either. So some people would say Shao Yang is the
beginning of Yang, so that's going to be the equivalent, from Five Element they
would say, oh thafs Wood. They are actually all the same, but if s a little bit more
than the Elemental equivalent because if you look at Shao Yang, just so that if
you get into an argument you could prove it, a lot of people will not understand
this sometimes.

w
Shao Yang represents Gallbladder, Wood, moving to if s pair Triple Heater,
Fire. Tai Yang represents the reception of that, Small Intestine. But in reality, one
could say we're starting out with the leg Channels, why not say Bladder? And
thafs what we should say, Bladder and Small Intestine-legs first. The Chinese,
also in the textbooks, say the leg Channels. And thafs why we have Shao Yin,
the configuration of Pericardium as we replace the Heart with Pericardium and
Kidneys. Kidney, again, starting out with the leg Channel, and then Spleen and
Lung.
Now, you fill in the Five Element theory. Wood, because see the Fire. But
now what we see is Water and Fire. Likewise we see Water and Fire. And then
we see Earth and Metal. That's Tai Yin. Now the discrepancy is, our assumption,
is that everything is moving like this; that's our assumption. One also could
contradict that because people say it goes in the presence of if s opposite.
However, what is the Five Element system coming out from? If s a system that
comes out of YinlYang theory. You all contend with that. Is YinlYang theory
represented by a circle? No, YinIYang theory is represented by its symbolof Yin
and Yang. That means when it reaches its highest point, Tai Yang, which is going
to be reaching Fire, what does Fire have to do? It has to come down to Water.
And out of that Water, that Yin is what gives birth, so if s pulling from the Yang,

101
New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
@3
now it comes out, and it becomes a Yin Organ. So out of the Yang which visits
Water, now becomes Yin because Shao Yin, so Water and Fire, now it comes
back, and out of that it gives birth to Earth and Metal. So the concept of creation
is still there. That's how you can bridge all of that together as one configuration.
And if you add in the Jue Yin part, you still have this idea that when it reaches
Water, that if s going to communicate with Fire as well. Some people have even
filled those things in with a Yang Ming part. But generally speaking, they don't
use Yang Ming and Jue Yin in.relationship to this zonal concept, so there's still
that idea of creation that we see here. By the time it reaches the component of
Fire, like the YinIYang symbol it has to come down to Water, and that's where
you have Water giving birth. And out of that Yang comes the Yin, so the Fire
and Water comes back out it's Yin form to give birth to the Yin which is Tai Yin,
Earth and Metal. That's where you have the creation cycle. And of course if we
continuerit's Water that is missing here. And that's where some people try to
come up with the rationale for that because they say there is no Water, at this
point things have gone to a point of decline, and you no longer have that. They
say if you want to have Water you need to go backwards. That's where you have
the Cycle of Creation and, I should say, degeneration. In truth, the Cycle of
Creation is the Cycle of Degeneration, you're born to die. So we're actually
degenerating every day. That might not sound very good. But immortality is to
go the opposite, and that's very endemic in Daoist thinking,is that there's ways
of promoting immortality.

Question: The Yang Ming--the solid line, the broken line, the solid line--in other
uses represents Fire. Can you explain the difference?The Yang Ming symbol you
use for Metal at one point is used to represent Fire at another point. The solid
line, followed by the broken line, with the solid line above it. On this chart you
have it as Metal and on the other diagram you used it to represent Fire on the
posterior heaven.. .
Answer: You're talking about the Pre-heaven and the Post-Heaven Sequence.
Remember in the I Ching they have names for each one of the Trigrams. That
Water and Fire is not a Five Element naming that they're giving you. Heaven
and Earth is not ...y ou have this also in the I Ching as part of the eight
possibilities, so they have Heaven and Earth. If you're analyzing from a Five
Element theory you would say that this is Fire (SEE. ), that's Yang; this is
Water (^.^ ), that's Yin. If you're analyzing this one from a Five Element theory
you would say-this is coming from Yang, this is Metal (Â¥== ), that's Yang; this is
coming from Yin and creates Yang, this is Wood (- ), that is Yin. That's a Five
Element analysis of each one of the lines. But each one of the Trigrams are also
given a name, like Wind, they have Lake, those are names that they give to it.
When you see the Trigrams, as this picture is the Ba Gua, how you recognize it as
the Pre-heaven is where you have the three solid lines and three broken lines

102
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001
which the names of those Trigrams are called Heaven and Earth. And then you
have the broken line and the solid line which the names of those are called Fire
and Water. So if s not the same Fire and Water that we think of as Five Element
theory because they donft have Wood in their Trigram naming. They don't have
a Metal in their Ba Gua naming. They have other factors~theLake, the Wind,
things like that, the Mountain. So, what they did is once they created those
Trigrams they wanted to be more poetic; they gave it names and then the names
became the names we call through the readings. Yes?

Question: Going back to the diagram, not the one you just had, the one before y-
that where you made the transition, you had, I believe it was Wood and Metal, - =
and then you gave Earth, right there, bottom left. The middle section of every --
Hexagram, are you saying that those always contain the Earth transition?
Answer: No. The fourth line determines if if s going to be Earth or not Okay,
you're reading these two lines ((;= ) to determine if it is Earth.

Lefs say this is Metal (= ), Metal comes out of Yang, it becomes Yin. And
then it wants to become more Yin. That's the nature, it wants to become more
Water. As if s moving forward to become more Water, forward means Ymg, so
you would see this (=). And then if Water receives it (-s),
that's Earth.Or, if
you have Metal (=Ã), lef s say Metal doesn't want to go forwards, it wants to go
backwards= ). If it goes backwards, you can't have transition. So already you
know that's not the Earth Element that's there. But let's say you had. It's Yam, it's
moving forward. But it will move forward to become Water, but Water does&
want to receive it, so Water's going to say no, I don't want to be Yin for you,(-=- )
so then you have no Earth there either. You follow?If s the Yang line, while it
represents Yang, italso represents something is going ahead in life. The Yin line
represents moving backwards. So that means if I was going to look at Wood,
Wood automatically when it goes forward if s Yang, when it goes backwards its
Yin. So it has a solid line or a broken line. Solid would be if s going forward,
broken would be when if s going backwards. Now to make the Earth transition,
Wood is going to Fire, Fire is going to receive it, so we expect the fourth line to
have a Fire, a Yang quality, a solid line. If it has a broken line, then you don't
have Earth there. Even though I'm moving forward, moving ahead, I have
Wood, you have a broken line, a solid line, and I'm moving forward, so my
Wood is becoming Yang, Gallbladder, but there's nothing to receive me. Because
what I see in front of me, if s Yin, a broken line, so it pushes me back. Because if
if s Fire if s going to be even, Yang. So that's how you would know if there's
Earth or not. So that Element at that Trigram would have no Earth in it. That's
all you would say, so you don't have to intervene with Earth. That's how you
would come up with that reading, follow?

@I New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

 Let's just make up some hexagrams and we'll analyze it together so you'll get
the hang of this. I'm just making this up now. We'll have to analyze this
together and see what happens. Okay, let's look at some of these Trigrams.
-
-
--
The first one(r- )we have Yang becoming Yin. So what is Yang becoming
Yin? Metal. Are we clear about this? This is Metal (z )Is that (=^ ) a Yang
aspect of Metal or is that a Yin aspect? A solid line, so that's a Yang aspect, Large
Intestine. That means also, it tells us that, if s moving toward its next Element
which is what? Water. Water is Yin or Yang? So that would mean that then this
-
is Earth (=^.), you follow?
--
Now, we have also this top Trigram ( ==-=: )what is Yin and gives birth to
Yang? Yin is Water giving birth to Yang, that's Wood (.)-- And is this
Wood F(- ) positive or negative? If s going back so if s Liver. If (his happened to
be the bottom Trigram, we don't expect Earth already, we won't even be looking
for Earth anymore. So what we have is the Yang of Metal, with the Yin of Wood
and there's Earth there. You do the interpretation, that's what it is. The lower
Hexagram represents south, generally, and the upper Hexagram represents your
direction in life. So if you have Metal and Wood, your direction in life is now
you need to be aggressive to all the people that tell you what to do, the Wood
people. I'm translating in a somewhat humorous way, but it could definitely be a
lot more neutral in that way. -- -
--
--
Okay, what is Yin and gives birth to Yang =)?
(: )-
Wood. And this Wood
is it a Yin Wood or a Yang Wood? Yin, so if s liver. Do I have to think
about Earth any longer? No. I don't think about Earth anymore. So what is
this (Ñ ) now? Wood. And what is that ) above it? Yin. So we have a very
strong Yin, Wood. So if your question is, "should I make a career change?" the
reader says yes, you have all this Wood. If you're asking why am I sick, if s
because you have all this Wood. That's why you're getting headaches and
-
hypertension, so that's how they would read all that.
-
-
--
This (==>)iswhat, Water, Yin becoming ( Z = ) more Yin, Water, and is it
Water moving forwards or backwards? First of all if s Yin/Yin, Kidney, but its
not going forwards if s going backwards. So do I think about Earth? No. And
what is this (=)? Fire. And is that Fire Yang or Yin? Small Intestine.

So you wanted to do a treatment, that's your reading, you could do the Fire
Point on the Kidney Channel and the Water Point on the Small Intestine
Channel, that would be the 1 Ching treatment for that person because that's their
reading. And then you could also interpret it not just as a neutral reading, they're
asking a question, and that reading would tell you the nature of their complex.

0New England School of Acupuncture, Cent Ed.Depfc &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

Because you see obviously Water and Fire don't get along. So you might see that
this reading represents more of a problem. In this case, you could either
Harmonize it, by using the Wood Point on the Fire, Small Intestine, and the
Wood Point on Water, or one could just go and use the Master Point on Wood.
But given that you have a Yin and Yang presentation you would have to use the
Master Point, the Wood point of Gallbladder as well as the Wood point of Liver
because you have a Yin and Yang coming out. If you have both Yin you would
just go to Wood Yin-Liver; so if you have both Yang you would just go to
Wood Yang-Gallbladder. If this was Water Yang, and this was Fire Yang, and
you wanted to balance it instead of going to the Wood of these two Channels,
Bladder and Small Intestine, you could just go to Wood and use the Master Point
of Wood, Gallbladder, and just use the Wood point of Gallbladder, GB-41. Or you
could use the Wood point of Small Intestine and the Wood point of Bladder.

If this (E) had turned out to be a Yang ( )in which case it would be like
that, Okay? That would have been the Bladder presentation and then we would
have to look forward to see if there's Earth. And where does Water go forth?
Wood. And what is the nature of Wood? Is it Yang or Yin? If s Yang. Then we
would say, oh there's Earth there. Are we dear how we do this? I hope I didn't
make it very complex.

So we turn back to this concept of the Astrological influences. Basically the

topic starts out in Chapter 3, but if s Chapter 9 that talks about the Cycles of Six, 60
days and I hope you understand what that means now. 60 days would be the
Stems and Branches where the Stems and Branches goes through six cycles based
on the idea of ShaoYang, Tai Yang, Yang Ming, Shao Yin, Tai Yin, and Jue Yin.
And then it creates 360 days. That the year is influenced by ]iu Fa which means
the Nine Methods, and the Nine Methods in Chinese medical literature, as well
as philosophical literature refers to the nine continents. The Earth as if s
superimposed into the dynamics of time with the influence of the Sun and the
Moon, there's going to be five days in each year where the Five Element energy is
at its highest peak. Some people would equate that with the solstice and the
equinox and then of course the cusps between the transition that we see for
summer into autumn which we refer to as late summer, so they add five more
days during those 360 days coming up with 365 days. When you see that, they
always talk about that as the Rule of Nine, which we will discuss a little later.

If s also important to understand that according to Chinese Astrology, Earth is

alive because it draws vitality, or Essence, or Yin, from the Moon. So the Moon is
considered the dark planet, or the Yin planet, or the planet where there's no light
because Earth draws upon its energy. So if the Moon was to literally become
destroyed, Earth no longer has life. So the Chinese always believe that in

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &Jeffrey C Yuen. 2001
Astrology, whatever planet has life, there has to be a Moon there.That's where
that planet draws energy from.

Chapter 66 is an important chapter because it talks about the concept of

transformationwhich means Fa (HIM ? ) w Wcreates the changes in life. It is
that chapter that talks about that Yang meets Yin to become what it is and Yin
meets Yang tobecomewhat thatis.% thisiswhatisused tosupport theidea
that Ole Yang Meridians begin with Metal and the Tin Meridians begin with
Wood in terms ofthe Antique Points. So a Yang Meridian needs to start out with
this Yin to create what it is and a Yin Meridian needs to start out with Yang to
create what (hat is. So, the Jing Well Points, the articulation of file Antique Point
within the Five Element, comes from, one could argue, Chapter 66, to support
the articulation of why the ling Well Point for a Yang Meridianis Metal and why
the Jing Well Point for a Tin Meridian is Wood. Because you need the Yang to
create Yin, you need the Y h to create the Ymg. In Essence,you're using, you j mt
need a little to get it started,and that's the concept of Metal to Yang and Wood to
Yin.
la, terms of the nine continents, or the Rule of Nine, that has also become a
very popular Astrological system. In Chinese that system is based upon the Magic
Square*

w
-3*' I
a4

Where 5, which to the center to put right in the middle and 9, which to the
highest number, is above, and the lowest isbelow. So we have 9,5, and 1 which
represents the center. And the process of die Hve Element theory we know goes
forward. A Yang number is considered an odd number, an even number is
considered a Yin number. So that which is the least Ymg is combined with that
which is the most Yin which would make it the Water Element. And that which
is the most Ymg would be combined with that which is the least Yin to make it
the File Element. And then we have, it starts out with an odd number, paired up
with an even number, so the beginning of Yong is the beginning of the odd
number,3,andifspairedoff with4,itsevenpair,and thenaswegetintohere,
this is Yin,and again, its in a context with an odd number first and then you
have this configuration. So this is the Magic Square. 3 and 4 represent Wood. 9
 This is important because if you wanted to do Astrological Acupuncture you
could treat the person based on their date of birth but also treat them based on
today's date. That means one is a constitutional treatment based on Astrology
and the other one is a day treatment based on today's date. So obviously if we're
working with the year 2000, the year would be a 9 year, and 9 would represent the
Element of Fire.

If someone is born in 1873, something like that, then you would take the last
3 digits, 7 and 3, and that's 10, and you minus 11from that. The year 1900, the
denominator you subtract from is 10.1800 is 11,2000 is 9. So if you want to figure
out for someone born in the 1800's and you wanted to figure out what their
Element was based on that year, then you could still calculate that. That's all
you're doing.

Because sometimes they make changes depending on gender. The system gets
refined also. Is it a male, a female? They also do that. And when you say they
work it up based on the Magic Squares?

Oh, okay, if you're looking at that concept, then if s going to be a little

different. If you're looking at this year, this is a 9 year, based on the Magic Squares
that would make it a Fire Element The Chinese calender for this year, this is a
Metal Yang year. So this is a Metal year from a calendar point of view, but the
calendar, this system is predicated that you are going to be using certain Points, so
that helps you to identify what you're going to be using for. Each system is going
to be different. I've had three people ask me the same questions because they've
learned from different traditions about the Z Ching. Some people, have taken the
Ba Gua, and they've said, "Oh Wind, that's Wood; oh Mountain, that's Metal; or
Lake, that's Water; Thunder, that's maybe Metal/ Wood. So they've taken the
translations of words and they've thrown the Five Element into that. Oh
Heaven, that's Fire. Water is Water and Fire is Fire. That's not the way the I
Ching is done. If s not, say, Wind is Wood. Obviously it seems like Wind could
be Wood, but it could be anything. That's when you have, some people have
done the I Ching from that point of view. So that's mixing and matching. Here,
the Magic Square is a little different. The year number determines which Eight
Extra Channel you're going to use.

Question: Why is the year 2000 number 9? Is that because there is no 0 in

Chinese?

Answer: Reply: No, it's because the number 9 is actually calculated. It makes it
easier for you to figure it out. It' s not like "Why the year 2009?" Really it's more
of a sequencing that they are following where it's based on the Magic Squares.

@ New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Depfc &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

You can only have 9 possibilities. What she asked here could be elementally,
which in that case could be based on 12 concepts, 12 numbers, because then you
have Wood Yang, Wood Yin, Fire Yang and then Fire, you have Triple Heater,so
then they have 12 possibilities, and then you could also have 8 possibilities. Each
system has their own interpretation of the year. But when you take it out of
context, it seems confusing, but their system, if you follow through with it, you
figure out exactly which Points you need to use.

