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Module 5   Lesson 17   Jing Luo Bian Zheng

Patterns according to the twelve channels

Is this complaint in the channel or in the organ, and which finding decides?

After this lesson you can tell a channel pattern from an organ pattern, you know the classical list of complaints from the Ling Shu for each channel, you read headache, teeth, shoulder and knee as a map of front, side and back, and you know which pain along a channel goes to a doctor first.

source where it shows what you see 1  the channel only Wind, Cold, Dampness trauma, overuse channel pathway, muscle, joint pain, stiff, numb on the path tongue and pulse often normal 2  the organ shows on the channel organ Liver-Fire (pattern 2) channel Gall-Bladder: the temple temple pain, bitter taste, red red tongue, wiry rapid pulse 3  the channel goes inwards channel Bi that does not resolve organ of the affected tissue bones: Kidneys; sinews: Liver classical: Su Wen 43 what decides: systemic signs, tongue and pulse
Own diagram after Maciocia ch. 47 (organ versus channel, p. 795). Row 3 follows Su Wen 43 on Bi; the example in row 2 is textbook knowledge. Schematic.

Know by heart

  • Channel or organ. Channel: complaint along the pathway (pain, stiffness, numbness, tingling, swelling), no systemic signs, tongue and pulse often normal. Organ: functions and substances disturbed, with tongue and pulse. mnemonic: a path with a plain tongue is the channel; a function with a changed tongue is the organ.
  • Three sources of a channel complaint. An external pathogen that stays in the channel (Wind, Cold, Dampness, Heat: Bi); trauma and overuse; an organ pattern that shows itself on the pathway.
  • Two lists per channel (Ling Shu 10). What the channel gives when it is itself disturbed, and which complaints are produced by what it governs. The Yin channels govern their organ, the Pericardium the vessels; the Yang channels govern a substance or tissue: Large Intestine the jin fluids, Small Intestine the ye fluids, Stomach Blood, Bladder the sinews, Gall-Bladder the bones, Triple Burner Qi.
  • Headache by level. Forehead Yangming; temple and side Shaoyang; occiput and neck Taiyang; vertex Jueyin (Liver). mnemonic: front, side, back, top.
  • Teeth and shoulder. Upper jaw Stomach, lower jaw Large Intestine. Shoulder: front Large Intestine, side Triple Burner, back Small Intestine. mnemonic: the Stomach sits above the Intestine; the three Yang of the arm run front, middle, back.
  • Knee. Front Stomach, outside Gall-Bladder, back of the knee Bladder, inside the three leg Yin (Spleen, Liver, Kidneys).
  • Red flag. Pressing chest pain that spreads to arm, jaw or back, sudden loss of function, a hot red joint with fever, back pain with bladder or saddle symptoms: see a doctor first.

The rest of this lesson is reference.

According to the 12 channels: Is this complaint in the channel or in the organ, and which finding decides?
The chart as an image, to save or share

Three practice questions from this lesson

What argues most strongly for a channel pattern?
  1. Pain along a pathway with a normal tongue and pulse
  2. Pain with thirst, restlessness and a red tongue with a yellow coating
  3. Tiredness and poor sleep with an empty pulse

Answer: Pain along a pathway with a normal tongue and pulse. A channel pattern sits on a route; the organ shows itself in functions (thirst, restlessness, tiredness, sleep), tongue and pulse.

Case. After a night by the open window, a stiff, painful neck at the back and an occipital headache. Nothing else; tongue normal, pulse slightly floating.
  1. Channel: Wind-Cold in Taiyang
  2. Organ: Kidney-Yang deficiency
  3. Organ: Liver-Yang rising

Answer: Channel: Wind-Cold in Taiyang. The back is Taiyang (Bladder and Small Intestine); the trigger is cold, there are no systemic signs.

Case. Headache at the temple, red face, bitter taste, irritable; red tongue with redder sides and a yellow coating, pulse wiry and rapid.
  1. Channel: Shaoyang after a draught
  2. Organ: Liver-Fire
  3. Organ: Stomach-Heat

Answer: Organ: Liver-Fire. Tongue and pulse changed, systemic signs: the organ is the root (pattern 2), the Gall-Bladder channel the route on which it shows.

The rest of this lesson

In the course you get the step-by-step explanation, 16 case-based practice questions, 25 spaced-repetition flashcards, the pitfalls and the bridge to physiology with evidence grades. This lesson belongs to module 5: Patterns.

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