Rivers of the Earth: the meridians of the body in macrocosm
This color map, redrawn upon a stone map titled as “Yu Ji Tu (Map of Yu’s Traces)” engraved in 1136 AD, shows the correspondence between the rivers of ancient China and the distribution of the meridians of the human body, as described in the "Regular Watercourses" (Jing Shui) section of the Huang Di Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic of Medicine).
a．Jing River -- Urinary Bladder Meridian of Foot Taiyang
b．Ru River -- Kidney Meridian of Foot Shaoyin
c．Wei River -- Gallbladder Meridian of Foot Shaoyang
d．Sheng River -- Liver Meridian of Foot Jueyin
e．Seas -- Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming
f．Lakes -- Spleen Meridian of Foot Taiyin
g．Huai River -- Small Intestine Meridian of Hand Taiyang
h．Ji River -- Heart Meridian of Hand Shaoyin
i．Ta River -- San Jiao Meridian of Hand Shaoyang
j．Zhang River -- Pericardium Meridian of Hand Jueyin
k．Changjiang (Yangtze) River -- Large Intestine Meridian of Hand Yangming
l．Yellow River -- Lung Meridian of Hand Taiyin
According to traditional Chinese medicine, a network known as "meridians" is distributed throughout the human body, carrying Qi (vital energy) and blood to nourish the organs and tissues. The rivers and meridians constitute one of the most obvious correspondences between the Earth and the human body. Rivers are the meridians of the Earth in macrocosm. They are the channels that contain the flow of water, the life force of our planet. On the microcosmic scale, the meridians of the human body are the channels that contain the flow of Qi and blood, the life force of living beings.
The ancient Chinese found that there are twelve regular meridians in the human body. The Neijing or Huang Di Nejing (the Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic of Medicine) (compiled between 104-32 BC) is the seminal work of traditional Chinese medicine and the earliest extant medical exposition of acupuncture. The chapter entitled "Regular Watercourses (Jingshui)" deals specifically with the correspondences between the twelve regular meridians and the twelve major rivers in China. The rivers mentioned are located in the basins of the Changjiang River and the Yellow River.
The techniques and terminology of flood control offer a vivid analogy of the therapeutic mechanisms of acupuncture. Blockages in these "energy rivers" act as dams, obstructing the flow of Qi and blood and causing itto back up in connecting channels. Needling the acupuncture points removes the obstructions, curing disease by reestablishing the regular flow of Qi and blood, just as dredging a river clears away sediment, preventing flooding by allowing the water to flow freely. These and similar descriptions have been applied to acupuncture since it first appeared as a complete system of healing early in China's Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-24 AD). Such hydraulic terminology was employed not simply for its evocative imagery. Rather, it indicates the understanding the Chinese ancestors had attained by this time of the correspondences between Nature and Human, river and meridian,flood and disease.