In any case, the month, I've made a little chart for you (see addendum),
instead of teaching you how it's derived. You could derive it but it then it would
take up quite some time. So, if someone is born in the year 1,4,7,1 would
represent the Element of Water, 4 would represent the Element of Wood, 7
would represent the Element of Metal. So 2 would represent the Element of Fire,
5 would represent the Element of Earth, 8 would obviously represent the
Element of Water again. And then you have 3 Wood, 6 Metal, 9 Fire. So you go
to any one of those years to figure out your month. And what I usually like to do
is put a circle around the year and a square around the month. Okay, the cirle is
like heaven, the square is earth. So if you're born, and again this is based on the
lunar month, so you do have to go back one month. So let's say someone was
born on February 12th, Western calendar. Instead of thinking February 12th, then
what you could be thinking is that they were born sometime in January. So you
would use that just to pick the column to determine what month number
they're going to belong to. So let's say someone born February 12th, 1952, so 5
plus 2 is 7, subtract 10 from that you get 3. So you would be looking at this
column as your year, and because you were born on February 12 on the Chinese
calendar you just go one month back. So that means you would be born in a year
that's 3 and a month that's 3, double Wood that you have.

As an example, let's say that, any month that you're born in a Western
calendar, just go one month backwards. So you're born in June, you think of
May; you're born in August, you think of July; you're born in December you
think of November. The Chinese lunar calendar, because they're always going to
be one month behind. Sometimes a little bit more, but that will at least get you to
the basis of it. If you're born in December as a month, you think of November.
Let's say someone is born January 12,1959. So 5 plus 9 is 14, add that together you
have 5, subtract 10 from 5, you have 5. That's the year number. Because they
were born in January, 1959, in the Chinese calendar, most likely they were born
in December of 1958. That's were you might have a problem because we have
one more fact. So really the year number you would need to calculate is 1958.5
phis 8 is 13,l plus 3 is 4, minus 10 is 6, the year number. The month that you're
interested in is going to be December, even though you were born in January. So
December is going to be over here. So your month number, basically, is going to

@ New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept. & JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
be 4, while your year number is 6. No this is just going backwards. You go 3,2,1.
Then you go 9,8,7,6,5,4, 3...that1swhat you're doing. You have 12 intervals.
Notice you went backward's-8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, Right? 9,8,7,6. Twelve
months-6. How do all those numbers come? Let's say 2. You have to count 12
of them because there's 12 months. 2, 1,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2, 1, and then 9. That's
why you have 9 at the end of that month. That's the 12 cycles. Yes?

If you were born in December, you think of November. So November, then

you have to look at what year you were born in. And then you would, depending
on that year, you would just calculate. It's going to be in descending order that
everything follows, then you go backwards.

Question: You have a number like 14, you reduce it to 5 before you subract?
Answer If the number is greater than 10, you add together, and then minus 10
again. That's going to give you your year. The year is going to define the Eight
Extra Channels that you're going to be using.

Question: As I know, in the Lunar calendar, every 19 years, you will get two
January, or the two February, and no matter if it is the first January, or the second
January, you just use one.
Answer: Yes. But this format will get you pretty dose, it's pretty accurate to get
you to the information you need. You could figure out based on your birth year,
what Element you are, and that Element is going to be Eight Extra Channel
Element. So, again, that would mean that if you were born in a Wood year, even
though the Eight Extra Channels, you notice, do not have the idea of liver. They
do obviously have the idea of Gallbladder. So regardless if it is 3 or 4, Gallbladder,
it's going to be the Eight Extra Channels that you're going to be working on to
effect your year. So it is the Eight Extra Channels that relates to the Elemental
component. So if you're Fire, you have a greater option. If you're a Fire Yang
number, because you're 9, or maybe you're a Fire Yin number because you're 2.
So that if you're a Fire Yang number, 9, you could work with Triple Heater, or
Small Intestine, Small Intestine via Triple Heater. If you are a Fire Yin number
because your birth year happened to be 2, then you're looking at Pericardium as
part of Eight Extra Channels. Now, if you have 5, obviously, just like Wood you
only have the Yang option, Gallbladder, because they have no Liver in the Eight
Extra Channels. So if you have 5 you have Earth. The only other option you
have, because they don't have Stomach, is Spleen-Sp 4. That comes from the
argument that Chong gives birth to everything, that 5 gives birth to everything
SP-4.

If you have Metal, you obviously don't have Large Intestine as an option. If here
you have Lung, you would be using LU-7. If if s Water, it's always Water and Fire

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

that have the two options. So if if s Water, you have Water Yang, you have
Water Yin. Yang would be the odd number, that would be 1, Yin would be the
number 8. So you have Kidneys or Bladder, Urinary Bladder, as your Opening
Point, to effect the year that you were born to get you to come in contact with
your nature, to get you to come in contact with your constitution. That would be
essentially the so-called year number.

So let's say if someone is born in 1963.6 plus 3 is 9, minus 10 is 1.1is the number
of Water, 1is an odd number, your Opening Point, regardless, that would your
Lifetime Point that will always help you, would be Bl62. They call that the Life
Point. Of course that would help everyone that's born in 1963. However, you
were born in June, some people were born in July, whatever. So the month
becomes the Point you would select based on the Primary Channels or based on
the Sinew Meridians, that's going to be the month. So the month, generally
speaking in the Systematic Practices, it's the Sinew Meridians that determines
that. So the Sinew Meridian, I've already outlined how it develops. Shaoyang,
Taiyang, Yangmitzg, and then backwards.

Let's say someone's born Christmas day, December 25,1958.58, the year is 6,
which means that they are a Metal year, and the Lifetime Point for this person
born in 1958 is going to be Lung 7. They will always receive benefit from Lung 7,
regardless of what they have. Eight Extra Channel Opening Point. They're born
on December 25, so what you're looking at as their Life Point, their year point is
6, December 25 means you're looking at November, because you go back one
month. So you're looking at this chart, November would be the number 5. Just
go backwards, 3,4,5. So 5 becomes the month. Now if you're using Primary
Channels, what that would mean then, is that you use 5, because 5 represents
Earth. And 6 represents Metal. Now what you would do is, the Lifetime Point is
Lung 7, Eight Extra Channels. If you're using Primary Channels, their year as is
reflected in their month which is 5, so Earth. You go to the Metal point of Earth,
that's going to be on the Primary Channels, their Monthly Point. That's their
Month Point. So it means if you're doing a Constitutional treatment, Lung 7 is
here, Primary would be the month .Primary as the month would now
determine that I'm going to go to Spleen, and I,m going to use the Metal point,
SP-5, becomes their month treatment. Do you follow that?

Question:How did you get 6 for the year 1958?

Answer:If the number is greater than 10, you add the 2 numbers together and
then subtract from 10.5 plus 8 is 13,l plus 3 is four, subtract 10 is 6. That's how
you get the year. 6 is an Element of Metal-Metal 6 and 7.6 is a Yin number, so
you use the Yin aspect of Metal which is Lung. In fact you don't really have an
option anyway. You would say lung, then you would say it's the year that is Eight

Ill
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont. Ed. Dept. &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001
Extra Channels, so Lung 7 is the Opening Point. I mean it's the point on the Lung
of the Eight Extra Channels, so Ren Mai, that they would always benefit from. If
they're born on a month whose number is 5,5 is Earth. You go to an Earth
Meridian, that's the month, and you're going to say, it's the month in this year,
Metal. So you go to the Metal point of Earth, which is SP-5.

If you're using the Sinew Meridians, it's a little different. If you were born in
December, which you go back one month, that's November. November would
imply that you're being born on Taiyin. Remember, Shaoyang, Taiyang,
Yangrning, Yangming, Taiyang, Shaoyang. It's that fluctuation we mentioned
earlier where the Sinew Meridians create the rheumatism of each month, that
the Sinew Channels are active during each month so the month that you were
born is going to be reflective of the fluctuations of Yin and Yang. So it begins
with Shaoyang, and then it goes to Taiyang, and then Yangming . So now
Yangrning begins to decline, so it goes backwards. Yangrning, Taiyang, Shaoyang.
So in the Chinese calendar this would be January to June. Then you go into
Shaoyin, the beginning of Yin, Taiyin, Jueyin. And then it goes backwards,
because Jueyin has to release itself, or the Yin has to release itself, so that it gives
birth to Yang. So then what you have is July to December. If someone is born in
December, most likely in the Chinese lunar calendar they're born in November,
that's Taiyin. That's the Sinew Meridians. Taiyin of the Sinew Meridians, this is
going to be arm Taiyin, or leg? It's going to be arm because it goes from the legs
to the arms. Arm Taiyin is going to be Lung. Sinew Meridians are activated by
Jing Well Points, LU-11 becomes the Point that you're using.

So that's why sometimes you have discrepancies in the system is that some
people select Sinew Meridians, some people select Primary Meridians. People
who don't want to use charts are going to select the Sinew Meridians. You figure
it out easier. You don't have to say, "Gee, where is that chart?" The less
mathematical you tend to be, more likely you're going to say Sinew Meridian,
because you don't want to calculate all that stuff. So instead of using SP-5you
would use LU-11, Jing Well Point.

Question: I'm just wondering why you used 5 for the month instead of 4 if, on
the other chart, they're born on the l l t h lunar month theoretically. December
25th is the l l t h lunar month?
Answer: On this chart, they're born in the year 6. And January would be 3,
December would be 4, November would be 5.

Question: But January would be the 12th lunar month, right? If they're born in
December,in the solar year, December is the 11th lunar month?
Answer: If someone's born in December in the solar, Chinese is usually one

@ New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC Yuen. 2001
month back. So if they're born in December, I should be looking at November.

Question: But if December 25th in the year 1958 should be the month before
number 3, right, so why are you using 5 instead of 4 to come up with that
number?
Answer If you're using 4 it would imply that person's born in January 19.. ..

Question: Number 3 would be January 1958 unless I'm mistaken.

Answer: No, number 4 would be going on to the next year then it changes, you
follow? It's always one month backwards that you're looking at. So first you
calculate the year. It's not December you're going to have problems with. It's
January 12 that you would have problems with. January 12 would most likely
mean that you're born sometime in December, 1958, rather than 1959. You
calculate that and then you go backwards and you're still going to have
November, you follow? Here it's January, 1959, is most likely going to be one
month back. The one I did was based on December. I'm not going to have conflict
wih that because I'm not looking forwards, I'm looking backwards. You can have
November, it's still going to be 1958. It won't be something beyond that. I didn't
realize astrology was as hard as it is. (laughter from audience.)

Question: Going back to where you use the example with the Primary Channel,
is your selection of Primary Channels based on the selection of the ight Extras?
So in other words, did you have to take the Spleen Channel instead of the
Stomach Channel?
Answer: No, you could also take the Stomach Channel. The reason that, let's say
that someone was born in the Eight Extra, because remember in Eight Extra
you're limited in some cases, mostly in Metal and Wood. Let's say you were born
in a Yin of Wood, so that when you come up with 5 you would select more of a
Yin point. If you were born in the Yang of Wood, and you come up with 5, you
would select more of a Stomach point. That will help you to determine that as
well. In other words if you're using the Primary Channels, you have the option
of all the Antique Points. If your using the Sinew Meridians, you only have the
option of the Jing Well Points. So that's why the Primary Meridians makes it a
little more interesting, just that you have to be able to figure our the charts from
that. And they're not in conflict. One is based on the Sinew Meridians, one is
based on the Primary Meridians. They believe that the month is so broad, like
the year is very broad right? The Eight Extra Channels, if s the Yuan Qi, it
contains so many things already, do we want to really define it? A lot of people
are born in the same year, but everyone becomes a little different in a month, so
then that's when they began to try to make it more narrow, and that's when they
started to look at the idea of either Wei Qi and Ying Qi, which is the Primary
Meridian or Wei Qi, which already, in earlier texts was being used to describe for

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept. &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001

the month. Then the date that you were born is based on Stems and Branches.
When you get really that precise, that's when you might want to look at an
Almanac to figure out what Stem and what Branch today is and from that it
gives you another set of Points.

If you use the Primary Meridians, the date you were born becomes the
selection of the Sinew Meridians. If I were using, let me use my same example,
let's say Dec. 25th' 1958. What time do you want this person do be born at?

(break in recording)

.. .The Lung, if you're using the Sinew Meridian it would also be Lung, if
you're using the Primary Meridian it would have been Spleen. It would have
taken place because we have the number 5 here and we have the number 6 here.

The time that you're born, that's easy to figure out because that's just
following the Primary Meridian time dock, the time you're born, essentially as a
Large Intestine, so what that would mean is that you're using the Large Intestine
Channel, and you're basically going to use the Master Point of the Large Intestine
for the time you were born. So we have LU- 7, SP-5,or LU- 11.So now you have
the Master Point, L I -1, the Metal of Metal. That would be for the time.

The date a person is born is determined not by the number of days that is in
the month, but by the date as I've said is Stems and Branches. So when you
identify what Stem and Branch it is, it will tell you, again, what point to use. All
of this is within the Primary Meridian. There are those people that just use Eight
Extra Channels and Primary Channels, so you could figure out everything with
just those two Channels.

Some people like to incorporate all of the meridians into their system of
thinking. Those who use that kind of concept would say that the month that you
were born in, is based on the Sinew Meridians, they first used the Sinew
Meridians for the month, so in this case it would have been LU-11. The Eight
Extra Channels would have been the year, which would have been LU-7. The
date that you were born, what they would use is the Luo Meridians, and the time
you were born is when they use the Primary Meridians. Again, you see how you
could get L I- 1.

So this is where they would deviate. The date is based on the Luo, and how
the Luo model works, is the Luo model begins with, in terms of the date, it's not
based on Stems and Branches any longer; rather, it's based on the concept that
January begins with the Lung Channel and then it moves all the way to the Liver

114
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC Yuen. 2001
Channel. So it's a little different than the Sinew Meridian. They have a lunar
concept too. January begins, so a person born in December, which we said would
be November, November would bring us into Gallbladder. The Luo Point of
Gallbladder will address all dates in that month, GB-37.

This model allows you to have all of the Channels being treated without just
one Channel, or because most Astrological Acupuncture is either based on the
Antique Points or the Eight Extra Channel Points. They do not include the other
Channel Systems.

Question: Did you say that for the Primary Meridian you could use either Spleen
or Stomach?
Answer: You could use the Spleen or the Stomach, yes. And how you figure that
out may be influenced by the year. Because the year, what you have, in the Fire
and in the Water, you have a Yin and Yang number. In the Metal and in the...I
should say you have a Yin and a Yang Meridian. In the Wood and in the Metal,
Wood only has a Yang meridian-Gallbladder; Metal only has a Yin Meridian
Lung,it does not have Large Intestine, the other one does not have the Liver. So
the year turns out to be Metal, so you only have the option of using Lung, but the
number is 6 or 7.6 or 7, one is even, one is odd. Then when you figure out that
the month is Earth. That means if the year was 7, then you would select Stomach
rather than Spleen. If the year was 6 you would select Spleen because 6 is even
and 7 is odd.

Question: If you just go back one month is that always accurate, or if someone
was born at the beginning or end of a month would that.. .
Answer Pretty accurate. It's about 80% accurate. There are actually almanacs that
you could consult that would tell you, and you can even figure out
mathematically without looking at that chart that I gave, but then I would have
to introduce other theories. I don't want to make you more confused than you
need to be. You could figure it out, it's not a very hard system. There are a lot of
books about the Nine Star Ki and a lot of them just make use of the Antique
Points in their treatment. So they don't use the Eight Extras and all that. But the
critique of it from all the Astrological practitioners is that you only have one
level of energetics, you're not including all the other energetics. The year to
them represents something more like Yuan Qi, the month they say represents
more like Wei Qi. If s very broad, that's the Sinew Meridians, and then they're
making it more precise-the time is Primary Channels, the month, the date, is
the Luo Channels, so they would have all of the Channels included in that
treatment. So this would be based on the person's date of birth. This treatment
here would be all of the Meridians they cover, and this they can benefit from for
the entirety of their life.

63 New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept & Jefirey C. Yuen. 2001
 So let's do another example so we can get the hang of this a little at least. Let's
talk about today's date. Today's date, how everyone here will benefit from this
treatment today. So not only do you have a constitutional treatment, you have a
daily treatment. Today is, let's see, the year 2000, what is the so-called year
number? 9 is what Element? Fire, it's the Yang of Fire. Already, what Yang
Element of Fire can I use for Eight Extra Channels? Triple Heater or Small
Intestine. So that would be TW-5or S 1-3. So those are our options. Everyone can
benefit from that date this whole year. Now, if you look at the fact that it's
September, which means that it's probably August, so the Chinese just went over
the mid-autumn festival, some of you might have had mooncakes, if s moving
toward the end of August, just as if s moving towards the end of September. So if
you look at 9, and we look at August, what number will August be? If you have
trouble just go backwards. December, November, October, September, August.
December is what number? 4. Alright, 4,5,6,7,8. Okay, so the month number is
8.8 is what Element? So 8 is the Water Element, it would be the Yin of the Water
Element, so you're giving the Primary Channels, what point do you use on the
Kidney Channel? The Fire that has gone into Water--Kidney 2. If you're not
using the Primary Channels, and you're using the Sinew Meridians, the Sinew
Meridians identifies the month of September as August. August would be what?
So again July would be Shaoyin, August would be Taiyin. Taiyin leg would be
Spleen. What point of the Sinew Meridians? Spleen 1.

