Pulse diagnosis classic works

Author: Hao En'en et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-06-01
Features: Cui Shi Mai Jue (A Treatise on Cui's Pulse Diagnosis), also known as Cui Zhen Ren Mai Jue (The True Master Cui's Pulse Diagnosis) or Si Yan Mai Jue (The Four-Word Pulse Diagnosis), is traditionally attributed to Cui Jia Yan. Jia Yan, styled Zi Xu, was a native of Cheng Ji (modern-day Tianshui, Gansu) during the Southern Song Dynasty, living approximately from the first year of the Zhenghe era (1111) to the second year of the Shaoxi era (1191). According to Mr. Zhang Tongjun's research, Cui Shi Mai Jue was actually written by Zhang Daozhong of the Yuan Dynasty. Cui Jia Yan is also known to have written Mai Jue Mi Zhi, advocating the use of the four pulses—floating, deep, slow, and rapid—as the fundamental principles of all pulses, or "the four pulses as the guiding framework." This book is not written in the form of four-word couplets. Zhang Daozhong, styled Xuanbai Zi, was a native of Huainan and a third-generation disciple of Cui Jia Yan (Jia Yan passed it down to Liu Kai, who then passed it to Zhu Zongyang). He wrote Xi Yuan Mai Jue (1330), which primarily adopts the four-word couplet form to incorporate Cui's pulse diagnosis philosophy. The four-word couplet sections of Xi Yuan Mai Jue were later attributed to Liu Kai (Fang Mai Ju Yao), Cui Jia Yan (Cui Zhen Ren Mai Jue), and Li Gao (Dongguan Mai Jue), with Cui Zhen Ren Mai Jue having the greatest influence and becoming widely disseminated. Therefore, this book follows Zhang's version. The entire work consists of 682 lines, covering the relationship between pulse and the interplay of yin, yang, qi, blood, and the defensive and nutritive substances, as well as pulse-taking locations, methods, the correspondence of the six pulse positions to the internal organs, the seven superficies, the eight depths, the nine channels, and conditions such as stroke, cold damage, summerheat dampness, warm disease, various (heterogeneous diseases), the six-channel diseases, gynecological and pediatric conditions, seasonal influences, the five internal organs, and the pulse characteristics of people of different body types (fat, thin, tall, short). It describes 27 pulse phenomena, namely: floating, empty, slippery, full, wiry, tense, booming, deep, faint, slow, rough, slow, hidden, damp, weak, long, short, empty, rapid, intermittent, weak, firm, moving, fine, collapsing, scattered, and rapid pulses. Organized around the four pulses—floating, deep, slow, and rapid—as the guiding framework, with wind, qi, cold, and heat as the primary causes of disease, it can be said to be concise yet comprehensive. Written in four-word rhyming couplets, it is both succinct and easy to memorize, earning high regard from later generations of physicians. Li Shi Zhen's father, Li Yan Wen, once edited and renamed it Si Yan Ju Yao. Li Shi Zhen included it in Binhua Mai Xue, which then became widely known. This book survives in its earliest transmitted form, part of the Dongguan Shi Shu (Ten Books of Dongguan) with annotations by Li Dongguan. It was later included in Hu Wenhuan's Shou Yang Cong Shu (Compendium of Health Preservation) and Wang Guitang's Gujin Yi Tong Zheng Mai Quan Shu (Comprehensive Collection of Correct Pulse Diagnosis Throughout History). This edition is based on the Yi Tong Zheng Mai version, with references to Shou Yang Cong Shu and Dongguan Shi Shu.