Chinese Medicine Notes

The Eight Extraordinary Meridians

Posted on November 9, 2008 by Yael1 Comment

It is a common fact that the information we have today in the west about the 8 extraordinary meridians is insufficient- at best.
Historically speaking, they are mentioned in the Su Wen and Ling Shu but separated from each other, or mentioned by pairs. It is in the Nan Jing that they were first mentioned as one group.
The loss of information has various reasons, and we are left with knowledge that is being passed from practitioner to his student.

The extraordinary meridians are the foundation for life from the beginning to end, as it is clearly stated in the first page of the introduction of the book by Elizabeth Rochat de la Valleeand Father Claude Larre.
They are the “blueprint” on which the human body is built on, and on the rest of the body are being added to- 12 meridians, organs and so on.
It is, therefore, very important to understand them, their functions and when to treat them.
And how are we supposed to know all that if we don’t read about it?
2 main books were written on the subject, one by Kiiko Matsumoto and the second by Rochat and Larre. I will discuss the latter.