Question: I'm puzzled about the numbers for the months from your chart. For
instance I was born in November. On the Chinese calendar I would be born in
the 10th month. But on this chart, the first month starts in February, so it seems
we're counting back one extra month.

Question:I think we're adding, counting back an extra month. Because if you
look at the other chart you drew for the months, theoretically, 4 February to 5
March is the Western month, not the Chinese month, so that first line should be
January of the Chinese month if I'm not mistaken.
Answer.Yes, but this line more or less is based on the Western calendar. So I
constructed it based on the Western calendar.

Question: Why then do we take the Chinese month and use the Chinese month
when those are the Western months written up there?
Answer: Because if these are Western months, what you're doing is, that the
number's based on the Chinese, note, this is the Chinese calendar, but you're
analyzing it by going one step backwards. The number system matches that from
figuring how people are going to calculate it; if s based on the Western calendar.

116
New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &Jeffrey C.Yuen. 2001
these numbers on the top and how those numbers come about.
Q u e s t i o ~On the example that you did for 9/24/00, would you mind explaining
how you figured out the Eight Extra Points and then, the Sinew Meridian, could
that be like SP-1 and LU-11, could you explain how you got both of those again?

Answer First of all, what we did is, when you have the year 2000,9 starts out as
the number. !3o that's how we get 9.9 is Fire. Let's come back to the Magic
Square. So this is Fire, so that's the year. So Fire within Eight Extra Channels, the
only Fire Points that they have are Small Intestine and Triple Heater. Which
means S 1-3 or T H-5. We'll be able to narrow this down later on, but these are
the options we have for someone that's born in the year 2000. So obviously as
Sve said, if you're loolcing at the Chinese Almanac which is based on a 60 day, 60
month,60 year cycle, this year that we're in is a Metal year, it's a Metal Yang year
for that matter. So it's very different than say, that this year is that. But this
calculation is within Eight Extra Channels. Eight Extra Channel is iooking at not
just the Element of time, which is what the Element is looking at, but Eight
Extra Channels remember looks at time in space, so the whole numbering
system dmnges. It's not that there are differences, but rather one would say that
we're looking at life as it's being formulated in our bodies. That's why that
paticular year is different, from the Eight Extra Channel language.
Then what we did is we looked at this chart, and we said that the person is
born in a Fire year, 9, and they're born, I mean we're looking at today's date,
September. If you're looking at the concept of September, September would be 7,
but you go backwards. Actually, we have to advance that, so that's where we got
the number 8 from the chart. So 8 represents, in terms of the 5 Element theory,
represents Water. So it's the Yin of Water, the Yin of Water means Kidneys. And
what you're doing is, you're using the Primary Channels, we're looking at the
year 2000, we're looking at September of the year 2000, because this influence of
the year is still going to be in this month. While the month is Water, Kidney, we
want the Fire, the year's influence on there, and that's why they pick the Fire
point, Kid 2. So that's using the Primary Channels as our guiding light.

At the same time, if we're looking at the month of September, we're looking
at August in the lunar calendar, August would represent the period that is
associated with Taiyin.January, for this would have been February. And again
it's the leg Channels first, then the arm Channels. And then you have the leg,
and then you have the arm. So Taiyin of the leg would be Spleen, and Sinew
Meridians only use Jing Well Points, SP-1. So SP-1 would be a Sinew Meridian
way of treating the month. Today, everyone of us can benefit from W-5or SI-3,
K-2 or SP-1,and then what we want to do is figure out the time, and what time is

@ New England %wl of Acupuncture, ant. Ed.Dept. & Je££r

C.Yuen 2OW
it now? It's between 11to 1. So what would that make us nowf 11am to 1pm?
Firef so that's Fire' and what Fire is thatf Heart or Small Intestine? Heart. So that
means right now, the time is the Heart' is time.

This is the solar influence right now. The month is lunar. That's why they
always look at the month as lunar. The year can be based on the solar as well as
the lunarf that's why the year is different. If you look at the calendar' the calendar
based on the 60 day cycle is going to give you the solar year. The one we're
calculating based on Eight Extra Channels is going to give you the lunar year. So
the month and the year are lunar' the time and the date are solar. If we're in
China nowf it's going to be nighttime' but we're not looking at that. We're
looking at it so that the date and the time itself are solar. So that's where you
look at the Heart and what you're doing is you go to the Master Point of that. So
the Fire point of Fire is HT-8.That would treat the time. And then' we're on the
date' the 24th. The 24th follows the Luof and the Luo goes from Lung to Liverf
each one of them representing the month. Are we clear?

Because wherever you're living you're still calculating that time, based on
that concept. That's why some people would sayf instead of using the Primary
Channelsf I mean using the Sinew Meridians for the month' you should use the
Sinew Meridians for the date. Sinew Meridians are not only lunar' month'
they're also solar. The time I wake up this morningf that's when my Sinew
Meridian is active. The solar model starts off with Shaoyang to Taiyangf the
so-called model here starts off with Taiyang' to Shaoyang' to Yangming.

Remember in the Ling Shu it says' "Upon the opening of the eyesf Wei Qi is
active, it goes out to the surface' to the Sinew Meridian." So you woke up this
morning at 7 amf let's say 6:45 am so we don't have that part where it could be
the endf or the begining of the Primary Channels, where you're looking at Large
Intestine. The Sinew Meridian' however' is just activated' it means at 6:45 the
Bladder Channel is active. It's been two hours being active' from k45 to tk45 it
was active' and then from 8:45 to 10:45/ Gallbladder sinew Channel is going to be
active' and then from 10~45to 12~45,Stomach sinew Channel is going to be active.
So I'm looking at it based on the time you woke upf and I'm using the sinew
Channel' I would then select the Antique point that would treat the time based
up you. So that becomes very individualized then. The way I'm doing it is easier'
but then you really have to calculate what time a person woke up.

Question: When you calculate the year' and the year is sayf a Wood Yinf then
what point on the Extra Vessels do you use?
Answer: From Eight Extra Channels you only have the option of using the Yang'
and from Metal you only have the option of using the Yin.

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cant. Fd.Dept & J e wC Yuen 2001

 Wei Qi follows so-called 12 revolutions a day, and then it goes inward for
another 12 revolutions while the Ying Qi comes out to the surface, in fact this is
going to be a Ling Shu topic. So when Wei Qi is activated, it's going to circulate
through for 12 hours. And then, it's going to retreat in for 12 hours and let the
Yin aspect become active. And that really means that Wei Qi is just going
inwards, so they 4 that Taiyin, Shaoyin, Jueyin. Leg, arm, leg, a m . When I
wake up in the morning, that's when Wei Qi is active, so this is going to be
active for 2 hours. Relative to what time you woke up.

Some of you here have more than 12 hour days, so you never allow the Yin
to really retreat. You try to stay very Yang, and you have 14 hour days, 16 hour
days, you only sleep 6 hours or 8 hours, what have you. And some of us here
nap, so the Wei Qi retreats inward when it's s u p p e d to still stay outward, it's
retreating inward. So you can fill up that so-called clock of Wei energy very easily
by not allowing yourself to relax after 12 hours of work, or when you take naps.
But generally, let's say you woke up at 7 am,by the time you get to 7 pm, the Wei
Qi is starting to go inward. That means according to the Ling Shu tradition.,by
the time you get to 7 pm, you should start decreasing and stop all physical and
mental activity. It means decreasing mental activity in the sense that you're not
thinking of things to do any longer. That allows Wei Qi to retreat inward and not
feel impeded. That doesn't mean you have to sleep, it means you have to start to
relax. It you can't relax, Taiyin is going to become Defiaent. Because you're not
allowing Wei Qi to come into Taiyin. So that, literally, let's say that by 7 pm
youtre still busy doing something and you don't really get a chance to relax until
11 o'clock at night. That means the Taiyin is Defiaent, because itk supposed to be
active coming inward, between 7 and 9 pml and you woke up at 7 am, and from 9
to 1lfShaoyin. So you never gave these Meridians, Sinew Meridians that is, the
Wei Qi to retreat inwards. So that over time you1I.lfind that the Sinew Meridians
of the Leg Channelsf of Spleen and of the Kidneys, is going to become flacad.
Those muscular areas of your body are going to begin to lose tonicity. Because
you never allow Wei Qi to retreat into their musdarture. So that over time you
might notice that you get much more varicosity; over time you might notice that
those areas are the areas that begin to sag and seem to lose suppleness because
you never allow the Wei Qi to come inward. Thatk the Tendino-Muscular as it's
applied within a solar timeclock. If it's applied within the lunar timeclock it's
based on the beginning of Yang, Shaoyang, Taiyang, etc. So some people use that
as the basis of how to treat on the time that you come in. By asking youl "Oh
what time did you wake up this morning?" And then they would look at what
time it is and they would know which Wei Qi is active; they would h o w which
Jing Well Point to treat at that time. Now let's say if you woke up at 7 am, so
right now you're at Yangming. For you, based on the time that you woke up, you

121
@New England School of Acupuncture, a n t . Ed.Dept &Je£frC.Yuen, 2001
would benefit from ST-45. That's the Jing Well Point that is active right now
because you woke up at 7 am.

Question: I wanted to go back to the use of the Luo vessels for the date. If it goes
through the 12 Channels, based on the 12 months, how does that incorporate the
date?
Answer: They just basically incorporate that the Luo is going to encompass the
dates because the Luo gives the Wei Qi and the Ying Qi.So it deals with the
month which is Ying Qi as well as the date which is Wei Qi. With a Luo point
you're only limited by the Point number, so that from that point they just used
that to calculate the date. So really, it's based on the months, if s not based on the
dates.

Question: There's also some evidence that some people have a disruption of the
circadian dock based on extended day, like some people have 26 or 28 hour days,
and causes of sleep disturbances, can this system incorporate that sort of view?
Answer No, they don't look at it like that. Everything is based on 12 cycles of 2
hours. So that's how it's always based on. So that if they notice that the Seasons
where more light is taking place, they would just see that, geographically, in that
particular geography that there's more Fire, that there's more light in there. So
from that they would say, oh these particular geographies are going to have these
kind of problems. Fire overriding on a particular geography, and then they
would calculate where that geography is located, and that's when you would add
in the elements of Feng Shui and how they would determine what diseases
people, let's say in Norway, are going to get.

Question: I just don't understand what you're going to do with the number 24.
Answer: You're asking me about the date. So 24 would be the Luo, and the Luo
essentially follows based on the monthly time dock. So that what you have, is
that September 24, you're calculating, if you follow the 12 Primary Meridian
timedock that's going to bring you into September, so that would be where you
have this. Gallbladder would be November, October would be Triple Heater,
September would be Pericardiurn. So we're looking at Pericardiurn. PC-6 as the
date treatment, solar aspect. The time and the date are solar, the month and the
year are lunar. Solar is based on a 60 day cycle. That's why I say if you want to
calculate the true date, all you do is look at the Almanac. Stems and Branches is a
solar system, it's not a lunar system. So when you look at what Stem and what
Branch it is, that's based on a 60 day cycle, that's based on the sun. So that's why
the date is always considered Stems and Branches and the Almanac would give
you what that date is, and once you have that let's say the Stem is Water and the
Branch is Wood, then go to the Wood point of Water, or go to the Water point of
Wood. That's how they would figure that out. When you're using the Luo it still

122
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont. Ed. Dept. &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
follows the solar aspect. Just makes it a little easier to use the Luo. So everyone
would benefit from that treatment in this room, because of today's date. Not
everyone would benefit from the constitutional treatment because your
birthdays are individual.

Question: inaudible
Answer. 60 day cycle, yes. No, you're trying to figure out the Stems and Branches;
it's not that. If s not, let me see, you have 60, let me look at 24, it's not that. It's a
very different calculation. Because right now we're basing it on the solar, while
the solar calendar is in line with the Chinese 60 day calendar, it also has these
little discrepancies. When you're doing Western Astrology, you couldn't do
Chinese Astrology, because that would be two different systems.

Let's do one more date then and see if we can figure it out. Let's say, who
wants to give me a date? February 22,1953. So this is 8,10 minus 8 is 2, the year is
what? Fire Yin. Fire Yin would be what? Pericardium. PC-6, that would be your
Constitutional Year Point. February would mean January, lunar. 2, January,
we're looking at 9 is going to be the Earth number, and what would that translate
as if we're doing Primary Channels? 9 is also Fire, Fire Yang. So what we want to
do is look at the Small Intestine Channel, Triple Heater, and what point do we
want to do on that now? Fire point. That would be Sl-5.The 22nd, if you're using
Luo, you're still just looking at the month. February would be which month?
Shaoyang is January, February is Taiyung, leg Taiyung is Bladder. Bladder Luo
point is BL- 58. The time, 614 am, which would be what in terms of the Primary
Channels?Large Intestine. Master Point of that? Large Intestine 1. So that would
be her Constitutional treatment, would be PC-6, SI-5, Bl-58, and LI-1. It would
start out because the Constitutional component is lunar, and so the monthly
component is lunar. For a female, it would be started out on the left side ( PC-6 &
SI-5), because left is Yin, Pre-natally, and these would be started on the right side
(BL-58 & U-1)because it represents the solar aspect. Likewise, if it was a man it
would be the opposite side. So, PC 6, on the left, S 15 on the left, B158 on the
right and L 11on the right. Are we dear? So left is Yin Pre-natally, right,
obviously if you're looking at right in terms of the Pre-natal concept, right it
would be Yang. It would be Yin post-natally.

Question: Can you explain the Luo point just one more time briefly?
Answer: The Luo point, basically, is used to encompass the date but we calculate
it really based on the month.

Question: So the cycle of the Luo is the same cycle as...

Answer: The Primary Channels. It it begins with Lung that would be January and
if it ends with Liver it would be December.

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

Question: And why did you choose Bladder?
Answer: February. February would be using Large Intestine. And you would use
the Luo point of the Large Intestine. If you were doing the tendino-muscular
Channels, then it would be Bladder. I switched.. ..AsI said some people do use
Tendino-Muscular Channels to figure out the date. But the date actually, at best,
is Stems and Branches. That would be in the Almanac. You could also calculate it
out. I just don't want to take the time to calculate it out.

Question: inaudible
Answer: Because what I did, I was looking at the Tendino-Muscular Channels
instead of looking at the Luo Channels. And then I picked the Luo point on the
Tendino-Muscular Channel, that was a mistake. So what you're doing is for the
month, you're following the solar concept which would be identical to the 12
Primary Channels, with the Luo beginning at the Lung and ending at the liver.
So January would be Lung,February would be Large Intestine. So what I did, I
picked using Sinew Channels, as Shaoyang, Taiyang, I would say if you're using
Sinew Meridians you're not looking at the Luo point, you're looking at the
(inaudible). .

This is a Constitutional treatment, they will always benefit from it. As long as
you're looking at Constitutional therapy, even though that word means so many
things and so many traditions, Astrological Constitutional therapy based on your
birthdate, the time, the month, the date, and the year. And then from there they
would know what Points you would always benefit from. What I mean when I
say benefit from, you become more pleasant, you become more attuned, you
become more embraave of who you are. So those treatments would be very good
for someone who has poor self-esteem, someone who has depression, someone
who feels that the world is always against them, someone who in some ways
would run away from their nature. They don't like who they are. So this would
further validate who you are. It makes them become more aware of the nature of
themselves. It's, you know, can I look in the mirror every day? You can meditate
every day, but even self-reflection sometimes can be too much. You don't want
to become narasstic.

Question: You said there was a way to distinguish between for instance, from the
Fires, Small Intestine and Triple Heater.. ..
Answer: Inaudible.

Question: Why you were not right about the February date. Is February Taiyang
for the Luo Channels?
Answer: February is Taiyang within the Sinew Meridians but not within the Luo

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001

Channels. I messed up on that one.

The Year is easy. You look at the intake, and you see what year they are born,
you already know what Eight Extra Channel Point you're going to use.
The Month, you go back one, and you have that chart If you don't have the
chart, then you just think of Sinew Meridians, and because you'e looking at the
month, if s lunar, so you still have to go back one.

Example: August 1923.2 plus 3, equals 5.10 minus 5, equals 5, Earth. With
Earth, you're going to use Spleen. SP-4 is going to be their Constitutional Point.
They are born in August, and let's say I don't have that chart with me, so August,
we go back one month, that would be July. July would represent Shao Yin.S hao
Yin Leg would be Kidney Jing Well Point, K-1.

