An Archaeology of the Qiao Vessels: Hexagram Qi and Mounting Pain

An Archaeology of the Qiao Vessels: Hexagram Qi and Mounting Pain

The following is an excerpt from Will Ceurvels’ ‘An Archaeology of the Qiao Vessels’ by Purple Cloud Press (purplecloudinstitute.com/shop). It is an in-depth look at the Qiao vessels of the eight extra channels, a subject next to nothing has been written on, in regards to their traditional sources. Furthermore, this work is highlighting this subject from a Chinese medical as well as a Daoist internal alchemical perspective. The following passage is from chapter II: Hexagram Qi Theory and the Yin-YangDynamics of Mounting Pain:

Let us now compare these above discussions with the mechanism proposed for diseases of the Foot Lesser Yin channel in Simple Questions Ch. 49：

少陰者，腎也，十月萬物陽氣皆傷…… 陰氣在下。
Lesser Yin [pertains to] the kidney. In the tenth month, yang qi is completely diminished in all 10,000 beings and yin qi [accumulates] below.

The tenth month is associated with the kun hexagram (坤卦) which is pure yin.

Zhang Jingyue further elaborates on this mechanism, stating:

陽根於陰， 陰根於陽， 互相倚也。若陰中無陽， 沉而
不升。

Yang is rooted in yin and yin is rooted in yang, they rely upon one another. If there is no yang within yin, then yin sinks and is unable to bear upwards. Just as with mounting pain, diseases of the Lesser Yin kidney channel arise due to yang vacuity leading to an accretion of yin qi
below. Also similar to mounting pain, Lesser Yin kidney channel diseases can also arise due to a direct strike to the lower abdomen/ back, as in:

少陰者腎也，十月萬物陽氣皆傷，故腰痛也。腰者腎之府，寒邪入腎則為腰痛。
Lesser Yin pertains to the kidney. In the tenth month, yang qi is completely diminished and thus there is lower back pain. The lower back is the storehouse of the kidneys. When cold evil attacks the kidneys, the lower back experiences pain.

Given the overwhelming similarities between mounting pain and kidney channel pathomechanisms, why is it that mounting pain is associated with the liver channel and not the kidney channel? One explanation is that the Foot Reverting Yin liver channel passes through the genitals and lower abdomen, so diseases associated with this area must be attributable to derangements of the liver channel. Many commentators have offered this explanation in their analysis of Spiritual Pivot Ch. 10, where the emphasis is on the route of the pathways. Take, for instance, Zhang Jingyue’s explanation:

狐疝遺溺閉癃，為此諸病。本經上行者挾胃貫膈，下行者過陰器抵小腹，故為此諸病。
Fox-like mounting pain, urinary incontinence, ischuria – these diseases can be explained by the fact that the ascending aspect of the liver channel clasps the stomach as it pierces the diaphragm, while the descending aspect traces down through the genitals and into the lower abdomen.