Meridians

The meridians are the channels along which qi, the vital energy, is described as flowing in Chinese medicine, each associated with an organ and a position in the yin-yang scheme. Twelve principal meridians are paired with the organs and run in a daily circuit through the body; eight extraordinary vessels form a deeper reservoir, and the network connects the interior organs to the surface points used in acupuncture.

The meridian system is the map on which acupuncture, acupressure and related therapies work, locating the points at which qi can be influenced and describing how a disturbance in one organ or channel affects the rest.

The meridians belong to the classical Chinese medical tradition and are integral to its diagnosis and treatment, but they do not correspond to the anatomical structures of modern biomedicine, and the atlas presents them as a historical and cultural framework rather than as physiology. Their pairing with the organs and the five phases ties them into the wider Chinese cosmology.

The atlas gives each meridian its organ, its yin-yang character, and its course. The organs the meridians are paired with, and the wu xing phases that organise them, are treated in their own categories.