Rolling the fingers

[Guest guest]

Dear Colleagues, here is a piece from a forthcoming book on pulse

diagnosis.

© 2000 William R. Morris

 

Rolling from primary positions:

 

The point of this section is merely to highlight that the technique of

rolling the fingers has a classical basis and is not a feature that is

idiosyncratic to the Shen-Hammer system.

 

Tietao Deng mentions the four methods of lifting, seeking, pressing and

 

pushing. The methods of seeking and pushing imply the process of rolling

the

fingers to get additional information. Leon Hammer has quantified the

work of

John Shen and gives the most detailed account of the findings regarding

rolling into complimentary positions of any practitioner to date.

 

In Chapter Thirteen of Book One of the Mai Jing, Wang Shu-he refers to

the

specific subdivisions of the distal positions. However, he does not

explicitly state the significance of these as do Shen and Hammer. He

follows

with next paragraph discussing five element relationships and the

potential

pathology. Within the cun position, he lists a division of superficial

and deep levels, proximal and distal positions, and the left and right

sides .

 

Wang Shu-he discusses the measurement of one fen distal to the guan as

the

governor of life. The commentary on this by Yang Shou-zhong states that

this

is referring to the cun position. Why then make a distinction such as

this?

The typical expression would be to state the cun as being the governor

of

human life. Nonetheless, this discussion is intimating a process of

measuring

from the guan distal rather than simply taking the cun.

 

In Chinese Acupuncture, Soulie De Morant describes rolling in some

detail

" thus, for the heart, the upper (proximal) half refers to the ventricles

and

the lower (distal) part, the auricles. For the sexual organs, the upper

part

responds to the testicles or ovaries, the middle the fallopian tube or

the

penis, the lower part the uterus. " In the section on location, aspects

and

significance of each pulse, he describes the following: " radial artery,

right. Radial edge: right half of the body. Medial edge: left half of

the

body. "

 

 

Deng T. Practical Diagnosis in Traditional . Pp. 90.

Churchill Livingstone 1999.

Wang Shu-he. Translated by Yang Shou-zhang. The Pulse Classic. Pp. 23.

Blue

Poppy Press 1997.

De Morant S. Chinese Acupuncture. Pp. 200. Paradigm press 1994.

Ibid. pp. 301.

 

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