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All lessons   Module 2: Pulse   Lesson 5

Module 2   Lesson 5   Xi Chang Hua Xian

Width, length, flow and tension

How do you feel thin, wide, long, short, smooth, rough, taut and twisted?

After this lesson you can describe the shape of a pulse along four axes, tell nine qualities apart with the four steps of this course, separate the seven trickiest pairs with one move each, know what a slippery pulse does and does not tell you about a pregnancy, and read a taut pulse in headache as a string or as a rope.

Width how thick Length how long Flow how it flows Tension how taut minute 微 there and not there thin 细 a thread, but clear overflowing 洪 flood, then ebb cun guan chi cun guan chi short 短 does not fill the positions long 长 runs past the positions choppy 涩 knife scraping bamboo slippery 滑 rolling pearls wiry 弦 string: straight, lies still tight 紧 rope: twisted, jumps Mnemonic: how thick, how long, how it flows, how taut.
Schematic: the nine qualities of this lesson on four axes, with the images that serve as mnemonics. Images and classification: textbook, after Li Shizhen (1564) and the Chinese standard descriptions; Maciocia describes the qualities in ch. 25 pp. 380 to 388.

Know by heart

  • Four axes. Width (minute, thin, overflowing), length (short, long), flow (choppy, slippery), tension (wiry, tight); mnemonic: how thick, how long, how it flows, how taut.
  • Thin and minute. Thin: a thread, but clear and lasting; Blood or Yin deficiency. Minute: extremely thin and soft, there and not there; severe exhaustion of Qi and Yang; mnemonic: a thread against a spider's web.
  • Overflowing. Large and wide, especially on top; rises with force and ebbs away softly; Full-Heat; mnemonic: comes in like the flood, goes out like the ebb.
  • Long and short. Long: beyond the three positions; supple, it is healthy; taut, it points to Heat, Excess or rising Liver-Yang. Short: does not reach cun or chi, mostly guan only; with strength Qi stagnation, without strength Qi deficiency.
  • Slippery and choppy. Slippery: round and rolling; Dampness, Phlegm, food, Heat, and pregnancy. Choppy: halting and uneven; Blood deficiency or Blood stasis; mnemonic: pearls or sandpaper.
  • Wiry and tight. Wiry: straight, long, taut, a guitar string; Liver and Gall-Bladder, pain. Tight: a twisted rope that jumps sideways against the finger; Cold and pain; mnemonic: the string lies still, the rope jumps.
  • Red flags. A slippery, somewhat faster pulse in a woman: a pregnancy test first. Overflowing with high fever and drowsiness or neck stiffness: emergency services (112 in Europe, 999 in the UK, 911 in North America). Minute in a sick client: urgent. A sudden, explosive headache, whatever the pulse does: emergency services (112).

The rest of this lesson is reference.

Three practice questions from this lesson

A narrow pulse that you keep feeling clearly at every level and can count easily. Which quality?
  1. Thin
  2. Minute
  3. Weak

Answer: Thin. Thin is a clear thread. Minute is so vague that you lose it; weak lies deep and is soft.

So thin and soft that it drops away with a little more pressure; you doubt whether you feel it at all. Which quality?
  1. Minute
  2. Thin
  3. Soggy

Answer: Minute. Minute: there and not there, at every level. Soggy is soft too, but lies only on top and is clear there.

How does overflowing differ from full?
  1. Overflowing ebbs away softly after the upstroke; full keeps pushing
  2. Overflowing is thin and rolling; full is wide and pushes back
  3. Overflowing is slow and deep; full is fast and on top

Answer: Overflowing ebbs away softly after the upstroke; full keeps pushing. Flood and ebb against a full hose: overflowing sits mainly on top, comes with force and goes softly; full pushes back at every level.

The rest of this lesson

In the course you get the step-by-step explanation with illustrated tongues and animated pulse models, 17 case-based practice questions, 21 spaced-repetition flashcards, the pitfalls, the bridge to physiology and the visual trainer. This lesson belongs to module 2: Pulse.

Try two lessons freeSee Tongue and Pulse