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TheEightExtraordinaryQi
VesselsPart1
byDr.Yang,JwingMing,March5,2012
TheeightextraordinaryQivesselsandthetwelve
primaryQichannels(meridians)comprisethemain
partofthechannelsystem.Mostoftheeight
vesselsbranchoutfromthetwelveprimary
channelsandsharethefunctionofcirculatingQi
throughoutthebody.Thesevesselsformawebof
complexinterconnectionswiththechannels.Atthe
sametime,eachhasitsownfunctional
characteristicsandclinicutilityindependentofthe
channels.
TraditionalChinesemedicineemphasizesthe
twelveprimaryorganrelatedchannelsandonly
twooftheeightvessels(theGoverningandthe
ConceptionVessels).Theothersixvesselsarenot
usedveryoftensimplybecausetheyarenot
understoodaswellastheotherchannels,and
thereisstillalotofresearchbeingconductedon
them.Althoughtheywerediscoveredtwo
thousandyearsago,littlehasbeenwrittenabout
them.Thereisalotofresearchonthe
extraordinaryvesselsbeingconductedtoday,
especiallyinJapan,buttheresultsofone
researcheroftencontradicttheresultsthatanother
hasachieved.
Iwouldliketocompileandsummarizetheimportantpointsfromthelimitednumberofavailabledocuments.
SincereferencesfromoriginalChinesesourcesareveryscarce,andreferencesfromWesterntextbooksare
tentative,esoteric,orindisagreementwithoneanother,Ihaveusedmyownjudgmentinselectingideasand
details.

WhataretheEightVessels?
TheeightvesselsarecalledQiJingBaMai.Qimeansodd,strange,ormysterious.Jingmeansmeridian
orchannels.BameanseightandMaimeansvessels.QiJingBaMaiisthentranslatedasOdd
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MeridiansandEightVesselsorextraordinarymeridian(EM).
OddhasameaningofstrangeinChinese.Itisusedsimplybecausetheseeightvesselsarenotwellunderstood
yet.ManyChinesedoctorsexplainthattheyarecalledOddsimplybecausetherearefourvesselsthatarenot
paired.Sincetheseeightvesselsalsoservethefunctionofhomeostasis,sometimestheyarecalledHomeostatic
Meridians.FrenchacupuncturistscallthemMiraculousMeridiansbecausetheywereabletocreate
therapeuticeffectswhenallothertechniqueshadfailed.Inaddition,becauseeachofthesechannelsexertsa
strongeffectuponpsychicfunctioningandindividuality,thecommandpointsareamongthemostimportant
psychologicalpointsinthebody.
Forthisreason,theyareoccasionallycalledTheEightPsychicChannels.
Thesevesselsare:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

GoverningVessel(DuMai)
ConceptionVessel(RenMai)
ThrustingVessel(ChongMai)
Girdle(orBelt)Vessel(DaiMai)
YangHeelVessel(YangchiaoMai)
YinHeelVessel(YinchiaoMai)
YangLinkingVessel(YangweiMai)
YinLinkingVessel(YinweiMai).

ThefirstbriefmentionofsomeoftheseeightvesselsisfoundinthesecondpartoftheNeiJingchapterofthe
bookHuangDiNeiJingSuWen(TheYellowEmperorsClassic,)(Handynasty,circa100300B.C.)byLing
Shu.Also,someofthevesselswerementionedinBianQuesclassicNanJing(ClassiconDisorders,)(Qinand
Handynasty,221B.C.to220A.D.).Itwasnotuntilthe16thcenturythatalleightvesselsweredeeplystudied
byLi,ShiZhen(15181593A.D.)andrevealedinhisbookQiJingBaMaiKao(DeepStudyofthe
ExtraordinaryEightVessels).Fromthenuntilonlyrecently,veryfewdocumentshavebeenpublishedonthis
subject.Althoughthereismoreresearchbeingpublished,asyet,thereisstillnosingledocument,whichisableto
definethissubjectsystematicallyandindepth.

