Lingshu · The Measures of the Bones

The text

The Yellow Emperor asked Bo Gao: The Measures of the Vessels speak of the lengths of the channel vessels. How are they established? Bo Gao said: First measure the size, breadth, and length of the bone-joints, and the measures of the vessels are then settled. The Yellow Emperor said: I wish to hear the measures of ordinary people. For a person seven chi five cun tall, what are the size and length of each bone-joint? Bo Gao said: The great bone of the head measures two chi six cun around. The chest measures four chi five cun around. The waist measures four chi two cun around. What the hair covers, from the skull to the nape, is one chi two cun. From below the hair to the chin is one chi. From the knot of the throat down to the center of the empty basin is four cun. From the empty basin down to the tip of the breast-bone is nine cun; if it exceeds, the lung is large; if it does not fill, the lung is small. From the tip of the breast-bone down to the heavenly pivot is eight cun; if it exceeds, the stomach is large; if it does not reach, the stomach is small. From the heavenly pivot down to the transverse bone is six cun and a half; if it exceeds, the winding intestine is broad and long; if it does not fill, it is narrow and short. The transverse bone is six cun and a half long. From the upper edge of the transverse bone down to the upper edge of the inner supporting bone is one chi eight cun. From the upper edge of the inner supporting bone down to its lower edge is three cun and a half. From the lower edge of the inner supporting bone down to the inner ankle is one chi three cun. From the inner ankle down to the ground is three cun. From below the hollow of the knee to the belonging of the instep is one chi six cun. From the belonging of the instep down to the ground is three cun. Thus if the bone-girth is large, it has gone too far; if small, it has not reached. From the corner down to the pillar bone is one chi. The part that travels through the armpit and is not seen is four cun. From the armpit down to the lowest flank is one chi two cun. From the lowest flank down to the pivot of the thigh is six cun. From the pivot of the thigh down to the center of the knee is one chi nine cun. From the knee down to the outer ankle is one chi six cun. From the outer ankle down to the capital bone is three cun. From the capital bone down to the ground is one cun. Behind the ears, level with the completed bones, the breadth is nine cun. In front of the ears, level with the ear-gates, the breadth is one chi three cun. The two cheekbones are seven cun apart. Between the two breasts the breadth is nine cun and a half. Between the two thighs the breadth is six cun and a half. The foot is one chi two cun long and four cun and a half broad. From shoulder to elbow is one chi seven cun. From elbow to wrist is one chi two cun and a half. From the wrist to the base joint of the middle finger is four cun. From the base joint to the tip is four cun and a half. From the hair of the nape down to the back-bone is two cun and a half. From the spine-bone down to the tail-bone is twenty-one joints, three chi. The upper joints are each one cun and a quarter; the odd remainder is below. Thus the upper seven joints, reaching the spine-bone, are nine cun and seven-eighths. These are the bone-measures of ordinary people, by which the lengths of the channel vessels are established. Therefore look at the channel vessels as they are on the body: those that appear floating and firm, those that appear bright and large, have much blood; those that are fine and sunken have much qi.

The line

Bo Gao said: First measure the size, breadth, and length of the bone-joints, and the measures of the vessels are then settled.

The note

Measure the bones first, then the vessels. The measures of the bones are a ruler. Without that ruler, the length of a vessel is only a story.