Original case by:  Ye Tian-Shi
The case of Tang: Right, posterior rib pain radiating to the low back and hip producing aversion to cold and icy-cold extremities. [The patient was so cold that] it took a long time to get the patient warm. This was a lack of movement of qi and blood within the vessels and networks, culminating in congealed cold producing pain that was an obstruction pattern of the vessels and networks and is understood in the context…

Orignal Case by: Ye Tian-Shi
The ren vessel and du vessel divide and travel to the anterior and posterior aspects of the body. The spontaneous appearance of a steaming fever and spontaneous [seminal] emissions without dreams indicate that all of these extraordinary channels are deficient. Acrid, moistening herbs are quite effective. Administration of Six-Ingredient Pill [with Rehmannia] (liu wei di huang wan) with the addition of Schizandrae Fructus (wu wei zi) was inappropriate.
The medicinals in this prescription would simply…

By: Charles Chace
The first systematic discussion of the extraordinary vessels in Chinese herbal medicine appears in Li Shizhen’s 李時珍Exposition on the Eight Extraordinary Vessels (Qijing bamai Kao奇經八脈考, circa, 1576).  In our forthcoming translation and commentary on this text, Exposition on the Extraordinary Vessels, Acupuncture, Alchemy and Herbal Medicine, Eastland Press, 2009, my co-author Miki Shima and I describe Li’s approach to herbal prescribing as an overarching “meta-diagnosis” encompassing a wide range of possible zangfu presentations. For instance, Li Shizhen…

Original Case by: Ye Tian-Shi
A woman was postpartum for over 10 years. When her disease broke out there was a droopy head, painful spine, sagging vertebral qi, heart pain[1], and a cold sweat. This was a du and ren vessel qi disharmony and loss of use of the qiao and wei vessel, and the five yin fluids were completely dried up. In this type of situation plant-based medicinals are ineffective, being unable to treat the exhausted essence and blood.…

By: Ye Tian-Shi (Case #3)
Zhou was a 17-year-old unmarried girl with menstrual irregularities. Her menses were sometimes early and sometimes late. Prior to her menses she had abdominal pain that was worse than normal, and her intake of food and drink was greatly reduced. This problem started at the beginning of summer, and going into autumn her lower burner was often cold. There were abdominal sounds, and alternating diarrhea and constipation. The examination revealed that she easily had depressed…

Ye Tian-Shi was one of the most influential doctors in Chinese medical history in developing clinical applications of the eight extraordinary channel herbal theory. Following is a translated excerpt that summarizes some of the core ideas that he used. Following this piece will be numerous case studies demonstrating these principles in action.
Ye Tian-Shi’s Pattern Differentiation and Treatment of the Eight Extraordinary Channels
Ye Tian-Shi used eight extraordinary channel theory in 165 recorded cases. Case Records as a Guide to…