GeneralFunctionsoftheEightVessels
ServeasQiReservoirs.Becausetheeightvesselsaresodifferentfromeachother,itisdifficulttogeneralize
theircharacteristicsandfunctions.However,BianQueinhisNanJingspecifiedoneofthemostcommon
characteristicsoftheeightvessels.HereportedthatthetwelveorganrelatedQichannelsconstituterivers,and
theeightextraordinaryvesselsconstitutereservoirs.Thereservoirs,especiallytheConceptionandGoverning
Vessels,absorbexcessQifromthemainchannels,andthenreturnitwhentheyaredeficient.
Youshouldunderstandhowever,thatbecauseofthelimitednumberoftraditionaldocuments,aswellasthelack
ofmodern,scientificmethodsofQiresearch,itisdifficulttodeterminetheprecisebehaviorandcharacteristicsof
theseeightvessels.Themaindifficultyprobablyliesinthefactthattheycanbetakenatdifferentlevels,because
theyperformdifferentfunctionsandcontaineverykindofQisuchasYingQi,WeiQi,JingQi,andevenblood.
WhenthetwelveprimarychannelsaredeficientinQi,theeightvesselswillsupplyit.ThisstoreofQicaneasily
betappedwithacupunctureneedlesthroughthosecavities,whichconnecttheeightvesselswiththetwelve
channels.Theconnectioncavitiesbehavelikethegateofareservoir,whichcanbeusedtoadjustthestrengthof
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theQiflowintheriversandthelevelofQiinthereservoir.Sometimes,whenitisnecessary,thereservoirwill
releaseQibyitself.Forexample,whenapersonhashadashock,eitherphysicallyormentally,theQiinsomeof
themainchannelswillbedeficient.Thiswillcauseparticularorganstobestressed,andQiwillaccumulate
rapidlyaroundtheseorgans.Whenthishappens,thereservoirmustreleaseQitoincreasethedeficient
circulationandpreventfurtherdamage.
GuardingSpecificAreasAgainstEvilQi.TheQi,whichprotectsthebodyfromoutsideintruders,iscalled
WeiQi(GuardianQi).Amongtheeightvessels,theThrustingVessel,theGoverningVessel,andthe
ConceptionVesselplaymajorrolesinguardingtheabdomen,thorax,andtheback.
RegulatingtheChangesofLifeCycles.Accordingtochapter1ofSuWen,theThrustingVesselandthe
ConceptionVesselalsoregulatethechangesofthelifecycles,whichoccurat7yearintervalsforwomenand8
yearintervalsformen.
CirculatingJingQitotheEntireBody,ParticularlytheFiveAncestralOrgans.Oneofthemost
importantfunctionsoftheeightvesselsistodeliverJingQi(EssenceQi,whichhasbeenconvertedfromOriginal
EssenceandsexualEssence)totheentirebody,includingtheskinandhair.TheymustalsodeliverJingQitothe
fiveancestralorgans:thebrainandspinalcord,theliverandgallbladdersystem,thebonemarrow,theuterus,
andthebloodsystem.
Dr.Yang,JwingMing,isarenownedauthorandteacherofChinesemartialartsandQigong.BorninTaiwan,he
hastrainedandtaughtTaijiquan,QigongandChinesemartialartsforoverfortyfiveyears.Heistheauthorof
overthirtybooks,andwaselectedbyInsideKungFumagazineasoneofthe10peoplewhohas"madethe
greatestimpactonmartialartsinthepast100years."Dr.YanglivesinNorthernCalifornia.

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Inmoderntimes,wemainlyuseonlythenarrowdefinitionofQi,whichreferstotheenergycirculating
inthehumanbody.

COMMENTS
dryang:thisisveryinformativethankyouverymuch
jamalsyouriMarch6,2012,1:00pm

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