Chinese lesson: mai

Mai (脉) – the meridian network – is a very general term which refers to the circulation of blood and qi throughout the organism. It is also the character used for the pulse – a pulsation of the blood and qi which can be felt and assessed at particular locations on the body. Whereas the jing (經) are very specifically the 12 main meridians which are related to the organs and have a yin/yang, heaven/earth relationship, and the luo (絡) the various connections and meetings between them, the mai describe the whole system.

The character is formed with the phonetic yong (永) and the radical for the flesh, or a part of the body (肉 becoming 月), and can alternatively be written 脈. Yong is made up of the character for water (水), with two extra strokes at the top which signify duration. In modern Chinese, yong is to last or endure, to be constant. According to the Shuowen Jiezi, the etymology of yong (永) suggests the flow of water, particularly within the ground; it is ever-flowing, or everlasting: ‘The unceasing flow of water veins within the earth’. With the addition of the radical for the human body it suggests something that flows unceasingly and yet is hidden within.

Classical Chinese medical literature describes the body as a landscape; the flesh and muscles as mountains, valleys and ravines; the mai as the flow of water through the landscape – which includes wells, springs, streams, rivers and seas; marshes, ditches, ponds and gorges. It also implies the complete hydrological cycle, which includes the evaporation, condensation and perpetual movement which keeps the system circulating and constantly renewed. Acupuncture point names frequently reflect this vision of a water system. The first points of both the kidney and heart meridians, the two channels intimately connected to the source, are known as the Ultimate Spring and the Gushing Spring.

The mai are related to the heart, which is responsible for the circulation of blood and qi. ‘The heart masters the mai’ (xin zhu mai 心 主 脉) is a common phrase found throughout the medical texts, as is xin zhu xue (心 主 血) the heart masters the blood. This function of the heart in its ‘mastery’ (xin zhu 心 主) is the name usually given to the secondary heart meridian, which has responsibility for this aspect of the heart in charge of the blood and circulation.

The rhythm of the heart, assisted by the lungs, gives impetus to the mai, and it is this rhythm that is felt at the pulse. The pulse is most accurately taken on the lung channel, which carries the first impulse of the qi, at the radial artery, where blood and qi pools into the Great Abyss (tai yuan 太 淵 LU 9). Here the narrow channelling enables the practitioner to assess blood and qi in all their yin/yang variations.