Discussion on the Connotation of YE Tianshi's Method of Dredging and Tonifying the Extraordinary Meridians

YANG Lei; CHI Haoran; DAI Leshu; QU Songlin; LIU Zhaihua

Abstract：Current research suggests that the method of dredging and tonifying the extraordinary meridians encompasses a broad category of therapeutic approaches.Defining and clarifying its conceptual connotation will facilitate its wider clinical application.Guided by the question of what constitutes"dredging"and what constitutes"tonifying",this study traces back to YE Tianshi's original academic thought in establishing this method.By inferring the therapeutic principles from the medicinals used,the connotation of the method is refined,and it is concluded that it can be subdivided into nine specific techniques:tonifying Yang,tonifying Yin,tonifying Qi,tonifying blood,activating blood and resolving stasis,regulating Qi and moving Qi,warming and dispersing cold,promoting diuresis to leach out dampness,and clearing heat to consolidate Yin.Furthermore,by deducing the syndrome patterns from the therapeutic methods,it is suggested that the method was initially developed for gynecological diseases characterized by deficiency of the extraordinary meridians and/or obstruction due to blood stasis,Qi stagnation,Yin-cold,or dampness in the extraordinary meridians.The concept of the dredging and tonifying the extraordinary meridians method can be preliminarily defined as a category of treatments that use pungent-moist or warm-moist formulas with the functions of tonifying Yang,Yin,Qi,and blood,combined with activating blood and resolving stasis,regulating Qi and moving Qi,warming and dredging cold,gently leaching dampness,and clearing heat to consolidate Yin,in order to treat diseases of the extraordinary meridians involving deficiency and/or obstruction by blood stasis,Qi stagnation,Yin-cold,or dampness.