With the Date you can use the Chinese Almanac, and look up the Stems and
Branches, that will tell you which Stem Element it is and which Branch Element
it is, and from there you can figure out which Point, or you can use the
LuoChannels, thinking, the person was born in August, and now I don't have to
go back, start with Lung in January, and that would be Kidney in August, and the
L u o Point is K-4

And the Time, let's say the person was born at 2am, the time of the Liver. Use
the Master Point of Liver, Wood of Wood, LV-1.

You haven't used any chart whatsoever to figure it out, except for the Magic
Square.

Question: inaudible.
Answer: You have today's date, and you have the birthdate. Today's date allows
you to become more in sync with today, the birthdate allows you to become more
in sync with your Self.

(break in recording)
. . .what we covered earlier today? Any other questions?
Question: What would be the effect on how you would use the system on
someone who had a scheduled Caesarean section, or perhaps induction of labor?
Answer: It would still based on the time when the person was born. So if if s
either natural or induced, the time the person's born, if s the Cosmic Qi at that
time, so it wouldn't change the Astrology of that person.

125
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &Jeffrey C Yuen. 2001
 So keep in mind that when you look at Astrological Acupuncture, there are
many systems of it. Just like when you look at the I Ching, there are many
systems of the I Ching, so that there's not really one system that makes it what it
is. Systems evolve out of two possibilities: one is you want to further make it
become more complex. Some of my students have studied with me in other
classes have come to classes where I've just taught Astrological Acupuncture,
and if I know that you know something, I would make it harder. So I just want
you to be aware of that. There's always something that you can make to make it
more complex, and if I think that you are not familiar with the territory, then I
would make it somewhat easier. Also, sometimes you know that some systems
evolve where sometimes people don't understand the system very well, so to
make it understandable, they change the language, they change the system. And
you'll see that with Astrological Acupuncture, as well.

In any case, let's then look at the concept of the Seasons. Again, the Seasons
are explored in earlier chapters, but the latter chapters of the Su Wen, there's
great emphasis on exploring the dynamics of the Seasons. So a lot of times they
talk about that if there's an early arrival of the certain kinds of Climatic factors
that we expect are associated 4th a certain Season, then generally it would mean
that the people that are living in that land and that geography who had this early
arrival, let's say of Spring, will then suffer conditions relating to Earth. There's
always an emphasis on the e-ControlCycle when it talks about the Seasonal aspect.
So let's say during the Spring, that the weather of Sp@g,came very early, or
when Spring comes there' ougt of wind there's just a lot of strong
.- a * mtilH-OIW~3JML*

wind taking place during March and April, or that the warm
weather came already when it was January. So that's if that happens, then we -
expect that the people who live in that geography during that period of time, are
not going to have Wood imbalances necessarily, unless their constitutionally
weak in things that Wood can affect. But rather
during the Spring, would be digestive diseases
And that's talked about in Chapter 71. So s
Wood, as characterized by too much wind during the Spring, or early arrival of
Spring, will cause, or will hurt the Element that Wood Controls, namely the
Spleen and Stomach. Resulting in indigestion, resulting in diarrhea, loss of
appetite, lethargy. Kind of the like the symptoms we all know are associated with
Spleen and Stomach patterns of Deficiency.

So the treatments that they generally talk about, first require that you take the
Seasonal Pulse. So that means that if there is strong Wind, or that the Spring has
d v e d very early, how we know that if this person is able to accommodate the
nature of Wood is that at the Controlling Element, namely Wood Controlling
Earth, at SXQ, the Source Point, one can still feel a Pulse that is Full and strong,

126
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont. Ed. Dept. &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001
 whereas if v42 is Weak or Empty, thenfor sure the person's imbalance is due to
the influence of the Season, rather that say, due to Emotions or due to o w
things that one can say that is outside the domain of Seasonal factors. So this is
how they make use of Seasonal etiology. So what you're doing Is, you're goitie.

" '
'reat Seasonal conditions based on the Su Wen,if if s an Excess.
E
&
a Mciency t h a you I d at the E k
m

$&_So that's a late arrival. We would say the person* a,

and Wood i s Controlled by Me.tgj,so
& i " ( t o r s giiing to be a lot of Ex
abouthowtheSeasonalconceptwor
-*-*
-s^-
zh t ~ ~ Som
vas very, very Cold, even in themonth of Mar and April. Spring

?And'howyouknow
Climatic due to Seasonal influences is that at the
Spring, you have Wiry Pulse, you have Pulses
y

woulaik that duringthatptrid of

--
lefs ~

fhwedem
tindeeditis
it .
say ~
- +& very
arrived

-
place. And You kn& it's aSeasonal influence and Seasonal influences are
- 3 , much more difficult to treat If s not like the Emotions - once you become more
ã aware of it you can try to alter it, at least to some degree. If s not like an
ExogenousPathogenic Factor where it's Wind-Heat or Wind-Cold, and once you
expd that ifs OK,because in this case the Seasonal influence is still annmd.Ifs
t,r still very cold during this period of time, or it's still very hot So how you halance*

+
is generally where you're treating: by Tonifica
e p i n t y o u fdt *e P& b.~ou.rce Points.-m
ersing the Excess. An you add to it the p
oT
hat relates to t
h e
m
,which are the Jing W# Points. Inwiuchcase, the Jing Well Points that
xa for T o r u f i ~ a ~or
n ,Disperse thafs manifesting. So
thaf~aem~as a S e d tceatmm~h e d - e - id=? k l y
2 arrival, is seen as Excess, late d vlis seen as Deficiency of the Season.
'
Disease baaed on Seasonal influences can also be Astrological. That means
, that there are certain time periods during the Chinese calendar, solar as well as
lunar calendar, that they expect certain things to be in a state of Excess or in a
state of Defidency. Ute in the Chinese Almanac you'll read about period called
like this. This is a period where if 8 going to be very, very cold. So that's expected.
The Almanac told you that. But if if s very cold in a period of time that the
Almanac does not state that, then there's some type of Seasonal imbalance, and
that Seasonal imbalance is going to be reflected on humanity, since humanity is a
representation of nature. So the Almanac can also give you dues as to when to
expect certain disruptions in temperature. Now the Chinese Almanac, they have
very fat Almanacs that even cover other years, so you can - in act a lot of times,
in Chinese they use the word Ba Zi. Ba (1 \^.)means eight, Zi ( meansb
character. Basically, your year is two characters, your month is two characters,
your date is two characters, and your time is two characters. So the Almanac
breaks up all of the characters, and they identify then from the characters what
Element you belong to, and from there they're able to predict if this is going to be
a good year or a good month, or a good day for each individual person. If s like
doing an Astrological chart. They do it based on - they use the Almanac to
consult with to come up with the Astrological charts, so if s the same thing. And
then all of these things do have planetary influences, too. I've avoided the
planetary discussion.

Question: Things that are happening in our weather system now, with - 1call it
the Earth Changes - where you get a Season that comes on - say we're in the Fall,
and we go back in the Summer and then we go into the Fall. I call it a yo-yo effect
on the body. How would you work with that kind of thing. The Worsley people
have a style of treating that
Answer: Well, again,what happens is that if there is Seasonal fluctuations, what
you're going to be looking at and taking is the Pulse of the Organ that is either
Controlled or the Organ that if s being Controlled by. The Controller or the one
that's being Controlled. And you see how the body responds to it. Everything is
individually based. So let's say, as we're approaching Autumn, and Autumn is
manifesting if s energy, and it gets very warm, we have Spring-like weather, and
then we have Autumn-like weather. So what they would say is that in this time
of Metal, we have some Wood qualities. Is that Wood quality showing up
because there's an imbalance in Metal due to Wood? So what they would then
do is measure the quality of Wood and see is that because Wood is Exuberant. In
which case, they might Disperse Wood and treat that. But if the person's Wood,
which means LV-3,is relatively strong, then they won't intervene in that
particular process. So,if s still individually determined. Again, the Pulse that you
take is also the Pulse .. .the Point of the Pulse that you take is also the Point that
you treat. Thafs part of the point selection. So what we could say is that one of
the uses of Source Points in the Su Wen is for Seasonal balancing. Sometimes
you see that. They say to balance the Season, use the Source Point so now you -
know where thafs coming from.
OK, so I 'm going to move out of the Astrological aspect and begin talking
about the Needling, unless some of you have questions about Seasons . . .

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept. &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001
 -
viAuwen It means you are b i d y , you how, two fingers on that point d
K{! you're taking the quality of that Pulse. Is it Wiry? b it Tight? Basically, if it has
F' defuution, and there's Fullness in that definition, then there's Excess. So - if snot
.---

cSSES,
-

litfiyou ha veto look for a certain per M. So for counnle, let's say
+ m.
f d B^
NOWwe're in - we're moving intow a
Mdibd-Jhmpw,-Nwmb
n d lefs say the weather is
ted near the water so that we might expect a certain degree of humidity, but
ft let'ssayItbecomesvery,veryhumidanditratesalotduringtheAutumn
~ioqtiu,here in Boston. So that during that period of time we would say that the
m'sDryness is being influenced. I'm not saving that the5easoncame e a r t v .

* -
duringtheSrnnroCTtime.~&noticethatitwasn't~hot,butitwasv&dry,
there was 1- humidity, (hen one could say that Autumn came early, daring die
SummermOTithaSoif Autumncameearty-anythingtfiflfsdyisseenasan
hum-Mettl's Ex-, Mete)Controls Wood.So flien you would be lookingat
LV-3- t h e w thatyou're taking andseeingindeed,&Woodinastate of
Exceu.BecnweAdaExces*inMetaltegoirntogotoWood.SohpenonIf
goingtoexpertduringtheselowhumiditymonthsofSummer-isgoingto
expect to have during the time of this early arrival of Autumn/ you're going to
expectUCTtohavetbteideaofMetalControllingWood,alotofWoodsigns -
d~ptoms-headtdies,theymightmdizzlneat.Soifthatd~vriidateby
kceat in Ever, thenyou would Disperse LV-3 and LV-1. That's how they do the
Seasonal treatments.
Qoestion:So let'sgo back to the Spring for a second, which i3 Woo<t which
- ~ ~ b w m - H i t - ~ l y , w & ~ l m ~
Points. Points that they hit with a certain substantial amount of force that stops
the Qi going there - they won't necessarily have as much - I mean they still have
-
a few more days to live it's not as short as if you've been injured with a needle'
but nevertheless, they notice that there are these so-called Rebellious Qi signs
and symptoms. If you injure the R d n e ~ S h ~P2j.n-ts
u along the chest' you&-e
usually within s& days' and the i n j e to the Kidney Shu Points will cause
m y - n o s eand sGezing. Injury to the S&eq point' if you did =&for
example' &;Fi&on8& usually has a w . m @ c m g after that puncturef
*--

and they can &e within-GWdgs. - Injury to the Lun~Points~

--, will cause
--+

and basically they say

.So they're giving locati t
cavity, injuring the Zang Organsf so obviously they also have major cautions
about injuring what we would think of today as the
caution about Needling ST-9at caution about Needlin
*a.wa*

throughout the body that one has to be a lot more cautious for.

They also talk about injuries' you h o w about being very cautious in
cautious in Needling
e of the Nei Jing' th
sizes of the needles that
it was very easy that could have
injured and hurt the person's body.

And they also have Contraindications of w & n ~ ~ g & ~ ~ ~ d ~ , n ~ ~ d o -

-
Acupsg$wef most of which you' ve probably studied when you learned
Acupuncture. Not doing Acupuncture,d -ta- e. * &-. not doing Acupuncture
. t@
after *+-a

~ p r kemfi~pg$di&gss.
, Obviously sometimes we use Acupuncture
t heref they're talking about a s k w , < m & m e a k is where
ot want to do Acupuncture at that time. And when a person is
drunk or relatively where their consaousne~s~ their a--*er-avot be
~ ~ ~ in u their
c h treatment. The way to treat is you want to capture
their Spirit. That's the way to treat.

There's also the discussion of the Needle Sensation. This is the argument
--a+++

that is perhaps most talked about or debated about between Chinese practitioners
and Japanese practitioners. The Chinese' espeaally if you practice TCMf there's a
great deal of emphasis o w e Ui.Obtaining the Qi.Obtaining the Qi means that
you have an actualf subjective as well as objective to some degree' that the
--
clinician .~- sornethinx
feels . . .-, ---- ik&,.goqgd**e needle' sometimes it's
has gathered
---..#s + "

; once you get @e Qi

muscle fibers' so that's not really what we mean by de ~ i but
s$@atiinf that's when you b o w that you've accomplished what you needed to
do. Some people disagree with that and say that the word De ((@= ) Qi ( ) 6

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cant Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

 there's an actual
f\

OfcourseyourangoWeethis(vigorousstimulation)andit'sgoingtofeel
very hot That would not be what
Qitothatwhich.. .becameifyougo
fiw-mfs no
temperature.

They taltaboutOptiinu;andOwthePoints.OpaUBtthePointi~seen
for an Excess; thePointisveryoftenneedfor@efidency.Excess
n9!F
generallymeant twhenyou ...andagain,ifsnotputOpeninganddoting
tht ooinfc There's always the part that come*before that. For an-
condition,
and Dispersal based on the actual withdrawal of the needle. You see, Pe Qi is
w . ?**A . of the nee& ~mpega&~e,+sensaQ~n
more *about the insertion
f^-a*" * t **
i s more about the
id=&og &needle. Open$ng.and Closing is about the withdrawal of the needle.
Is it coining out fast oris it coming out slow. Again, all of these components can
be implemented all in one treatment.

Again, of course, there is the Remember, Depth is that not only am

I inserting Superficial or Deep. Now m ter 54 they say, as you insert
depending on the nature of the disease, you
that particular level, as well. So this is the
Su Wen ,the needle should be held onto by
.You're not going to let that needle go so easily.
t@ body relaxes, so that the relaxation ripples the
"-
, * a

sensation
--M-.+u..".*..+ p( Q throughout the ept&eb@y, like waves going through the body
sending the message of what needs to be achieved on the Superficial, on the
Deep level, and then of course, doing Dispersal or Tonification, it could be based
on the Temperature sensation, and also based on Directionality of the needle, as
well as based on Closing and Opening the point. That's the basis.

And then at the end of Chapter 54, they talk about the Nine Needles. The
Nine Needles are based on the size of the needle. The needles also have different
shapes. The Nine Needles are based on different usages. The Nine Needles are
essentially presented in Chapter 1of the Ling Shu, and it is going to be a topic
that we're going to explore when we begin the Ling Shu, so in a way what I want
@you to realize is that when you talk about the Nine Needles, they're talking
about needles that range from 1.6 Living Inches, 1.6 Cun. And what that really
means is when you look at the needle, a bunch of them really look the same size.
If s not like one is really 1.3 and one is really 7 inches. Yes, there is the 7 inch
needle, but remember that's a relative concept. 7 inches.Is that a Western
measurement? Because in the Ling Shu, they obviously mean 7 Cun. Some
people say that means that's the depth of insertion that you're allowed up to. So,

edle might be 3 Living Inches. Keep in mind

% cJ *86+, b

estern inches, because there was no such

measurement as that. It was the person's own thumb size. So ifJhg nis big,
thew$@,^^& relatively,^Leeper.If the person is Thin,or you see their Living
Inch is relatively small, the insertion is going to be smaller. So if s not really a . . .
just like when you order needles and you order 1.5 inch needles, that's a Western
measurement that you're ordering. That's not equivalent to 1.5 Cun that the
Chinese are talking about. And if they say that the point can be inserted 1.5 Cun,
they're talking about 1.5 Living Inches of that person. Which means that with a
1.5 inch needle you can really insert anywhere from two to maybe even three

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept. &JeffreyC Yuen. 2001
 So, in any case, we have these different shapes, and in fact
Needlt are starting to have
classes where you
YJS
They're actually now a vertising
different shape needles and use
them and train wi actually trying to revive the Nine
Needlea. By the time w e ~ , ~ N e e d l e . which
, already in the
dynasty- I Nee<UfiSany longer, people had
developed w e m e technique for the Nine N d a
also, in my opinion,by the people who developed it, allowed the students to
develop not only a technique, but fs going to come out of
their arms, out of their body into hattheycall,ofthe
needles, there are the needles tha ridians. That's
considered the first of the Nine ffl?sinew
needles were a shape that m blunt tip to it,
and you chisel at the Point So into is when you look at the
development ofthe Nine Needle technique, the chiseling technique is like this.
Once the needle is inserted into the Point, the whole entire ann is one unit, and
it goes like this (moves whole arm from the shoulder in a repetitive, chiseling in
and out motion). So if s a whole forearm movement If s not a forearm
movement (withthe elbow bent). Thafsthe Chiad technique. Chisel technique
i s f o r e - - m m d e m , y m & d & M
point, you Chis-fheahshi point would be the way that you're representing the

like charms or spell, and a lot of times Taoist priests are d e d upon, when .
Seasonal influences are not appropriate, to write these talismans. And when you
Chin- calligraphy, or
Soyouholdthebrushand

