02/05/2024
Thoughts on anatomy in the Classics
宗 Zong: The ancestral hall, a place of worship, where lineage and links are formed. Where those that wish to connect with the unseen gather at the altar. Unschuld translates as "stem" in this instance.
A recent discussion on the podcast between Michael Max and Deborah Woolf gave rise to the fact that basic classical anatomical structures such as the zongjin 宗筋 and zongmai 宗脈 were something that are possibly not known to the average practitioner. These collective structures of jin-tendinous tissue and mai-vessels are vital components of how we move, support, and transform form and substance. Deborah's insight, which I greatly respect, noted the relation between the pelvic floor / perineum and the zongjin, which are of course one and the same and more - and addressing this Jin-collective postpartum is key to the healing process, key to further fertility if desired, and key to re-establishing foundation for menstruation, bowel and bladder function, sexual fluids, and more.
The Zongmai are quite different, where we have a collection of vessels that infiltrate the spaces around the ears and eyes - these vessels, associated with the luo (as they move horizontally and evident within the luo 絡 of the shou yangming 手陽明) are responsible for receiving ascended substance from the chest and heart and through endpoint yang transformation of aforementioned luo movement. This ascension is affected when the heart moves anxiously leading to a reverberation within the vessels (the link between the heart and eye vessels I hope is well known), with the result of incessant flow of tears associated with heart pathology. Interestingly, tianzhu supplementation is the key. Furthermore, the zongmai collect at the ears and a similar process for quality hearing and movement of yang is present where the three yin and yang vessels gather and are accessible via kezhuren. See the Kouwen 口問 chapter for further analysis of this process and by all means look out for further analysis from Deborah on this subject.
A relief of offering of the shrines at wuliangci, Han dynasty, unknown.
