Dynamic Points

Here is the definitive definition, given by Wei Jia in 2008:

“动穴”，即动态型俞穴的简称。乃指遍布体表、无具体名称、数量、无固定部位、且隐现无常或呈游移状态，如阿是等一类俞穴即是。是与简称“静穴”的另一类各有特殊名称、有一定数量、且有固定部位而相对不变的静态型俞穴，如十四经穴、经外奇穴相对而言的。

Here is a non-definitive first draft translation into a second language:

"Dynamic points" is the abbreviation for dynamic state movement holes. It refers to movement holes distributed over the surface of the body that have the following characteristics: no fixed name, quantity, or location; in a hidden or mobile state. An example would be 'A-shi' points. This definition is given in contrast to "static points", referring to those movement holes that have special names, a certain quantity, fixed locations, and are relatively unchanging; ie. are in a static state. For example, points of the 14 channels and extraordinary non-channel points.

Dear Reader: if you are restricted to reading my English version, please do not assume that I have fully represented Wei Jia's original meaning! I am not that confident.

The Chinese text is a quote from “动穴疗效钩玄” 中医药通报 2008年2月 第7卷 第1期. It (and its sister article 动穴定位钩玄) is a wonderful article, and I hope to be able to present the thoughts it contains in this blog without quoting it in its entirety (which would be illegal, right?)

Dr Wei's definition draws a clear distinction that is especially helpful for talking about the way information about acupoints is taught. When it comes to clinical usage the distinction becomes less clear, but it is still a good starting point for discussion.

Gaining recognition

Another epiphany - made while editing the foreword to a "standardized, modernized, systematized, internationalized" TCM book.

A significant portion of the TCM community in China is primarily interested in gaining recognition by the WM community, and is willing to go to great lengths to gain it.

This is a much different goal then most Western students of CM (including myself), which is to become a proficient doctor.

Different people that I meet are affected by this "...ization" attitude to different degrees. Some are completely consumed by it. Unfortunately they seem to be the ones who spend the most time writing...doctors tend not to have time, I suppose...

Reading

There is a lot of 'roughage' in the CM classics.

Do we have as many brains as a cow has stomachs?

Stuff that you need chew for a while. Ruminate upon. Stuff, I suppose, that was meant to be memorized whole and digested slowly. The long intestines being years of clinical experience...and patients as digestive enzymes?

In Other News, I just bought a Chinese translation of a Korean book called "针通经络，灸调阴阳“.

Do English versions of CM classics contain roughage?

C-C dictionary

I just realized something funny - in the last several years, I've been struggling to understand my Chinese textbooks by looking up various terms in regular C->E dictionaries. Just now I looked up a term (主宰－“神是身体生命活动的主宰...") in a C-C dictionary...and I felt that I got a much better understanding of the term.

I can't put my finger on what the difference is, exactly...is it just that I didn't switch languages to understand it? Or was the meaning of the Chinese definition different from the English translation? Or was it the difference between looking at a definition as opposed to a simple translation?

I'm also wondering if I had gotten a copy of Wiseman/Feng's "Practical Dictionary" earlier in my studies would it have made a big difference in my understanding...

subjective and macro

What would be the result of deliberately limiting oneself to subjective information gathered from patients? Not looking at MRI scans or blood test results, not taking blood pressure... not 'hearing' any diagnosis that was based on the objective results of modern diagnostic techniques.

No prolapsed discs, no fractures, no stomach inflammation, no liver hardening,

Just symptoms and signs. Pain, bowel movements, twitching, paralysis, hair loss, worsening vision, itching, weakness, sleeplessness, fright... And signs? Flushed cheeks, dry skin, goosebumps, non-symmetry, sensitivity or special reactions to pressure, heat, or needling.

And instead of allowing one's mind to wander down the paths of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, instead expand it to find connections between seemingly irrelevant pieces of information. (is that the meaning of 'holistic' in CM? Of course, in CM there is already a mass of information on the connections between different symptoms/colors/etc)

I think instead of saying 'macro' I should say 'holistic'. ...still not sure what I'm trying to express with that...

以常衡变

以常衡变 is usually explained as getting a feel for what is 'normal' in the population at large in order to know when a certain individual is 'abnormal'.

I've never seen it interpreted as knowing what is normal for a certain individual, even though this should be an important aspect of diagnosis.

Perhaps it is because it is difficult to get to know individual patients in modern TCM+WM hospitals. Or perhaps because knowing what is the normal range of a certain index across a population (e.g. blood pressure) is an important aspect of practicing WM?

...with Chinese characteristics

An American patient pulled me aside after his treatment today and asked me to indicate to the doc that he would prefer if the room were not full of non-patients, as that he felt the docs attention was not fully concentrated on carrying out the treatment.

The doors are always open, unless the A/C is on, and there is usually a conversation going on that involves the patient(s), doc, interns, and non-patients. People will poke their heads in to see if they want to choose this doctor, mothers read out loud to their toddlers, the needle-averse scream and holler, and through all of it the doc has to carry out the treatment while MC-ing the room at the same time.

Would the average patient feel comfortable one-on-one with the doc in a closed room?

经脉，络脉

Is there any evidence that the terms 经脉 and 络脉 were used to describe veins and arteries?

According to the textbook I'm reading now*, both arteries and veins are organized by size into 经脉，络脉和孙络 (from big to small), and, although the to-and-away-from-the-heart aspect of the blood vessel system is part of TCM physiology (since when???), the terms 经脉 and 络脉 are not equivalent to artery and vein.

The character 脉 was originally used for a place where the pulse could be felt, so why would a large vein be called X脉? I don't get it...

*the official preparation text for the Chinese TCM doctors license...slogging through all 1200 pages of it...

Micro Macro

A minor epiphany from a couple weeks ago: From the same clinical observation, CM goes macro while WM goes micro.

I honestly don't know what that means, but it sounds very deep and significant...

Interpretation of 思

By interpretation I mean either English or modern Chinese.

I usually see 思 (as one of the five or seven emotional states) interpreted in English as 'think' or 'contemplate', and in Chinese as ‘思考’. However, my reading today of a portion of 养生论 by 嵇康 indicates a different interpretation might be in order...

“何以言之？夫服药求汗，或有弗获；而愧情一集，涣然流离。终朝未餐，则萧然思食；而曾子衔哀，七日不饥。夜分而坐，则低迷思寝；内怀殷忧，则达旦不瞑。劲刷理鬓，醇醴发颜，仅乃得之；壮士之怒，赤然殊观，植发冲冠。”

In the lines “则萧然思食” and “则低迷思寝”, it seems quite obvious that the author is talking about the desire or urge to eat/sleep, rather than thinking or contemplating.

The above text dates from the 2nd C. AD, making it much later than the first use of the 5 phases, but possibly dating from around the same time as the standardization of emotions with the five phases (need to consult Unschuld) as found in Nei Jing.

On an experimental basis, I'm going to begin thinking of 思 as meaning something closer to natural urges or desires than 'thinking'.

Responsibility for any mistakes in the above is born fully by the author :)