Once you graduate from the Chisel technique, or from drawing straight
 line, now we'll have you draw cycles. Beginning to utilize the elbow. Elbow
movement. You now are creating circles. My wrist is locked, but my elbow is
now relaxed. Elbow movement in terms of the Needling technique is often
referre which is call And the Round
needle Divide; if s u the Pure from the
Impure. If s a technique that you needle down to the level of the Flesh. Flesh
represents the Spleen, Spleen represents the separation of the Pure from the
Impure. And when you Divide; Divide is where as you go in, you're letting the
needle round itself out (scooping motion). Again, if s not my wrist that's doing it,
if s the elbow that is causing Round technique to take place. What that translates
e ,make the needle round, what you're really doing is -
into is in ~ A ~ u n c t u rto
here's where the pathology is (slightly to the side), and this is where you want to
go in - the Round n (and under) and it pushes (up), if s like a hook.
Some people call it a e. And how that happens is that as you're
inserting the needle die is inserting, you're rotating the elbow, but
as you rotate the tting the needle with your middle finger.
Because remember, once the needle goes in, if I hit this needle, the Metal is
malleable, if s going to round, you're creating a hook. When you insert the
needle, you're tapping the needle with the middle finger causing it to bend
unds out the needle. Hooking needle is used
.So if you go into SP-9,you have an acutal te
that Cultivation allows you to be able to bring energy
elbows, to let the elbows become the basis of howy~gw~rj^.
K^a^te^W~ey^'^ffliWw'^ffia'^aB&^^iS,^^ .
faTSe'Vw?-#- The
m.^ae-sufis is
.im^tam-Ac^

sometimes how they translate it.% different words for the trans1
'¥È

A
So the Nine Needles were developed into different techniques. Someof
I
tion at all. They did not
^' were basically used fpr
. 3kSatÈ.
'

t have a littlerounded end, like a little spoon on it, an

using it for Gua Sha, which today, in the absence of this kind of needle, they
translate that into the regular needles, and making the Nine Needle technique
the needle, then you

Skin,the tip of it is very blunt, and what happens is you're

p with the head of a regular needle, especially a Metal needle,

/
^,
Â¥
%I,-

-14 138
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC Yuen. 2001
i-
-here you have the coU and the The circle becomes the spoon that
< you are scraping hu Stream point, or over a Kidney
S t t i or Bladder Shu point That's the context of how you use this Spoon needle,
-T mtermsof theNineNeedles.
Of courseyou have the
Another way of
.BsE. How the Classical dimdans have developed the Nine Needle
technique is again, when using a regular needle, and no longerhave to use the
Three-Edgeneedleisthey (thisofcoursewouldnotbedeanneedletechnique)-
Wh&Me,h@.YmbMhtipd*d,d*a.
Eventually that point is going to bleed. So this is the equivalent to the
Three-Edged needle, based on a single, regularneedle replacing the Nine Needle
technique.If you keep pecking the same area, if s like using a Seven Star
Hammeron it Eventually if8 going to bleed. Some people say if s not that good,

-
-&-wd,=w,bem-d@d
penetration,but again, we cç get that to come up even more by dojjj^fijjg^^
-2
r . *

So those are the idnds of needle techniques. The other types of techniques
are b a d d y based on length-That you need to insert3inches, or need to insert5
inches, or 7 inches,depending on what kind of
fwW - ~ Y W
5W-sh-o

So those are the Nine Needle techluouea. They're especial!^ important in

Shu series. Any questions on Needling technique or the Nine Needles and so
forth?

Question: Sometimes there are references to Plucking, making an insertion or a

lancing and then finding the white fibers and then plucking them, and I
wondered if you could talk about that.
Answer: Well Eluslafigbasically is more used when they feel that
.So the Plucking is a way to try m p e
as you're Dispersing, keeping some of
t this type of idea of creating a p&%g&.ytresowt^Eig

Question: Not to complicate matters too much, but about Needling, according to
the Season.
Answer: They do have Needling according to the Season. Again, according to the
Season is based on the Superficial and Deep model. There's also Needling
according to the Seasons based on the Points that are selected based on the
Season. In terms of the actual Needlin

you look at Seasonal Needling, they also select Points that are based on the
and that is going to have certain theories, per
omts. Other theories s

ily affect Summer, let me use the Ying Spring point. So that
becomes a more prophylactic selection when they say Ying Spring, and
Points, actually, during the Springtime. So you have that as well. Any other
questions?

Question: I forgot, or I read that if you withdraw a needle that is held tightly in
place, you know, you inserted it, and when if s time to take out the needles it
doefico-me out, that you should not make it come out until if s ready.
Answer: Right, (fiat's generally correct, yes. to other words, you can't gauge - oh,
I want to give someone only a 30 minute treatment, because that's what my
appointment book said, so you force the needles to come out, which
and that ~grso.ds.Qi is
e the needle out.

140
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont. Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
 f

. MU?, 'A 1

beginning/ because some of us are concerned about the depth of insertion,

*i
I*
X/ -
k
e ~ ~ y o u ~ ~ ~ ~ b ~ ~ d
blood, maybe at the expense of injuring the person. So what you could do, is you
means you could bring blood to the surface,os
and for sure when you take the n e d e out you
Point That would be for InternalCold or
can have lefs say thebpleen or
do the -.. Blood conductg
.. .

when choosing Points

toward blow. With the w- of the Chong which means

;eq - h e . W e h not m y going above or Mow just-om
1 '
a .F ..'
ride; wfc'.
+:
h:~^i--'. *.

te&oeia~-cfc- ^ .*kt :tÈÈfit'^& "- ; 1-

any Say Out when-you look at Points on the ~b cage, th& p u should be
Needling from the region also m upper to the lower.If you want to treat or
ay from the
looking
3 yiand you're goingfrom those lower towar&
."--v-y %

at the idea ofColdthafs in the upper region. Again

in TCM this may not be very applicable because outside of Phlegm or Cold
PhlegmTm ideas of conditions in the chest usually relates tciBuC. liver Fire?
Ever Cold, but Liver Cold is usually not a chest condition, its usually a pelvic
condition. And therewo such thing kTCMmHeart Cold. There isn't TeaBy
such a thing =Lung Cold. So ingeneral 6look at Fire in the Heart, File in file
1 Lung8, Fire i n the IJv& So if s going to be Needling from above down to below.
Part ofthis has been argued that this is not relevant because the size of the needle
S was eo big that you were probably injuring the person. Today we don't have that
te.1 + Idnd of problem so people argue that one can then needle somewhat.
- perpendicular. Some people would say thafs not necessarily true.
- - +- , _
'3 J l
-?1
-.&*&+
- H h m h W M & q m & u t N - h P & t d m
poinL TgL-hhd make m,mm€?mbfor hat,

just to vibrate. Kind of like th

hate to do,because it takesa, lot out of
important because Zhen helps to
So if s a really strong vibrational -
.;+- technique. Its not uncommon, and for those of you who are martialarts fans,
&ye seen in what you probably think are exaggerated movies, Chinese martial
 even though the Su Wen will have that, we know the Ling Shu talks
Â¥'_S
the needle going in and letting that needle
twistingand twirimg, thisis jus
eand it Letting it shake. Sonotice I'm
~ = t & @ b g o h h m ~ m y m d m ' t w ~ b
just(withthewrist) .....
likethatThenusually theQiislockedup.OK;soitsan
arm movement you want to create.
O K ~ s h & i d a d N ~ M m & ~ e m b d m
the conceptof Bi. So when you're Needling Bi Syndrome and Bi Syndrome is
coveredhowfirsttimetogetherinChapter43oftheSu Wenwhere they talk
about Bi Syndmne. Bi Spdmm N e d h g hasidly they say q u i r e s F e n ,

separate. What you need to do is you also need to

FbFW
Musdes*Musdes and Tendons need to be tudatfid get rid of i Syndrome. They
believe that when you look at Bi Syndrome, at least as the Su Wen Is presenting
. Bi Syndrome, some of you probably know this too,that what happens is
energy is said to And the spiral gets bigger
If s s p h h g to go out and then its spins to come bade in. So the centripetal force
and centrifugalforce that were looking at with Tendo-MuscularChannels. So
what p u 8 ~ d d nigs ym*mg&hg the Muds and its dmmt like
are soinning And as the Musde spins it makes it easier to do this technique to

ed, lets say at the Ah

adistalPointoraPointsomewheredieandhaveyoudothat SoEgjUttheterm.
we use to separate the S h y s . That *cotme is very popular martialarts for
 those people who do "Chin Na grappling techniques, locking techniques.
ff

Getting the areas to Separate, getting the Muscles to Separate would be an

example of that. So having shoulder pain that point that is Needled with the
Spoon technique with the-Hoocing technique on that particular person is going
to be moving their shoulders in this fashion (rotating from wrist to shoulders).
Almost like the biceps are going to be pulled down in a way. Almost like in other
words, if I borrow his arms for a minute, if you look at this muscle, this
Spinning; the idea here is that the e w n ~ ~ r g S ~ 3 , shoulders.
~ o ~ ~ $So~ @ e
anything that's in the upper arm which is where it could get v~ery&ep, this is
what you're looking at. If s this kind of spin. So when they Needle what they're
doing is they're rotating and they're trying to get this to turn. And its this turn. as
the mu~clebeginsfo~Separate. --
Thafs what they mean by Separating the Muscle.
f^.

If s =s type of separation. See even him, he has a little, he's not that good in
separating. This is somewhat locked. A person should be able to turnthis
relatively. With this muscle if s going to literally sag and come down. When this
muscle sags and comes down, it means there is no longer Qi that is going to be '

blocked up in the shoulders. That's also how you can evaluate how strong
.x*

someone's~endo-~uscu~arture is, which Sinew Meridian is very strong. So

from that evaluation I h o w that S O ~ ~ ~ & ~ ~on-to O &thejmns.
~ + @It could
~
be Small Intestine, r Bladder. If if s Small Intestine if s coming
from the s d a . If from his on. If its Triple
Heater, must like the jaw. So I tense up my jaw, its going to
tense up the arms. So they are able to evaluate that. So it means if he's suffering
from shoulder pain, the shoulder pain iscorning from so
either the occiput, ~ ~ ~ nihifbi'%i~~&?~ A " &
actually injured it, is very oftena referred area.

Question: Did you say to do that r m n with the needle in the a m ?

Answer: You are doing that movement are Needing a particular Ah Shi
a .-..v **a% + +

Point or the particular Point that you to treat the Bi Syndrome.

Question: So if you got an Ah Shi Point here as you are putting a needle in,you
are rotating the arm at the same time.
--. .* * to do,
Answer: You-get theperson-a%?e- "e + -+--# a&
as you are inserting the needle. It doesn't
have to be you doing that. As the person is finding it very difficult to move, then
obviously you are supporting
... their arm and giving a very gentle movement as
the needle is going in.

Again the same thing would be if you are doing massage, if s going to be the
same thing, you would be rotatiqgkhat what happens is that you are going right
imJhe -.-.*
Ah yS.,-hi Point or-.-*
,*We +-wt the
ep4=- ..----
treatmentPojnt and what happens is the thumb
that's going m or whatever is literally going in and hooking in. So by a little

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001

I
hook that you're doing to that point that creates a tremendous
-" .. - release of the
muscle.
5 .

OK the last point and then we can break, is the .Chapters 26 also talks
about the Breath, as well as chapters 27, chapter 62 breath is related
directly to Tonification and Dispersal. So the idea at least in the Su Wen, because
there are going to be many people that will have their own interpretation of the
Breath. So I am aware of that. According to the Su Wen, when you want to
you have the person q h h e upon n. Inhalation upon insertion
red Dispersal. And if you want to ou have the person exme
upon insertion. And they say if you Tonify using the Breath technique, you
should not sh& thefleefle too much
waaw^
the needle is inserted upon-
exhalation. OK.

And Tonificajoon they remind us, always requires on of---.

the
.So the clinician concentrates the min
K t

person breathe
breathe out the needle goes in. And then the needle is not
shaken up too much. You go in and as you go in you might just quietly
stand there waiting for the to occur if you need to get De Qi. The idea here
is that it seems to infer, and some people use that as their argument;that De Qi is
not needed if you are following insertion with the breath. Cause they say donft
shake the needle. Keeping in mind what else they say you have to do with the
breath. Concentrate the mind so your intention now becomes very important if
you are able to Tonify and Disperse.

In they even talk about you might need to make a greater

move
.-*.- - enggdle m>~n insertion with the so called inhalation. So that
you might w&t to broaden the needle. So that's where people talk about where
you do strong stimulation. Where upon insertion with the inhalation where
you are trying to Disperse. So that the hol gger they say when you

Question: Any emphasis on breathing inhale or exhale with withdrawal of the

needle, on whether the patient inhales or exhales when you withdraw the
needle?
Answer: No.
point.
- g the needle is more about Opening and Closing the

So here, it is with the insertion of the needle. As the person exhales and you
insert, that's considered Tonification. As the person inhales and you insert, that's
considered Dispersal. So again, because there's going to be different ways people
will explain. I could come up with the opposite one and still come up with the

145
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001
rationale, but that's why I say that this is one where you will find discrepancies.
Theidea hereis that asIaminhaling there's aJiJIatnuiof the area.% this areaas
Iaminhalingthe>AJIIIMLLIIMSSBM^iscomingtothesurface,theneedle
penetrates the surface so this energy is going to be able to come out That's the
rationale. Some people will say when I'm inhalingmy energy is being drawn to
the center,sohowcanthatbeDispexsal,thatmustbeTonification.Doyou
follow? So likewise,the idea is that when you exhale, so the energy is moving
out, but you're pushing the energy back in.Thafs Tomfication. Pushing it bade in
without disturbing the energy too much. & I am breathing in* The context is
that you axe forcing the energy to coq;-Wt
--- I should say it this way, that as you
are breathing/ as you are andas youareexhaBfigtfaisiS
>--..
-wQa&@@ youare doing is you are
pushing that exhalationof energy bade in.
YoucanseethecounterargumentIcandy say thatasIambreathingin1
am expanding as I am brea- out, I am .So thafs why some
w l e w y w ~ y ~ m ~ . ~ e ~ = ~ ~ q ~
I breathe in, aim I someone who has been practicing Prenatal breathing, so as I
breathe in my abdomen contracts. That means that when I breathe in my
abdomencontracts.when I insert the needle, I am Tonif-. As I am 1^^thQ
in and I am like these chest people and as I am breathing in I am like this, then
youa~goingtobeDispefsing.
reallyarul~thereis
to be wat&ing a persons breathing cause you are taking thej\il?es.andc o ~ i
n m
the beats anyway. Relative to your breath as well as relative to theirbreath- So
youknowif they areachestbreatherorabeflybreather.IfIinhaleandmy chest
goesixi,Iamgoil^tobeTonifying.IfIinhaleandmychestgoesout,Iamgoing
to be Dispersing. Are we dear about the Breathing? la that dear about the
breathing?
Quesliow You were saykg about the breath, so if a person is a belly breather and

i
: L '
~uestion:Soif they are breathing in,and {hey are actually going in
Answer Thufa Tonification. So its relative to the inhalation and its relative to
the movement of, some people, you know when you look at them you can't
really tell where they are breathing/ th&chestdoesn't move at all/ then you
would say, Take a deep breath for meu,and see, then you know when you are
symptoms. Or getting rid of disease for that matter. Sometimes the disease is
intended.

It is also very important that you realize that what you

-.- are wnvqying to the w.- -.=-+

persofi is to some degree, your awareness, but not necessarily your energy.
.%----~~..v~.+,&,-~~~

k a u s e if you are conveying to them your energy, by the end of the day, most of
you would be like prunes. I cannot think that I'm needling, I'm channeling
energy to this person, because once you put in that sense of comection, you have
a certain degree of judgement. You have a certain degree of interference with the
person. You're trying to avoid their negative energy. You're trying to give them
your positive energy. You're trying to stay neutral. That kind of neutraliw
requires a tremendous amount of intensity in a chiam. Unless you only treat
one or two people a day, if you have that kind of intensiiy, by the end of the day
you will most likely be very Depleted. So rather, M o w theprocess-- to @ lcs
%
-. - % +A

a e . Yes it is very hard because we are programmed to the idea of what we

think compassion is. And it makes it very difficult for us to accept certain
realities about life.

Actually what I want to do is, I have a story that I like to go around telling a
lot. Whenever the word Daoism comes into play, and I've taught Daoism in a n
academic setting, so I know what is expected from academia, but I think many
people have a false image of Daoism. They think it Nature, being in alignment
with Nature, being in attunement with Nature, it's very naturalistic. It seems
like very down to earth.

