脉络周身十四经,六经表里督和任。阴阳手足经皆六,督总诸阳任总阴。诸阳行外阴行里,
四肢腹背皆如此。督由脊骨过龈交,脐腹中行任脉是。足太阳经小指藏,从跟入 会尻旁,
上行夹脊行分四,前系睛明脉最长。少阳四指端前起,外踝阳关、环跳里,从胁贯肩行曲鬓,
耳前耳后连 尾。大指次指足阳明,三里、天枢贯乳行,腹第三行通上齿,环唇侠鼻目颧迎。
足有三阴内联廉,厥中少后太交前。肾出足心从内踝,侠任胸腹上廉泉。太厥两阴皆足拇,
内侧外侧非相联。太阴内侧冲门去,腹四行兮挨次编。厥阴毛际循阴器,斜络期门乳肋间。
手外三阳谁在上,阳明食指肩 向,颊中钻入下牙床,相逢鼻外迎香傍。三焦名指阳明后,
贴耳周回眉竹凑。太阳小指下行低,肩后盘旋耳颧遘。还有三阴行臂内,太阴大指肩前配,
厥从中指腋连胸,极泉小内心经位。手足三阳俱上头,三阴穴止乳胸游;唯有厥阴由颡后,
上巅会督下任流。经脉从来皆直行,络从本部络他经。经凡十四络十六,请君切记须分明。
十六络者,自十五络之外,复有胃之大络,名曰虚里也。
肺寅大卯胃辰宫,脾巳心午小未中,膀申肾酉心包戌,亥三胆子丑肝通。
此歌出子午流注等书及张世贤等注释。其以十二时分发十二经,似乎近理。然而经之长短,穴之多
寡,大相悬绝,又安能按时分发?且失五十周于身之义。今亦录之,以俟辨正。
The meridians traverse the entire body, comprising fourteen main channels: six pairs of exterior-interior paired meridians, along with the Du Mai (Governing Vessel) and Ren Mai (Conception Vessel). There are six Yin and six Yang meridians in both the upper and lower limbs. The Du Mai (Governing Vessel) governs all Yang meridians, while the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel) governs all Yin meridians. All Yang meridians run on the exterior lateral aspects, and all Yin meridians run on the interior medial aspects; this distribution applies to the four limbs, abdomen, and back. The Du Mai (Governing Vessel) ascends along the spinal column, passing through the Yingjiao (GV 28) acupoint; the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel) is located on the midline of the umbilicus and abdomen.
The Foot-Taiyang Bladder Meridian of Hand-Taiyin originates from the lateral side of the little toe, enters from the heel, meets at the side of the sacrum, ascends along both sides of the spine in four branches, connects anteriorly with the Jingming (BL 1) acupoint, and is the longest among the twelve meridians. The Foot-Shaoyang Gallbladder Meridian of Foot-Shaoyang originates from the front of the fourth toe, passes through the external malleolus, Yangguan (GB 33), and Huantiao (GB 30), penetrates from the hypochondrium through the shoulder to the Qubin (GB 7) acupoint, and connects behind and in front of the ear to the tail region. The Foot-Yangming Stomach Meridian of Foot-Yangming originates between the big toe and the second toe, passes through Zusanli (ST 36) and Tianshu (ST 25), traverses the breast area, runs in the third line of the abdomen towards the upper and lower teeth, surrounds the lips, flanks the nose, and reaches the cheek at the Yingxiang (LI 20) acupoint.
The three Yin meridians of the foot are connected internally. The Jueyin Liver Meridian of Foot-Jueyin is in the middle, the Shaoyin Kidney Meridian of Foot-Shaoyin is posterior, and the Taiyin Spleen Meridian of Foot-Taiyin is anterior. The Kidney Meridian emerges from the sole of the foot, passes through the medial malleolus, flanks the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel) ascending to the chest and abdomen, and finally reaches the Lianquan (CV 23) acupoint. The Taiyin Spleen Meridian and Jueyin Liver Meridian both originate from the big toe, but one is medial and the other lateral, and they do not directly connect. The Taiyin Spleen Meridian departs from Chongmen (SP 12) on the medial side and is arranged sequentially in the fourth line of the abdomen. The Jueyin Liver Meridian follows the genitalia from the pubic hair region, obliquely connects to the Qimen (LR 14) acupoint, and is distributed between the ribs and breast.
Among the three Yang meridians of the hand, which is superior? The Hand-Yangming Large Intestine Meridian of Hand-Yangming originates from the index finger, heads towards the shoulder, drills into the cheek into the lower jaw, and meets beside the Yingxiang (LI 20) acupoint on the lateral side of the nose. The Hand-Shaoyang Sanjiao Meridian of Hand-Shaoyang originates behind the ring finger, circles closely around the ear, and converges near the end of the eyebrow. The Hand-Taiyang Small Intestine Meridian of Hand-Taiyin descends from the little finger to a low position, spirals behind the shoulder, and meets the auricular-temporal region. Additionally, there are three Yin meridians running on the inner arm: the Hand-Taiyin Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin originates from the thumb and corresponds to the anterior shoulder; the Hand-Jueyin Pericardium Meridian of Hand-Jueyin connects from the middle finger through the axilla to the chest; the Jiquan (HT 1) acupoint is the location of the Hand-Shaoyin Heart Meridian of Hand-Shaoyin.
All three Yang meridians of the hands and feet ascend to the head, whereas the acupoints of the three Yin meridians only circulate within the breast and chest regions; only the Jueyin Liver Meridian ascends posterior to the pharynx to the vertex, meets the Du Mai (Governing Vessel), and then flows down to the Ren Mai (Conception Vessel). Meridians have always been straight, while collaterals branch from their origin to connect with other meridians. There are fourteen main meridians and sixteen collaterals in total; please remember them clearly. The sixteen collaterals consist of the fifteen regular collaterals plus the large collateral of the Stomach, named Xuli.
The Lung Meridian corresponds to the Yin hour, the Large Intestine Meridian to the Mao hour, the Stomach Meridian to the Chen hour, the Spleen Meridian to the Si hour, the Heart Meridian to the Wu hour, the Small Intestine Meridian to the Wei hour, the Bladder Meridian to the Shen hour, the Kidney Meridian to the You hour, the Pericardium Meridian to the Xu hour, the Sanjiao Meridian to the Hai hour, the Gallbladder Meridian to the Zi hour, and the Liver Meridian to the Chou hour. This song comes from books such as *Ziwu Liuzhu* and annotations by Zhang Shixian et al. It assigns the twelve meridians to the twelve two-hour periods, which seems reasonable. However, the lengths of the meridians vary greatly, and the number of acupoints differs significantly; how can they be evenly distributed according to time? Moreover, this contradicts the principle of fifty circuits throughout the body. Therefore, it is recorded here for future correction and verification.