[Acupoints around the neck: a philological analysis and re-recognition on "acupoint-meridian" relationship]

The acupoints around the neck are the essential acupoints, discussed together with the five-shu points in the Chapter Benshu of Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor 's Inner Cannon). In this paper, based on the literature analysis, the special evidence on the arrangement of the Chapter is interpreted in detail so as to display the recognition on the acupoints in Yellow Emperor 's Inner Cannon. In view of the acupoints around the neck, the theory of "acupoint-meridian" relationship is explained. The correlation of acupoints and meridians expressed by ancient scholars is analyzed in the evolution from Tianhui medical bamboo slips to Zhenjiu Jiayijing (The Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion). It is proposed that the narration of acupoints in terms of "meridian" and "region" should be distinguished from the meridian tropism of acupoints. The importance of "the origin of meridian qi" should be re-identified in the academic history so as to declare the academic value of acupoint arrangement described in Zhenjiu Jiayijing.