Daoism in truth is about not becorning8tw,+ed away with our mental

- ---
-
7-
. #"UW * - * w +

-*
thou@s,
+
.*
our emotion4
<"*av' .*
@ ~ ~ g h tthat
*%-"
s , we can &&taih a c e h degree of
c g ~ ~ x t a cAt
e .least, that's the Gadition I come from. So if anything is written,
this is one story I've written, and I'll read it to you. The names here have been
changed to protect the guilty parties. I hope in reading this,it will give you a
sense of my background, so you know where I'm coming from in teaching the
things that I do teach.

There was once an old sage who was walking the roads and paths of China so
what seemed like endless years. But each year there were new students, new
villages, new people, and new experiences. Constant changes going onf and lve
never seemed to be the same.
One day he walked into a village by the sea, and a little boy came forth and asked
the sage, "can you accept me as a student?" The Sage looked at the boy and says
"Why don't you travel with me for the next two days. And togetherf maybe we
can step beyond all that we will see."

148
@ New England School of Ampuxt&m, a n t . Fd.Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
As they walked along the road' i t wasn't long until they came upon an injured
deer. The little boy quickly says to the sage' "Let's stop and tend to the deer. Let's
give it healing."

The old Sage says' "Why?".

The little boy says' &becauseyou must be kind to all living things.''
The old Sage again saysf "Why? "

"Because that is what humans are here for. That is what the great Dao says."
"The great Duo doesn't say that' says the Sage. "The great Dao saysf 'what isf
"

isn't' and what isn'tf is.' First you must undertand that pain is that which you
have allowed to be perceived within a physical perspective i n your world. That
pain is a subconscious alignment to which you have' because you identi& with
the physical world/ so that everything thgt exists within the physical world that
you are aligned with will aflect you."
The words were moving, but the boy was con.sed. He says, "Then you're just
going to let the animal lie there and die?"
"No," says the Sage. " 1 did not let the animal lie there. It was already there before
we came. One of the things that you must learn is that to be able to perceive all
things' you have to stop being a part of one thing. You've seen it's expression.
You've seen it's vibration. Now you have to see it's energy. To do so is to observe
it' not to criticizef not to judge, not to align to your reality ofright or wrong' of
what you are' and what you are now. You have to learn to observe."
The little boy scratched his head and continued on with the sage. The next day
they came upon two small groups of armies fighting with each other here and
there. Blood was gushing. Heads were falling. The boy and the Sage stood
underneath a tree to watch. The boy was moving this way and that way,
mimicing the motions of combat and battle' and he was deeply involved. He
looked at the Sage' and he had no expression, not even a sparkle in his eyes.
When one armyfledf the other took haste after them.
The boy said to the Sage' "How could you sit there? Those that ran needed your
energy. They needed your help. 'f

The Sage says' "How do you know that those who were running weren't the
robbers, and those who were chasing weren't the victims? Do chose to side with

149
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Eid. Dept. & Je- C.Yum. 2001
those who are weakf because they are weak?"
The boy says, ''1 don't know."
The Sage askedf " W h y do you identifi with those who are losing?"
"Because they are weakf'' said the boy.
"Then does assistance strengthen them? Those who help the weak, actually help
to weaken them. To help someone, you have to support their strengths, not their
weaknesses. "

Then the boy says, "Then let's help those who are bleeding, those who are dying.
Let's bury those who are already dead."
The Sage saysf "Why?"
"Because that's the right thing to do, to help all living things."
The Sage says, "Then how come you didn't bury the bird along the road?"
The boy said, T h a t was just a bird ".
"But that's a living thing," said the Sage.
"But you said yesterday not to stop and care for those.......'' said the boy with
anguish.
"Those what? Those animals? What's the difference between the bird and those
men?"
The boy saysf "But man you can communicate withf you can talk to, you can
have a relationship with. ''
'7n other words," the Sage said, "you have dvferent levels of awareness and
comprehension of empathy. O n one level you can be considered righteous, on
the other you can be considered cruel.
The boy was now even more confused. As they walked away leaving the dead,
the boy heard the cries of those injured and i n pain. He was truely upset. What
to do. The little boy has come to align himself with an individual who had no
feelingsf who had not helped anyone. For two daysf they did not do anything.

150
@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept. & J e wC Yuen. 2001
They did not save anyone who was sick. They did not provide strenth to those
who were weak. They did not perform any virtuous merits.
As they climbed up a hill they say a pack of wolves chasing down a deer. The
wolves killed the deerf tore it apartf and ate it.
The little boy said to the Sage, "How can you stand there and watch that terrible
scene? ''
The Sage says, "What side are you on? The wolves or the deer?"
" O j coursef the deer! It would not hurt the wolves. It would not give them any
problem.''
That's your perception #" said the Sage. "Why do you eat the chicken and the
corn ? "
"Because it was good. "
"You don't think the wolves thought the deer was good?"
"But that's a living thing!''
"And the chicken and corn that you atef is that then a dead thing?/'
And the students head begin to spin. Everything that he had learned began to be
turned upside down.
The Sage says, "Let old thoughts pass away. There's one thing about the world.
Everything
. -.* is ev-dvi-ng.Every kingdom has its balances. Every kingd~rnknows
i n f u i t i v ~ land
y instinctivdij. bulance, energy. Only humanity cannot muintuin
6alance within themselves. For examplef when-someone saysf "l have pain, I
hurt." Humans have a tendency to sayf "1'm sorry about that." That just
amplifies
.
**,x,â the kurt.
The boy quickly saysf " A n animal is not intellignet. "
The Sage stopped him with a stare. "Who says you can speak for the animals?
You have to stop placing and putting things in situations and categories that you
think they should go. u y o u stop thatf then you will grow. "

At nighVal1 they sat by a p r e and were eating. The Sage handed the boy a quince.
The boy made a face and said, "1 donft like quince."

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@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont. Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
"Why? said the Sage.
"

" I don't know. I just don't like it," said the student.

"Did your mother like it?"

"I don't know. "

"Did your father like it? "

"I don't know. "

"When was the first time you remember not liking a quince?" said the Sage.
"I don't know," said the boy.
"Do you like rice? Do you like corn? "

"I like that," said the boy.

"Then why don't you like quince?"
'Because my tastebuds don't like it," shouted the boy.
' A h . Now we're getting somewhere," said the Sage. "Because your tastebuds
don't like it."
"Yes," said the boy.
"Ridiculous," said the Sage. "Then what you're saying is your tastebuds control
you rather than you controlling your tastebuds."
The boy now began to ask himself, "Why don't I like quince.''
And then the Sage says, "Everything you like or dislike has been placed there by a
feeling, an image, an observation of others reactions and actions. If you look
deeply, you will really see what you see. Do you feel the fire? "
"Yes," said the boy. "It feels warm. "
"Can you smell the fire?''
"Yes, I can smell it is burning.''

152
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
"Can you hear the fire?"
'Yes, I can hear the crackling of the wood."
"Can you taste the fire?"
"Yes, 1 can feel the warmth in my mouth, and sense the taste of wood and
burning leaves. "

"Now the fire has become an experience

-- within
. your five senses," said the Sage.
a a

'Each of those experiences wifl be placed in your subconscious mind, and that
becomes your alignment of fire. Then the Sage got up and disappeared into the
"

woods. Upon awakening, the boy did not see the Sage. He waited for another day,
and not seeing the Sage, decided to go home. After he left, the Sage appeared at
the campground and sat by the dim fire. The Sage said to himself, " I t is always so
easy to learn from others, but why is if so hard to learn from oneself? Fame or
self, which matters more? Self or wealth, which is more precious?
Acheivement or loss, which is more painful? He who is attached to things, will
suffer much. He who hoards, will lose contro1.A happy man is never
. --,-->, .,
disappointed. B y knowing when to stop, he does not find himself in trouble. He
will forever stay free.
The last part, of course, is Chapter 44 of the Dao De Jing ,but that is what
.It is about letting go of the

Once you're able to allow them to become aware, and that doesn't necessarily
mean you're making them feel better, but as they become aware, they become
- of their
le to the conditions
=.-#*,, -- Ji~es.
*- v -v,

Getting back to the Su Wen, the last remaining topic we have is the Pulses. In
the Pulses we have a number of topics we can explore. First and foremost is the
contrast be ST-9and LU-9.And that is contrast based on beats. 'So that when ST-9
is two beats greater than LU-9,relative to the breath, that is considered a Shao
Yang condition. It's a diagnostic aspect that allows us to evaluate which zones we

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@ New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &Jeffrey C.Yuen. 2001
have contracted. What conditions in relationships to the zones, representing Tai
Yang, Shao Yang, Yang Ming, that we have contracted, that has internalized from
the Exterior. Shao Yang, the Yang represents External Pathogenic Factors. The
Yin represents more the Internal. If LU-9 is two times greater than ST-9, that
would be a Jue Yin condition. So again, you can see the pairing: TH GB, Shao
Yang, in relationship to LV, PC.

LU-9if it is more prominent by beats, then that is a Yin problem, if it is ST

that is more prominent by beats, then thats more of a Yang problem. And then
the number of beats per breath: two beats greater, ST-9, Shao Yang, two beats
greater, LU-9, Jue Yin. Three beats greater, Tai Yam, and then its pair would be
Shao Yin. Bl SI and then K and HT.Four times would be Yang Ming and that
would be paired off with LU and SP. Now that is one aspect.

Now when would you use ST-9 in contrast to LU-9? Usually that is used
when a person suffers from a Febrile condition. We talked about Febrile diseases,
where they the 59 Points to treat Febrile diseases. And the Febrile diseases you
need to know what level of Heat has the Heat gone into, in terms of Tai Yang,
Shao Yang, Yang Ming. Likewise, if someone suffers from a Zang Disorder, like
Zang Cold, then we're interested in the contrast between LU-9 and ST-9, in which
case the LU -9 Pulses will be more prominent by beat. Is it Jue Yin, is it PC and
LV? Let's say if s PC and LV the person can have, because if s beating two times
faster than ST-9. The person and have a Liver Zang Cold, or a Pericardium Zang
Cold. Then we know we can differentiate between Liver and Pericardium based
on signs and symptoms to see which one it is. Then it will help us identify which
Shu Point to use to treat the condition.

There is also the Seasonal Pulses. I alluded to that earlier. If you want to see
how we are in synchroniaty with the Seasons, you go to the Source Points of the
Yin Organs, and that would determine ones level of balance. One can also look
at the context of this based on the Year, rather than based on the Season. If you're
looking at the concepts of the 60 Day Cycle, this year 2000 is identified as a Metal
Yang year. Metal Yang means that you also will compare LU-9 in relationship to
all the Five Elements as each one of the Seasons is manifesting. So for example,
if you want to measure how we are doing, in relationship to the Year as well as
in relationship to the Seasons, during Spring you would use LU-9 and LV-3.
Remember that humans are a direct example, or a direct expression of nature. So
when Metal this year is Exhuberant based on solar energy, our Metal this year is
going to be Exhuberant as well. Is this a good year? Let's see if LU-9 on your left
side, left here represents Yang, and we are looking at Metal Yang. So it is not a
gender aspect Whereas if it is a Metal Yin, which would be next year, you would
be taking LU-9 on the right side, the Yin side. In the Spring you would see, is LV-

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept. &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

3 on the opposite side, in synchroniaty with LU-9? During the time of Summer,
HT-7,is it in synchronicity with LU-9? That means, how balanced is the Season
in relationship to the Year? That gives you dues, not only to yourself, but to the
dynamics of the cycles of life. In Autumn, all you're measuring is LU-9,but
you're going to compare it between the Year, LU-9 on the left, and the Season,LU-
9 on the right. So you're feeling for the quality of LU-9. If you're Seasonally in
sync, the Pulse that you'll find in the respective Seasonal Element will be
identical to LU-9.

Question: How do you compare LU-9 and LV-3? Is it at the same time? Because
on a very tall person like me............
Answer: You can have them bend their knees.
Question: With regard to qualities, before you were comparing Excess qualities to
Deficient qualities, is the same kind of thing here?
Answer: No, it is the Seasonal quality that you're looking for. I'm not seeing if
there are imbalances, is the Season early or is it late? It is not that kind of
presentation that we are looking at. What we're looking at is that with each
Season, or with each Year, there are natural Pulse qualities associated with each
Season. So it is expected that Wood should have a slightly Wiry quality. But
you're not just looking for that Wood quality, you're also looking for that Metal
quality in Wood, if that Metal year, which it is now, is in alignment with the year
of Wood. The qualities are n t that hard. The Seasonal qualities represent the
vectors. Wood ( /T ), Fire (4 ), Earth Q< ), Metal ( 1 ), Water (-' ¥* ). Vectors of
energy. That's the kind of feature you want to look for when you take someone's
Pulse. That is to say, when you take someone's Pulse, Spring comes up, it Floats,
but its a straight band that hits you. The books would say that the Spring Pulse
should feel Floating and Wiry. Keep in mind that this Wiry quality is not
necessarily a pathological quality, unless you're picking up that it is Floating and
very Long, or Big, or Broad. When you have those kinds of adjectives, which are
the kind of words they use in the Su Wen, it generally means you have an
Exhuberance of Wood, and you might expect to see conditions relating to what it
Controls, Earth, or that which Controls it, because Wood needs to be brought
under control, Metal. But the general idea here is that you're feeling for a Pulse
quality associated with this ascension, it floats up, and it floats up like a straight
line that hits you. So they describe that as Floating and relatively Tight or
Floating and Wiry, depending on which adjectives you want to use Jin, which
means Wiry or Tight.

The Fire quality is one that you expect, as it comes up, it has a scattering
nature to it. If s not that you have a Depletion of HT Qi. They expect that it
elevates up, and that it spreads. If it spreads very big, then that would be seen as

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&3New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept. &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
pathology.

The Earth quality is when you feel it hitting you, it goes inward. Some people
describe that as a Slippery quality. That it is endemic that Earth have a Slippery
quality, that it hits and moves inward. Not to be c o dused with the idea of
Dampness. There is a sense that it is retreating. That the Pulse wants to come and
hit you, but when it makes the contact Point, it goes inward. Some people
translate that as a Soft quality. There are different ways of looking at the word
used to describe, but if you visualize the enegetic vector, it makes it easier. Metal,
you touch it, and it goes in. So we could say that is a Weak Pulse, or an Empty
Pulse, but Metal is this idea that when you touch it, you can follow it when it
goes in. It draws your finger in with it If s about harvesting, coming in,
beginning to conserve one's energy.

Water is translated as a Stone Pulse. When you go deep, if feels Broad, some
people might even say Leathery. Different translations, but once you understand
the vectors, it is very easy to see what it is. The Water Pulse, is a Deep Pulse, that
comes inward, giving it a sense that it might be a Thin Pulse. Deep and Thin.

Question:I was confused about the sides of the body where the Pulseswere
taken, like at LU-9 or LV-3.
Answer: Based on the Year. This year is a Metal, Yang year. Left is Yang, right is
Yin. Because it is a MetalYang year, LU-9 which represents Metal, is taken,
because it is Yang on the left side. And then the Seasonal is done on the opposite
side. Next year we'll be taking people's LU-9Pulse on the right side, because the
year is MetalYin.Then, you're taking Metal Yin on the right side, during Spring,
you'll measure LV-3 on the left side. What you're looking for is the quality of
Metal, in addition to the quality of Wood at LV-3. LV-3 should feel Floating, and
as soon as it hits you, it drops and your finger would just follow it down. That
would be Metal and Wood quality. During the Spring, we expect the Metal,
because if s the Year, to dominate all of the Seasons. So we should have a Metal
Pulse in all of the Pulse positions during the Season of their presentation. Now if
we find, for example, that there is no Metal Pulse, that means this person might
be, constitutionally weak in Metal, so they can't harvest Metal, and that could be
because of their birth year, that's based on the Astrology, or maybe if s based on
their morphology. So during this period of time, because they can't seem to
harvest Metal, they are going to have a lot of signs and symptoms, because Metal
is so Exhuberant, of a Deficiency of Metal, and because they can't harvest Metal,
there will a greater propensity toward the Control Cycle, because with Seasons in
the Su Wen they tend to follow the Control Cycle. If I'm Deficient in Metal,
Metal is weak. What Element Controls Metal, if s Fire. So this person might have
a lot of Fire conditions during that Metal year, as an imbalance.

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001

out your tongue, well the tongue is dry with a yellow coat, so obviously spices are
not good for you, even though you say that Pulse is Rapid due to what you ate.

So the qualities that you look for in the Pulse, as detailed in the Su Wen
includes Length. They talk about is the Pulse Long, is the Pulse Short. If it is
Long, generally it means the Qi is flowing, expanding. It can also mean that the
Qi is moving into another Organ, into another Zone, or into another Element,
depending on what model you tend to use. If the length of the Pulse is Short, it
generally involves Deficiency. You can't seem to get enough Qi into that
particular Pulse position, whatever that particular Pulse is. Maybe if s a Seasonal
Pulse. Maybe if s one of the Pulses along ST-9 or LU-9. Maybe if s one of the
Pulses at one of the positions, the Cun, Guan or Chi. Which by the way is not the
same as the reflexology of Pulses that many people learn and practice today.

