GRAY'S
ANATOMY OF THE HUMAN BODY - details the system's development and components. Illustrated with 1,247 vibrant engravings
from the classic 1918 publication. This link enables you to view the contents of this reference book. http://www.bartleby.com/107
The allotment
of the zodiacs to each of the major parts of the body started at the head with Ares and ran down to the feet, which belonged
to Pisces. Cancer was believed to be responsible for diseases of the lungs and the eyes and Scorpio the genital afflictions,
for instance.27 The practice of lancing, bloodletting and cupping (الحجامة, hijama) to affect specific organs or to mitigate specific diseases based on a postulated relationship
between the internal organs and points on the surface of the skin is still prevalent amongst the Muslims worldwide and nowadays
video instructions for it are available, even on YouTube. It is plausible that the same principle is at the origin of acupuncture
channels in China28 because the distribution of the regions of astrological influences
and the related venesection points portrayed in medieval Islamic and European manuscripts significantly resembles the allocation
of master, command, influential, and other key points (Table 1). It is important to note that Greco-Arabic bloodletting was
known in China and fragments of Avicenna’s (c. 980 – 1037) Cannon of Medicine (الطب في
القانون) were translated during the time of the Yuan dynasty (1271-1368) and published
along with other Persian and Arabic texts in the Hui Hui Yao Fang (回回藥方)–meaning
the Prescriptions of the Hui Nation–with much of the text in Arabic.29 The
correlation between Chinese acupuncture and bloodletting is further supported by the fact that the Chinese character zhēn (針) etymologically refers to lancing with coarse needles or any sharp
object used for scarification, bloodletting and minor surgery.30 In addition,
As Paul Unschuld points out, the opening of superficial or deep-lying vessels for bloodletting seems to predate the manipulation
of qi with needles.31 However, Linda
Barnes, in her fascinating book on how China, the Chinese, and their healing practices were imagined in the West from the
late Middle Ages through to the mid-19th Century, also argues that there were “sufficient apparent similarities that
an early observer might have been excused for imagining that the Chinese and European practices grew from the same conceptual
framework.”32 Although she seems to agree with Paul Unschuld’s assessment
that acupuncture emerged as an offshoot of bloodletting, she also notes that the early European observers seem to have misunderstood
the ways in which the body itself was conceptualized by the Chinese, and assumed that they were simply using a version inferior
of the Greek humoral system, and routinely failed to recognize or value an alternate conceptual universe which, in the long
run, made it easier for them to dismiss Chinese understandings of the human body.
Western Zodiacs
Degrees
Regions – Organs
Chinese Zodiacs
Hours
Meridians - Organs
Aries
0°-30°
Head
Tiger
3AM-5AM
Lung
Taurus
30°-60°
Neck , throat
Rabbit
5AM-7AM
Large Intestine
Gemini
60°-90°
Lungs, arms, shoulders
Dragon
7AM-9 AM
Stomach
Cancer
90°-120°
Chest, breasts, stomach
Snake
9AM-11AM
Spleen
Leo
120°-150°
Heart, upper back
Horse
11AM-1PM
Heart
Virgo
150°-180°
Abdomen, digestive system
Sheep
1PM-3PM
Small Intestine
Libra
180°-210°
Kidneys, lumbar region
Monkey
3PM-5PM
Bladder
Scorpio
210°-240°
Genitals
Rooster
5PM-7PM
Kidney
Sagittarius
240°-270°
Hips, thighs
Dog
7PM-9PM
Pericardium
Capricorn
270°-300°
Knees, bones
Pig
9PM-11PM
San Jiao
Aquarius
300°-330°
Calves, shins, ankles
Rat
11PM-1AM
Gallbladder
Pisces
330°-360°
Feet
Ox
1AM-3AM
Liver
Table 1: Similarities between Muslim
and medieval astromedicine and traditional acupuncture theory.For
instance, LU7, a point on the Lung meridian is the command point of the head and the neck; LI4, an important point on the
Large Intestine meridian controls the face and the throat; SP4 on the Spleen meridian is used for the diseases of the chest,
breast and the stomach. The Kidney meridian controls the genitals; an important point related to San Jiao (UB39) is found
on the knee; one related to Gallbladder (GB40) on the ankle; and the most important points of the Liver meridian, LV2-3 are
on the feet, etc.33 Be noted that a two-hour segment is the same time measure than
30°, for the celestial sphere moves by 15° every hour.
.
