Acupunct Electrother Res. 1997 ; 22(3-4): 175-89.

Silk scrolls: earliest literature of meridian doctrine in ancient China.

Chen Y.

New York Institute of Chinese Medicine, Mineola, NY 10501, USA.

Among the historic relics unearthed from Han Tomb No. 3 at Mawangdui, Changsha, China during 1972-1974, there were two Silk Scrolls related to the acupuncture meridian circulation and its pathologic symptoms. The description was simpler than that in the chapter "On Channels", in the Lin Shu (Miraculous Pivot). Only eleven channels were recorded, with the Pericardium channel left out, but the distribution of the Arm Shaoyin Channel connects to the passageway of the Pericardium channel. In the Silk Scrolls, all the directions of the eleven channels are concentric, there are no connections with each other, and there are fewer pertaining and communicating organs. It is suggested that these Silk Scrolls present a specific meridian theory that predates the Nei Ching (Canon of Medicine).