There is also the Speed. The Speed that you have in the Su Wen is Rapid
Speed. They don't really talk about the Pulse being Slow. They do talk about the
Pulse being Tight, and that's potentially representing Cold. Slow is more
incorporated in the Shang Hun Lun tradition, so Speed is usually very Rapid,
and if it is Slow, that might be translated as Tight. A Rapid Pulse means that it is
surging like something that is springing up. You might imagine that the Pulse is
like a spring, springing against your hand. Some people translate that as Surging,
some translate it as Flooding. The more Surging, the worse the Heat problem is.
So it represents Febrile conditions. And that would be in line with people's
thinking of a Flooding or a Rapid Pulse.

The Level, we talked about that. That is also defined............yes?

Question: In other contexts, you have talked about a Fast Pulse in one position,
and a Slow Pulse in another, at the same time. Is part of what you're feeling in
that situation a springy quality,or is that simply a different context?
Answer: Yes. Something sprining away...........
(Break in recording)

...and deep, can mean Stagnant Qi. For that to happen the Pulses would have
to be not only Superficial, they would have to be Full and Strong to be
RebelliousQi, the Pulses would be Deep, Full and Strong for it to be Stagnant Qi.
And then the Contact Point, as I touch the Point, as I feel like its hittting my
hand on a Regular basis, as it feels very Irregular, and if it's Irregular, the idea
here is indeed as we would also note for the the Regular Pulses that we might
also have some sort of cardiovascular insufficiency. That is suggested if you have
palpitations, fibrillations, things relating to the Heart. Lastly you have the Size

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept. &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

of the Pulse: is it Large, is it Small? Large usually means the size of an aduki
bean...that would be a large Pulse, Broad. And Small...they would say is the size
of a Thin silk thread. That would be considered Thin, or Small. They say that if
it's Broad, then you have progression of the Pathogenic Factor. If it's Thin like a
silk thread, you have insufficiency of Upright Qi. Keep in mind that it is stressed,
through the S u Wen, that Pulses should always be observed, should always be
taken with observation of one's complexion, and one's Spirit, which you seee
through the eyes. So... that the Pulses themselves are not the defining feature of
one's condition.

The color within the context of the Su Wen is more reflective of the Control
Cycle. It means that if I have a greenish color, the greenish color means basically
the Control Cycle that is creating that, and Wood Controls Earth, so you're
looking really at a greenish complexion which means that there's Wood
Controlling Earth or Metal Controlling Wood. So it represents something in
terms of the Control Cycle, affecting Wood. If it is Excess,that means it's green or
yellowish green, but very bright, like coming out, it would most likely be Liver
affecting Earth. And if it's very dull it's most likely Metal affecting Wood. So the
brightness or the dullness is not due to Qi Deficiency or Blood Deficiency as we
would think of in TCM, here you're looking at the brightness and dullness of a
facial color, not just the fact that the person is pale or something. If it's pale and
dull, we would look at that as a Deficiency in Metal, and if Metal is Deficient, it is
Controlled by Fire, but the condition's coming from the Heart. So that is the
Pulses...and we already went into the Seasonal Pulse, which is also talked about
in Chapter 17.
Then you have the Pulses that are based on the positioning that we know of
in terms of the radial artery. That positioning is very different from the
positioning we have studied in modem Chinese Medicine, or, I shouldn't say
modern, but it's different because it will be the earliest type of Pulse reflexology
that is changed by the Pulse Classic. In any case, if you look at the left hand,
Superficially the position of the Cun position represents Pericardium. If it was
Deep, it represents the Heart. So the left hand Superficialis not Small
Intestine,it's Pericardium. I mean the left had Deep is the Heart in the first
position or the Cun position. In the Guan position, the Superficial represents
the Diaphragm, the Deep represents the Liver. So notice there isn't really a Yang
type of Pulses. Yang Pulses you take at Stomach 9. Is it Bladder, is it Large
Intestine, well is it 3 times, is it 2 times? Is it 4 times? Tai Yang, Shao Yang, Yang
Ming.

In relationship to the lower abdomen both left and right, Superfiaally it

represents the abdomen, Deep it represents the aspect of the Kidneys. Some

63New England School of Acupuncture, Cant Ed. Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

people say that the left side represents Kidney Yin, the right side represents
Kidney Yang and Kidney Qi.But in the Su Wen all they say is that the Chi
position, the third position on both left and right, represents both the Kidneys
and the abdomen- they don't differentiate what aspect. The right hand, on the
Yin level you have, on the first position Yin level, Deep level, you have the
Lungs. That's the Cun. Superfiaally you have the Chest. So if you're looking
and feeling a Floating and Tight Pulse, it means you have the quality of Wood,
Floating and Tight, which would be normal, if it's now in the Spring but if you
have it in the right hand Cun position, it means you have Liver Qi affecting the
Chest. Liver Qi, as we know, can affect the chest by numerous things; it can cause
dyspnea, it can cause obviously more Diaphrgmatic Constriction, this would be a
TCM way of looking at it. One can say that given that and the facial complexion
is pale, and it is, let's say, bright pale, then we would have this idea that the
person has a Metal condition of Excess(bright pale) where Metal invades Wood,
Metal overacts on Wood and so that's probably why we see that some of that
Wood quality also in Metal and likewise why we would also pick that up on the
Liver Pulse as well. In any case, if it's in the Guun position, the Deep position
actually represents the Stomach and the Superficialposition represents the
Spleen. Again, it's because in the Su Wen ,the root of improvement of all
diseases is predicated on that there is a strong Stomach Pulse, so they feel that it's
found by Deep palpation of the radial artery at the Guan position on the right
hand. So the right Deep is Stomach, Superficial is Spleen. That's the only one
where you have a Yin-Yang association, because of the importance of the
Stomach Pulse according to the Su Wen. In fact they say that if you are severely
ill and if you go Deep on the right hand, if there is still a strong Stomach Pulse,
even though we might translate that as Spleen today, this means the person still
has a good chance of overcoming their disease. But if the Stomach Pulse is weak
they would say the prognosis is poor.

Then let's look at where they warn us about where we might be confused
with the Pulse. Perhaps this was in antidpaton of TCM: if you have a Floating
and Weak Pulse, that they say is reflective of a Spleen condition, not a Lung
condition. A lot of times we think of Floating we tend to think of Lung,
Superficial Pathogenic Factor, or if its's Floating and Weak, maybe what they
have is an Exterior condition with an underlying Deficiency. Floating and Weak
suggests that the Spleen...when they look at this kind of context, they're saying
that the Spleen can no longer Anchor Post-Natal Qi so as such some of the Qi
escapes. Floating and Weak Pulse. This thing of Spleen Ascends into the Lungs,
that's when it goes Superficially to make contact with that Floating Pulse, the
Lungs, but in the process of going there, it's weak, so they say that's not a Lung
problem, that's a Spleen problem,usually a Deficiency, for that matter. And if it's
Floating and Small, this is where Kidneys cannot Anchor the Yang, some of the

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@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001
Yang escapes- it floats up and it's more Floating and Small, and they say that
cannot be confused with Spleen, which is Floating and Weak. Again, Floating
Pulses, outside of Seasonal Pulses, where it floats up and is relatively Tight, is
usually seen as a condition that does not have to just be related to the Yang
conditions of the body. Today we would say Floating means Superficial, you
would evaluate that as Floating and Slow, Floating and Tight, Floating and
Rapid- Wind Cold, Wind Heat. Floating and Tight, from the Su Wen point of
view, could just be the energy of Wood coming up. And because they didn't do
tongue diagnosis, there's no tongue here: they didn't say "stick out your
tongue"-to see if it is indeed Wind Heat or Wind Cold- the idea then is, if you
think it's Floating and comes to the Surface, that could mean that something is
not Anchoring the Qi allowing it to flow, especially if you have a Weak quality a
little bit...Floating and Weak, Floating and Small, Floating and Thin -that type of
quality. So, if there truly is an Exogenous Pathogenic Factor, you would know
that by taking not this Pulse at LU-9, at the radial artery, but at ST-9.That's how
you would know, indeed, it is a Wind-Heat condition, a Yang Ming condition; a
Wind Cold condition, a Tai Yang condition; or a Wind -Damp condition, a S huo
Yang condition.

Then you have a Pulse that is Deep and Rapid. We also said that Rapid
quality is obviously related to the Heart Surging, but it's going to be on the
Surface level. If it's on the Deep level, and it's Rapid, most likely, from a Su Wen
point of view, that it's related to the Liver. And sometimes we confuse that
because we say"oh it's Deep, it must be related to the Kidneys", at least that's the
contention, but it's rather the Liver because the Liver also as we know Stores
Blood. As it Stores Blood, and the Blood can't seem to Move, there's going to be
Qi Stagnation, and that can lead to liver Fire. So they talk about this as Deep and
Rapid. And truly if it's Deep and Rapid, it's gonna have a Scattered quality. If
it's Deep and Rapid due to Kidney Yin Defiaency,which can give birth to Empty
Fire, you won't see a Scattered quality to it. This is also how you can tell- 1mean,
some of this is applicable to modem Chinese Medicine, that if you take the Pulse
and it's Deep, Rapid, and Thin, and you find it on the Kidney position, let's
say--that Deep Rapid and Thin could be because Liver is Stagnant in its Blood
and is not Nourishing Kidney Yin; so rather if you try to Nourish Kidney Yin,
nothing is going to happen because you need Blood to get to the Yin. Until you
Relax and Release the Liver.

A Floating and Wiry Pulse, again, a Floating and Wiry Pulse can inter it's the
Seasonal Pulse of Wood, in which case it's not very Wiry, it's just Tight. But if
it's Floating and Wiry it usually means there's an injury to Kidney Yin, so
Kidney Yin, when it's injured, gives birth to Empty Fire. Empty Fire rises, and as
the Empty Fire rises the Liver begins to tighten up to try to Nourish back that

161
@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
Kidney Yin, so that's why you have a Floating and Wiry quality, which seems to
appear to be like the Wood quality, the Wood pulse-the Seasonal Wood Pulse.
But the fact that it's Wiry infers that it's more of a pathology where the Liver is
trying to Condense or Store Blood to Nourish Kidney Yin because Fire is
escaping, and the Sinking of the Heart that is an injury to Kidney Yang. So injury
to Kidney Yang infers that you're gonna have Dampness, Dampness sinks down,
and it slows down everything, things begin to get Stagnant, so it's a sinking and
stone-like quality, hard-like quality, that's what you're gonna feel for injury to
Kidney Yang. Again, these Pulses are found at LU-9. It's not just like sayingl'oh,
let me take the radial artery..." it could be a radial artery Pulse, but, primarily
looking at LU-9 Pulses.

Lastly, other qualities that help us to determine the Yang Meridians without
resorting to ST-9, is, if it's Long, it could also mean that you have a Tai Yang
condition; and if it's Floating and dilating, expanding, for lack of words, some
folks might translate it as Big, or Broad, and it's a Shao Yang condition; and if it's
Choppy and Short, it's a Yang Ming condition. So already you can see the Su
W e n introduce or talks about some Pulse qualities among the 28. Their
interpretation of those qualities, although different, the reason why is because
they're taking Pulses at several areas of the body. Part of those areas are Seasonal,
the other part of it is comparisons, ST-9/LU-9, and then to determine where is
the condition at, because the reason why we have chest, Diaphragm, abdomen,
that's part of all diseases. When we cover the other diseases, we have the
Wheezing, we have the Coughing. So we want to know what the chest is doing,
we want to know what the abdomen is doing. That's why they have that kind of
reflexology to the Pulses on the hands.
Question: Basically, just doing the LU-9 Pulse, just by the qualities you are
attributing it to Kidney and to Liver and all of that. Just based on taking LU-9, is
that what you said here at the end?
Answer: Yeah. Let's say that you're looking at LU-9. The first thing you're going
to do is you're going to compare LU-9 and ST-9. If ST-9 is more Exuberant then
LU-9, by beats, then already you're going to be looking for a Yang condition. Let's
say the difference is by 2 beats or something like that, or maybe it's by 4 beats, or
whatever. So if it's 4 beats, it's Yang Ming. So you say, "All right, this person has
a Yang Ming condition." Let me look back to LU-9 and see if LU-9 has also a
Choppy and Short or Small Pulse. If that's the case, this is a Yang Ming
condition. If it's a Yang Ming condition, it's Stomach and Large Intestine, what
kind of condition is it? Is it a Febrile condition, is it a Cold condition, is it one of
these region conditions. We can also determine that now by looking and taking
the remaining radial artery which will now give us the reflexology of the area. So
what you're looking for is that particular quality which is gonna show up in the

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001

radial artery. "Oh, this is a Yang Ming condition which is showing up because I
feel this quality where it's Choppy and Short in the Kidney left position, which
could be Kidney Qi or abdomen." So then you would know it's an abdominal
condition, Yang Ming.Then based on signs and symptoms you would know
what kind of disease to classify it as.

Question: Could you explain how you could get 2 or more beats at one position
of the body than in the other?
Answer: Notice what you're doing is you're taking ST-9 and you're taking LU-9,
and by the breath you're counting the beats. My LU-9is 5 beats, this here is about
3 beats. So LU-9is more exuberant than this by 2 beats then.
Question: If it's all coming from the Heart, why is it beating faster in one place
than in the other?
Answer: Because the pumping of Blood to different areas is going to be different.
It's not all uniform in terms of its beat. You could just take ST-9and count,
measure the breath, take one breath and do one at a time, and then count the
carotid artery and you'll find, in some cases it may be the same, and in some
cases it might not be the same. So that's what you're doing, you're comparing. So
I would not think of this as a Yang condition; this would be a Yin condition. In
fact all of you would have a relative difference in beats. It may not be that
pathological yet, but there generally are some differences. And the best time is
always gonna be in the morning to do that. That's like taking your basal
temperature, ideally in the morning, to see how the thyroid glands are doing.

Question: So it's a difference for each breath, if there's a difference, it'll be for
one breath measurement, is it Yang or Yin?
Answer: Yes.

O.K. This is a topic that most of you know.I just want you to realize the way
that the Su Wen presents this. In Chapter 2, already, the 12 Officials are given. In
the Su Wen, some of these, you'll notice I've left out the English because it's

Offiaals.The Heart is often referred to as Jun Zhu ($ 5 ,&\*

hard to translate the Function or the actual role of some of these so-called
) means the
host, or the main host. And today of course we have translated that to represent
the King, the Emperor. The Lungs, indeed, is the Prime Minister Zai Xiang ($Z
), the Pericardium is the Eunuch Chen Shi (E-f), is the Eunuch to the
a
8
Emperor. So the Emperor, you know, sits behin his throne, and there was
always going to be an Imperial Eunuch.In history of China, some of the
Emperors basically didn't run China, it was the Eunuch who was running
China, the Imperial Eunuch, very very close to the Emperor. So a lot of times it
was the Eunuch who was like the Emperor's right-hand man. So that's

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

Pericardium, OK?

Gall Bladder, Zhong Zheng ( d + L ). Even though we say that Gall Bladder is
responsible for decision making, Zhong Zheng is this word that you'll see in the
courtrooms of China, the magistrates. So really it's someone who decrees
judgment. So it's not just decision, you are making judgment, and that
judgment is one that has a certain degree of morality behind i t Which ifyou
translated it more from the 5 Element point of view would be more like Metal,
rather than Wood. So there are discrepancies if you're using the Officials to
describe the Functions of the Organs as compared to the 5 Element Theory to
describe the Functions. In 5 Element theory, keep in mind that in truth they're
all truly equal; or else you wouldn't have a circle, you'd have a hierarchy of the
Elements. So here they're giving this hierarchy of the Elements. The Liver is
indeed called the General pang Jun (lfÂ
).The Spleen and the Stomach are
given as one unit. They're not given as separate entities: the Secretary of the
Interior. They are the ones that are reponsible for the nourishment of the
country. That's the Granary ()jl fS ).,^-

Kidney: the first word is ZUO* ), the second word is Qiang ). Zuo(<a
means the things that you do, and Qiang means the amount of effort that takes
place in the things you do, which people translate as your willpower. Of course
the word willpower is specificto this word Zhi, butZuo Qiang is the things that
you do to strengthen yourself. So kind of like Kidneys is almost like the people
in the empire that are responsible for building up the military. They're like the
Drill Sergeants. Things that you use to strengthen your bodily strength is referred
to in this case with Kidneys. So it's not really one particular particular person;
you think of the Kidneys as a role where it's trying to improve one's physical
vitality. So some people sometimes think of it as the component that is the
warehouse that keeps all of the weaponry that makes sure you stay strong.
That's why you can think of it as your foundationof defense,Yang Qi.

