Watery Palindromes

The eight extraordinary vessels are a mysterious aspect of Chinese energetic anatomy. In the context of acupuncture, the twelve primary meridians are undeniably the therapeutic focus. However, many practitioners have brought attention to the therapeutic value of the eight vessels throughout history and into the modern day.

The eight extra vessels differ from the meridians in some ways. The eight vessels are seen as force-fields rather than distinct pathways. The eight vessels are connected to the process of conception and thus they are often seen as an embryological layer of qi. As the “foundation” of the twelve meridians, the eight vessels have been described in English as “reservoirs” of qi. This understanding comes in part from the Nan Jing:

The main channels are like irrigation ditches, and the extraordinary channels are like lakes and marshes. When the vessels of the main channels are swollen and abundant, they overflow into the extraordinary channels. Thus it was that Qin Yue-Ren compared it to when the “rain pours down from heaven, the irrigation ditches overflow, the rain floods rush wildly, flowing into the lakes and marshes.[1]  

The Nan Jing describes the extraordinary vessels as “lakes and marshes” and the primary meridians as “irrigation ditches”. The phrase “irrigation ditch” technically refers to a man-made channel that drains water, typically for agricultural purposes. Given the agrarian context of Chinese medicine, the metaphor of an irrigation ditch may indeed be one intended implication. However, an irrigation ditch is not necessarily man-made, despite the nomenclature. Nature also carves its own ditches, especially in places where the flow of water is especially strong. Waterfalls eventually carve a channel into the mountains they ripple from and are capable of carving canyons. Therefore, an irrigation ditch could also be seen as a natural feature––the consequence of flowing water.

The comparison between the meridians and irrigation ditches has visual value as well. A ditch is a clear pathway like a channel, a line of natural momentum. There are different types of flow as well––streams become rivers and rivers become seas. This must be why the Nan Jing gives watery descriptions of the five-element points with the categories of jing (well), ying (spring), shu (stream), jing (river), and he (sea).

Returning to the extraordinary vessels, the Nan Jing gives us the metaphor of “lakes and marshes”. Lakes and marshes are examples of wetlands––defined as places where water naturally collects and releases. However, the extraordinary vessels are commonly likened to “reservoirs” in English. Reservoirs are another man-made process that attempts to replace or compensate for an otherwise naturally occurring process. The extraordinary vessels––as a system that holds and releases qi––is the intended meaning, regardless of the language used. If we follow the Nan Jing’s language (albeit in translation) of “lakes and marshes” we derive a deeper range of meaning than “reservoir” implies. Thus, we can effectively replace the idea of the extraordinary vessels as “reservoirs” with the natural image of wetlands, bringing us closer to a truly natural and ecological understanding, within and without. 

This brings us to the question of whether qi only flows into the vessels from the meridians or whether qi from the vessels flows into the meridians. The idea that the extraordinary vessels absorb the overflow of qi from the primary channels is clearly rooted in the Nan Jing’s topography. Rain falls from heaven into the irrigation ditches (primary meridians) and the excess flows into the lakes and marshes (extraordinary vessels). The Nan Jing does not go on to state that the qi collected in the vessels flows back into the meridians in times of deficiency, though this idea is found among practitioners.

One such example is in the European five-element tradition as taught by J.R. Worsley. In Worsley’s tradition, only two of the extraordinary vessels are applied in treatment: the Conception Vessel and the Governing Vessel. In the context of treatment, points on these channels are used to bring a deeper level of energetic support to the primary meridians. Worsley taught that these vessels should be used to nourish the meridian system when it is deficient overall. He also gave the stipulation that one should not draw upon the vessels unless the patient’s pulses were already relatively balanced, to avoid magnifying the imbalance. Thus, Worsley’s application of extraordinary vessel theory infers a mutual flow of qi between the meridians and vessels.

A more explicit example of this understanding is found in Li Shi-Zhen’s Exposition on the Eight Extraordinary Channels. Li re-works a passage from the Nan Jing to imply a mutual flow of qi between vessels and meridians, stating:

The overflow of qi from the channels and networks] enters the extraordinary vessels providing reciprocal irrigation, internally warming the viscera and receptacles, and externally moistening the interstices.[2]

This statement is a fundamental theoretical shift in Li Shi-Zhen’s exposition on the vessels and more profoundly establishes the eight vessels in a dynamic relationship with the twelve meridians.

Returning to wetlands, we see how the concept of reciprocal flow is a natural principle of circulation. Wetlands have been described as natural sponges that absorb excess water and then gradually release it to the surface, much as the vessels absorb excess from the meridians and release it back into the network as needed. This establishes the vessels not merely as reservoirs but as a dynamic process that maintains a fundamental level of homeostasis in the human being. Wetlands are essential to a healthy ecosystem, just as the extraordinary vessels are essential to the health of the twelve meridians and the human being as a whole.

References
[1] Chace, C., & Shima, M. (2010). An Exposition on the Eight Extraordinary Vessels: Acupuncture, Alchemy and Herbal Medicine (p. 22). Eastland Press.
[2] Ibid, p. 19.