Metaphor within Acupuncture point names
Chinese medicine uses a language of metaphor and relation to nature in illustrating the balance of the human body’s interconnected relationship to the world around it. Because Chinese medicine is a nature based medicine, it borrows ideas of the natural world to explain what is going on within the body; this is a way of relating the body as a microcosm to the earth and its natural phenomena which make up the macrocosm. This allows for a deeper understanding of the energetics of Chinese medicine, by relating health and illness in terms of the natural world, this gives us nature as a point of reference, which carries with it a universal expression. For example, elements in Chinese medicine correlate to each of the zangfu organ pairs, similarly, patterns of external disease are described in terms of climatic change: wind, cold, damp, heat, and so on. In the same way, the names of various herbs and acupuncture points encompass color, nature, and other types of symbolism as a way of explaining its function. Color, in particular, which like the elements is linked to pertaining to different zangfu organs, and is also a way of illuminating a deeper meaning to the acupuncture points through metaphoric language.
The names of each acupuncture point are meant to give insight into their functioning. As Mr. Yuen pointed out, “alchemy is the transformation of states (Yuen 2013),” and similarly, acupuncture is a way of inducing an alchemical reaction within the body so as to induce a change in its current state; by stimulating the outside, the intention is meant to induce change within. Going a step further, each primary channel correlates to an internal zangfu organ, and by stimulating points on these channels, one is able to evoke change in the internal environment of the body’s organ system. The names of the acupuncture points can provide us with a deeper understanding of how the point itself functions and relays information from the external to the internal of the body.
Jin Jin Yuye is a pair of extra points, meaning they do not reside on any of the primary channels. These points are bilaterally located “on the veins on either side of the frenulum of the tongue (Deadman 2007).” Their names: jin jin, the point on the left side of the tongue, means “golden liquid,” while yuye, the point on the right side of the tongue means “jade fluid.” Jin is the Chinese word for gold, which is a relatively yang color compared to jade, a deep, dark green, which comparatively speaking is more yin in nature. In a way these points represent a yin and yang balance at the root of the tongue. Meditation gurus as well as Qi gong masters will explain that putting the tongue at the roof of the mouth when meditating or practicing qi gong is important because it connects the ren and du channels, or yin and yang energies of the body, so as to allow a continuous flow of energy in the body. According to Mantak Chia:
Pushing the tongue up against the palate connects the two channels of the Microcosmic Orbit and activates the forces in the saliva, which becomes sweeter and refreshed with energy. (Taoists regard the saliva as a mixture of the universal and earth forces) (Chia, 1993).
The tongue connects the ren (conception) and du (governing) vessels and can allow the transformation of saliva to occur, the saliva generated during meditation, Chia adds, is a “healing jade elixir (1993).” Just as both gold and jade are prized commodities, the saliva generated during mediation is also a prized elixir for generating overall health (Chia, 1993).
Spleen 1,”yinbai,” also known as “hidden white (Deadman, 2007),” is a jing-well point on the spleen channel, it is on the great toe, and because it is the first point of the spleen channel it signifies the beginning of the spleen meridian as the energy pours from the stomach channel into the spleen channel. Spleen1, according to Deadman, is also a “ghost point, with the alternative name, guelei or ghost fortress (2007),” and it is used to treat “mania-depression and epilepsy (Deadman, 2007).” As a jing-well point, it is designated for “disorders of the heart and spirit, in this case agitation of the heart, mania-depression, and propensity to sadness (Deadman, 2007).” White is the color associated with metal, and correlates to the lung and large intestine. The spleen belongs to the earth element, but shares a taiyin pairing with the lung channel. The emotion associated with metal is grief, so as the name indicates, the functioning of this point has to do with the metal element, and in this case can be used to treat the emotion of grief. According to Andrew Ellis, in the book, Grasping the Wind, “earth engenders metal, and thus the beginning of metal exists subtly in earth and doubly so at the beginning of the earth channel (Ellis, 1989).” According to the cycle of the five elements, earth is the mother of metal; this explains why metal is mined from the earth. Since spleen relates to earth, and lung to metal, energy from the earth element can be used to tonify the next element, metal.
“Supreme white (Deadman, 2007),” otherwise known as spleen 3, is the shu-stream and yuan source point of the spleen channel. Since it is the source point, it is able to tonify the spleen qi. When the spleen is deficient and unable to do its job of ascending clear energy back up to the body, it can lead to dampness, which obstructs healthy qi (Deadman, 2007). Interestingly, Ellis correlates the meaning of tai bai as also being translated to the planet Venus (Ellis, 1989). Venus is, “in the western sky (Ellis, 1989),” and therefore pertains to the direction of the west. The western direction pertains to “metal and the color white (Ellis, 1989).” As discussed earlier, earth is the mother element of metal, earth energy “gives rise to metal energy (Ellis, 1989),” therefore, “spleen 3 can fortify earth to engender metal (Ellis, 1989).”
Color gives imagery to words, and therefore evokes the imagination. Chinese medicine, because it is nature based and is rooted in Daoist and Confucian influences, uses imagery and symbolism based upon nature to describe the phenomena of the natural world in relation to the phenomena of the human body. By using names that evoke thought of the natural world, these names can help describe patterns of how the body functions.
