Exposition of Eight Extraordinary Vessels

奇經八脈考

Qijing Bamai Kao 奇經八脈考 was written by a Ming Dynasty scholar-physician Li Shizhen 李時珍, who also authored Bencao Gangmu 本草綱目, the Compendium of Materia Medica. The fact that he spent 27 years to complete the Compendium demonstrates his seriousness in scholarly endeavor on his subject matter. Likewise, Qijing Bamai Kao is no ordinary work. It is clear that he thoroughly explored information on the subject from the Neijing and Nanjing and perused Daoist texts and practices to illuminate the extraordinary vessels further.

Wisdom Garden Academy selects Qijing Bamai Kao as our first acupuncture/channels related text to be introduced. The reason for this is that considering its importance in the channel theory, eight extraordinary vessels does not seem as thoroughly studied and practiced as 12 regular channels by students and practitioners. Moreover, information on eight extraordinary vessels in the Neijing and Nanjing is scattered and not as comprehensive as is on 12 regular channels and their derivatives, so that this volume became a cornerstone on the subject.

Knowing eight extraordinary vessels in terms of precise trajectories and their acupoints is of importance for our future study of hands on palpation and acupuncture practice. Also, this volume is relatively small so that can be covered in a shorter period of time. For these reasons, we decide to introduce this text first before we explore more voluminous Huangdi Neijing.

Class format: online zoom  

Instructor: Joon Hee Lee

Class time: 6 pm - 7 pm PST (9 pm - 10 pm EST) meeting every other Thursday starting April 13, 2023

Class days: 4/13, 4/27 (no class), 5/11, 5/25, 6/8, 6/22, 7/6, 7/20 (no class), 8/3, 8/17, 8/31, 9/14 (no class), 9/28, 10/12, 10/26, 11/9 (no class), 11/23 (no class), 12/7

Total: 13 classes

Tuition: free for members