The Large Intestine, Zhuan Dao ({# e),is the Dao by which you transmit
the Dao to people. The underlying theme of Daoism is the ability to let go.
Transmitting the Dao is transmitting the ability to let go, which is a Function of
Metal. Metal is forgiveness, Metal is about letting go. So you can not be
constipated with your life and be willing to just let things pass and go. That's
Large Intestine. So Large Intestine in terms of an empire was responsible for kind
of like these ditches that you can kind of like flow everything out when the
empire becomes too accumulated, too overcome by overpopulation, not to get
rid of people, but kind of like getting rid of luggage, per se.

Small Intestine, on the other hand, if you look at the words, Shou Sheng (?)

@New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001
(@ & ) you know a lot of times when people have done the 12 Officials they
translate it to represent like an actual component of an empire. Some of these
things are really not components, they're really more of a concept. Small
Intestine is like what you can learn from yourself. Remember the role of Small
Intestine it's often said that it further separates the Pure from the Impure. What
can I look at that I've already digested from the Stomach and allow myself some
ability to embrace, to take on this configuration of acceptance. So some people
call Small Intestine where the grains, the wheat, obtain from the Secretary of
Interior a store, some people think of it as a reservoir, for food and grains, but,
keep in mind that it's more like about: "what can I learn from my own self? "
That's Small Intestine. It's almost like: here's your Colon, you get rid of things,
"Oh, let's give it a second chance, let me see, what can I think about it, you
know." So that's like the extension of it.

Bladder is considered like the reservoir of the city, the metropolis. Zhou
DM (4 ) ,this term, you all know, Du, Zhou DM,Zhou means like province
and Du means metropolis. A lot of Acupuncture Points use that word Du and
they say metropolis. Zhou is the province but Zhou is also like these are the
reservoirs for Water. So Bladder is a holder of Water, a reservoir of Fluids.

And then Triple Heater is simply referred to as the Way of Water Shui
Daofc^. $ ). The Way of Water is to keep Water constantly flowing. So I just
Siar
wanted to s e that with you because the 12 offfiaals, in my opinion, has been
often taken out of context, in some ways, just so that it fits neatly within a theory.

Question: With regard to the 12 Officials, so many of the influences that we have
seen so far have been apparently or predominantly Daoist: this seems very
Confucian. Is that accurate?
Answer: Not necessarily. I think, by my story, that's a misconception of Daoism,
that Daoism is about, "Well, let's leave this empire behind." In Daoist writings,
especially Duo De Jing, Lao Zi is telling the Emperor how you should behave,
what you should be doing. So there is political theory in Daoism. It's not just
about, "Well, let's leave everything behind. " And the political theory that you
have is that all these things that are Yin, that we think of the power figures of
life, and notice the metaphors we have are really on the Yang Officials. None of
these Yang Officials are an actual title of an official in an empire, none of them
are. When you say Large Intestine, Kidney, for that matter, Small Intestine,
Bladder, Triple Heater--none of these things really are Officials. The ones that
really are the Officials are the top ones. And we think that these are the ones that
are in power, but in reality the Yang are the ones that help us to let go of our
power. So there is that Daoist aspect of not being so hung up on fame, and
wealth, profit or loss, which one really means more. In reality they really don't

165
G3 New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Depfc &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
mean much at all. Even though we would say that the Yin Organs are more
important, because they run the empire, but in truth, we could say the Yang
Organs are equally important because they allow us to let go of our need to have
an empire, to conquer.

Question: The most puzzling one for me up there is Pericardium translated as

Eunuch, because of Worsley's translation of Circulation/ Sex Meridian for the
Pericardium Meridian, or, Pericardium being the ambassador from which
happiness and joy derive. So there was always some sort of intimacy associated
with that in that school.
Answer: The Eunuch is very intimate with the Emperor. The Eunuch is the one
who goes out and brings to the empire what the Emperor decrees. The Eunuchs
were also what brings back the news to the Emperor. Sometimes the Emperor
would refuse to see the Prime Minister and just ask the Eunuch to go out. So the
Eunuch has a ...is almost like a second Emperor. If you look at this word, it's used
in Herbal Medicine, in herbal medicine they talk about it as the Associate
Herb..thatls this. Like the je Jun is the Principal Herb, and then you have the
Associate Herb (Chen).This word (Shi ) also means messenger. So it gives it
lesser of an importance. But it's not like all the other Eunuchs in the empire.
The Imperial Eunuch in China has a lot of power. There's a lot of intimacy with
the Eunuch and the empire. If you're looking at it like Sex/ Circulation, that's
more like Pericardium's relationship, that is Pericardium that intercedes
between the King and the Kidneys, Fire and Water. So that makes it that
Sex/ Circulation communication. Because the Heart is something that you never
really get into. So they make the Pericardium as the key feature. It's not to take
away from the Pericardium's role, but from a Chinese point of view, the Eunuch
is....the person you want to bribe. Not the Prime Minister; you want to bribe the
Eunuch, so the Eunuch comes in and says all these good things to the Emperor,
and gives you a promotion. The Eunuch is kind of like... it is the Heart protector,
in a way. It keeps the truth from the Emperor, it always tells you all the good
news. "Oh, yeah, the empire's fine, don't worry, you don't have to go to war."
And then the empire crumbles and they don't know what's wrong. Usually
when the king dies, ...if the empire comes to a fall, dot of times the Emperor
commits suicide. The Imperial Eunuch commits suicide with him. So whenever
the Emperor hangs himself, the Eunuch is always beside him. So they always
have that. So a lot of times you have famous stories in China, in fact, if you go to
Beijing, and visit the Ming tombs, there's one tree where the last Emperor of the
Ming Dynasty hung himself, in addition with his Imperial Eunuch. So they're
always together, in a way.

Question: In that chapter it's not actually called Pericardium, it's called Tan
Zhong. Isn't it? Center of the Chest?

Q New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed. Dept &Jeffrey C.Yuen. 2001
Answer: Yes, it's called Center of the Chest. The name they give to it is CV-17,
the Center of the Altar, which we know is the Mu point of Pericardium. The
Ancestral Hall. So it's almost like ,Pericardium, if you use that context, it cannot
be an Official, you can't think of the Ancestral Hall as an Official. You have the
Temple of the Ancestors (they always go to pay respect to the Ancestors) and it
represents the link between the Emperor and Heaven. So then the Pericardium
is, usually when they use that, then that's when they want to make Pericardium
as a more important role than the Heart, tha t really in truth it's the Pericardium
we should look at and not the Heart. It's like Li Lhg-yuan, the founder of the
Earth School, says Heart is not really a major thing, it's Pericardium that's all the
major thing. Heart is really secondary to Pericardium. So they would use
arguments that Pericardium is our link between us and Heaven, and that's
where Pericardium gets elevated to a higher role.

I had wanted to do a discussion of Hua To. I didn't, so, I apologize for that. I
wanted to show you how people have taken chapters, or taken sections, and
draw upon those chapters as the gospel of their tradition, taking out of context
the entirety of the Su Wen. And while you can do that, people who consider
themselves Su Wen practitioners usually are adamantly against that. They feel
that you can't take part of our system and say that's what makes your system. But
that's how a lot of the great traditions develop.
Question: I wanted to go back to the Officials that you talked about, sometimes
that being taken out of context. It might be a touchy issue with the Worsley
system, but I wondered where the information that Dr. Worsley got, where that
knowledge got embellished as much as it did. Was that from a particular text?
Answer: I think you have to ask J.R. Worsley himself that. I can come up with
arguments that support the Worsley tradition ,I can up with arguments that in
some ways criticize the tradition. It's not my intent to do either one because I'm
not a practitioner of that tradition. One can definitely make the contention about
the Four Diagnostic parameters, in terms of Color, in terms of Sound, in terms of
Smell, or Odor, and Emotions. That is more the Nan Jing emphasis. In the Nan
Jing they give those four criteria, and obviously they're adding one more criteria
to it, and that's the idea of Taste: what does the person crave in terms of food?
So there is definitely those aspects that would be more common in relationships
to the Nan ling tradition. If you look at the Su Wen, there really isn't much
information from the Su Wen tradition that one can extrapolate to support the
Worsley tradition. They can say:"Well you're looking at the Spirit " and people
might say that's looking at the complexion. Spirit from the Su Wen point of
view is not complexion, because the Spirit is reflected through the eyes. So
you're really looking at the illumination that comes from the eyes for that point
of view. And of course the Su Wen does say "Lookat one's complexion " as well

@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont. Ed. Dept. &JeffreyC. Yuen. 2001

and then they tend to put down Pulse taking (in terms of the Su Wen);they say
that Pulse taking is important but that the Spirit is even more important. So I
can't really give you a conclusion on that. I was also recently just told that
Worsley also studied with ChengDan-an. So Cheng Dan-An was also one of the
teachers of the founder of the New England School, Dr. So. And likewise, how
Acupuncture is usually taught in China, even today, is people learn Point
combinations for certain symptoms and disease. So when you ask a clinician:
"Why are you using these Points?", they can't tell you why, because that's the
way they learned it So, when you look at their books, basically they give you the
symptoms, these are the Point combinations, now where do these Point
combinations come from? If you look at Dr. So's book, those Point combinations
come from the Da Cheng ,comes from the Great Compendium of the Ming
Dynasty. Now where does the Great Compendium of the Ming Dynasty come
from? It comes from the Collection of the Songs. There's a book called The
Golden Needle which basically elucidates the Songs. That's where that comes
from. So you have a historical basis, but no one, or I shouldn't say no one; the
major Acupuncture textbooks have not analyzed why the Points are combined
the way they are. That's where the traditions come in. Traditions that say: "Oh
this is why the Points are", so they're able to explain it. If you can't explain it,
then you're using it just like...just like..."OK, Liver Fire''....so you say, "OK, if you
have to Clear Liver, Regulate Liver Qi. So you memorize the Points that get rid
of Fire, you memorize the Points that Regulate Liver Qi. And people use it, and
that might seem OK, but when you are Further asked :"Why do you do it?",
people would say:"Well gee, those are the Points and that's their Function .I
don't know why but that's their Function." So they can't really answer it in that
context. Of course there's theories to Further support it:"Oh this is a Ying spring
point, and that's why you use it", and so further establish the their egos, and you
feel very comfortable with the use of those Points. And in modem China today,
people learn Points like they learn Herbs. So when you learn a Point, it's like you
say:'7'his point has this particular Function and this is what it treats." So again,
if you mention that the Point can do this, and it's not one of the things that you
learned, the Chinese practitioners would be very puzzled. "Why do you say
that?" "I don't understand why you say that Point does this." Because it's not
written or they haven't learned it. The teacher basically recites and you
memorize and you recite after the teacher. So that's how they learn how to
articulate difference.

Question: After the first weekend that we were here, I actually attempted to use
the 3 Channel rule, and I found it very helpful and provocative in certain ways.
It changed what I was doing. And it changed my thinking about Points also, but I
wonder if that's wrong from the point of view of I'm not actually a S u W e n
practitioner. But I also feel like I'm very very excited to receive this kind of

@ New England School of Acupuncture, Cont Ed.Dept &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001

informationbecause it helps to fillout my education. Like many things I learned
I didn't know they came from Su Wen, and now I'm putting them together in
my mind. But of course I can't say that I am practicing in this way. I also feel
some responsibility to do the things that I feel connected to, that make sense to
me. So for example from that first weekend I took that home and it made sense
to me for a variety of reasons. Today, for example, I don't think I'm going to do
Astrology with anybody because I don't think that has much,for me, it doesn't
feel natural. Now, I wonder if you feel this is not a good thing to do or a problem
from the point of view of a Classical training point of view, which I can't receive.
I won't ever be a S u Wen practitioner, because that's not the training I received.
Do you know what I mean? But I want to be able to use what I get that makes
sense to me.
Answer: When you look at the practice of Chinese Medicine, Chinese Medicine
is eclectic. So you draw from many different things. And you always want to
come from a base that you really feel¥comfortablwith, rather than someone
who searches endlessly for so many things and never really feels comfortable
with one thing. You already said that you have a system that you feel
comfortable with. Part of that of course is your initial training. So that comfort is
there. And then as you learn something from the Su Wen, or even from other
systems, you would begin to adapt it and try, basically you're experimenting with
the Su Wen, and the things that you find to be effective ,you obviously
resonated with it when you tried it out. And then those things can become part
of your repertory. Sometimes people ask:"What part of the Su Wen is applicable
to modem practice?" If you look at that in (hat context, the question becomes
somewhat ambiguous because, it's like, if I like Astrology, then I would
say:'That's practical to my practice." If I really want to further develop the
Antique Points, the Su Wen gives a lot of information about the Antique Points,
then that becomes part of my practice. So ,I myself do not extrapolate from the
Su Wen :I force myself, that if I'm teaching the Sa Wen, I have to think like a Sa
We n practitioner. How I treat is based on what is most recently in my teaching.
But if I were to take a sabbatical, and not teach, and I come back, the things that
are most in my Heart would always comeback to Wei, Ying, and Yuan Qi,
because that's my family influence. My grandfather, as I said, was an
Acupuncturist. He came from the northern part of China,migrated to the south,
adopted my father, who was from the south. That's why I have a southern
dialect Then my grandfather, in realizing that I needed to learn Herbs, sent me
to study with an Herbalist. And that's where I learned Herbal Medicine. The
herbalist basically said that Acupuncture is inferior. And that's good, because that
way they really can validate why they feel that, because everything they can treat,
they can treat with just Herbal medicine. They don't have to say:"Oh well, you
need Acupuncture for this, you need Herbs for that." And that's why I think,
some of the things that we have when you learn both things together, even

169
@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Cont. Ed. Dept & Jeffrey C.Yuen. 2001
though they're working as a unit, sometimes some people would say:"Oh this
you have to use Acupuncture, that you have to use Herbs." So it makes the
system seem somewhat inferior, in certain circumstances. And with
Acupuncture it's the same thing.So that it I were to say:"Well what do I really
practice?", I would say that because my first influence wasMeridians, and that's

-
why anybody who studies Herbs with me knows that I think of Herbs basedon
Meg&$&m. I would say:"This Herb affects Ying Qi, t h i s - ~ ~ d h kWtesi Qf,
irresp&ve of the categories that they belong to in TCM. I don't use Herbs in that
format.

Comment: I just want to say, I very much appreciate the integrity of the tradition
which you are presenting. Unfortunately, most of us were not given that
opportunity. What I feel, is not that I was comfortable with my training, but
actually I was confused by it. That my natural instincts and understandings of
energetics in the body, were confused by my training. It had no coherence. When
somebody said, "You use these Points" it never made any sense. From some
point of view, they were taken from so many places, and pieced together, but it
didn't make any sense. Now this makes sense, and its very appealing in that way.
But on die other hand, I can't do it completely.

Jeffrey. You haven't heard me enough. It will start to sink in. When I go to
California, I've been teaching there for the last eight years, so now when I see
clients, they already know what kind of questions I ask, they know what kinds of
Points and Herbs I'm going to use. That means they are already resonating with
my system. So that means they are grasping it, so I kind of feel like I don't need to
teach there anymore.

Question: At the end of yesterday, we were talking about how to treat a

Pathogenic Factor that had penetrated into the Luo, and then went back into the
Primary Meridian.One of the approaches was to get the Governor Vessel to
activate the Divergent Meridians, call upon the Yuan ,and push it up toward the
Surface toward the Wei. I'm confused about what Points to choose using that
technique.
Answer: As I said in the Su Wen, they don't really give you the trajectories of
the Divergent Channels. The Ling Shu gives you that I believe that the book that
does have Divergent is the Comprehensive Text of Acupuncture. So if you look
at that book they'll give you the so-called Confluent Points. Royston Low has his
book Secondary Vessels which is out of print, but maybe the school library might
have that. And that would also give you the Points that you would use for the
Divergent Channels. That is only skimming the surface, however. When we
study the Ling Shu you'll get,to some degree, more information about the
Divergent Channels. I was having a discussion with Andy Ellis and he was really

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@NewEngland School of Acupuncture, Conk Ed. Depfc &JeffreyC.Yuen. 2001
disturbed that people call these "Secondary Vessels". Because they're not really
secondary; they're just as important as the Primary Channels. In studying
Acupuncture you really need to know all of the systems, of the Channel Systems.

Well I thank all of you for coming. Next time we meet we're going to do
what is more closer to my Heart, that's Acupuncture, that's Ling Shu, because Su
Wen ,while it is Acupuncture, is also really the overall theory of Chinese
Medicine. I hope to really impart more information when we do the Ling Shu.
Thank you for coming.
STEMS & BRANCHES OPESZHG POIHTS:

ODD #s: TAHG

EVEH #s: TIM

Table I
..
- Month Code .
~&uary 0 Table II - Year Code
February 31
March 59
April
May
June
J ~ Y
August
September
October
November
December