Six-channel Syndrome Differentiation in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Six-Channel Syndrome Differentiation is a classic theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It divides the physiological diseases of the human body into two types. Through both positive and negative dialectical methods, it provides a clear direction for the treatment of various types of physiological diseases. The role of TCM Six-Channel Syndrome Differentiation in TCM treatment is very critical, and it lays a solid foundation for other syndrome differentiation methods in TCM treatment in the future. So, what is the Six-Jing Syndrome Differentiation in Traditional Chinese Medicine?

1. What is Six-Jing Syndrome Differentiation in Traditional Chinese Medicine?

Six-channel syndrome differentiation is to classify the different syndromes manifested in the occurrence and development of exogenous diseases into two categories, three Yang diseases (Tai Yang disease, Yang Ming disease, Shao Yang disease) and three Yin diseases (Tai Yin disease, Shao Yin disease, Jue Yin disease), based on the relationship between the struggle between evil and righteousness.

The pathological characteristics of exogenous diseases at each stage are explained in terms of the location of lesions, the severity of the disease progression, etc., and it serves as a method of syndrome differentiation to guide treatment. The Six-Channel Syndrome Differentiation and Treatment method was summarized based on the clinical pathological characteristics of exogenous diseases. It was the first of its kind in clinical syndrome differentiation in Chinese medicine and laid the foundation for the formation of various syndrome differentiation methods in later generations.

2. How does Six-Jing Syndrome Differentiation reflect pathological changes in meridians and viscera?

The Six-Channel Syndrome Differentiation reflects the pathological changes in the meridians and internal organs. "Lingshu Hailun" says: "The twelve meridians belong to the internal organs and are connected to the limbs externally." Typhoid fever occurs when the human body is affected by the wind and cold evil among the six evils, which starts from the skin, muscles, and gradually follows the meridians from the outside to the inside, and then spreads to the internal organs. Therefore, its pathological changes, when the pathogenic factors are superficial in the skin and meridians, it will manifest as superficial symptoms; if the cold pathogen enters the interior and turns into heat, it will turn into internal heat syndrome; and in the case of deficiency of body energy and decline of yang, the cold pathogen is more likely to invade the three yin meridians, resulting in a series of pathological changes of yang deficiency and internal cold.

3. Pathological Basis of Six-Jing Diseases

The clinical manifestations of the six meridian diseases are all based on the pathological changes of the meridians and internal organs. The three yang diseases are based on the changes of the six internal organs, and the three yin diseases are based on the changes of the five internal organs. Therefore, the application of Six-Channel Syndrome Differentiation is not limited to exogenous febrile diseases, but can also be used for internal injuries and miscellaneous diseases. However, its focus is on analyzing a series of pathological changes and their transmission patterns caused by exogenous wind and cold. Therefore, it cannot be completely equivalent to the viscera syndrome differentiation of internal injuries and miscellaneous diseases.

4. What kind of syndrome differentiation method is Six-Jing Syndrome Differentiation?

The Six-Channel Syndrome Differentiation is to classify the different symptoms that manifest during the occurrence and development of exogenous diseases into two categories, three Yang diseases (Tai Yang disease, Yangming disease, and Shao Yang disease) and three Yin diseases (Tai Yin disease, Shao Yin disease, and Jue Yin disease), based on Yin and Yang. It explains the pathological characteristics of exogenous diseases at each stage from the aspects of the struggle between evil and righteousness, the site of lesions, and the progression of the disease, and it is used as a syndrome differentiation method to guide treatment.