Mai Intertwined
By Jacob Duplantis
Abstract
It was like a ball of yarn, strands dodging and weaving through the body. In early Chinese medicine, scholars discuss a method of diagnosis and treatment that focuses on vessels throughout the body to give physicians information about the inner workings of a patient. In “On modeling internal organs and meridian system based on traditional Chinese medicine” Ge et al., describe the organs like a net, leading to the imagery of yarn intertwined in the body. These vessels are described as flowing throughout the body. They seemingly wrap around different organs and jump up to the surface on occasion.
How does the physician’s use of the sensation of touch connect them to their patients’ experiences? In “Tactility and the Body in Early Chinese Medicine,” Elisabeth Hsu details how some physicians felt the qi, or life force flowing through these vessels, called mai. In this way, physicians use palpations along the mai in order to diagnose ailments affecting the organs that the mai run through.
Qi flowing through mai connects organs. In this way, effects on one part of the mai affect the rest, like unraveling a ball of yarn b pulling a loose end. In much the same way, physicians feel along the mai to connect their sensation to the internal organs of a patient. If the physician feels abnormalities in the mai like slipperiness, they know the organs along that mai cause an ailment. This sensation offers physical information, but Hsu highlights how mai offer insights into less tangible aspects of humanity.
Visualization of mai allow viewers to sense how physicians interact with mai. Physical models are often used to learn the placement of the mai. This depiction makes those models more accessible. It allows viewers to perceive how the mai dodge through the organs, showing clear connections between organs and surface-level sensations. A voiceover of reading from Early Chinese Medical Literature by Donald Harper allows viewers to use their own senses to
Project
References
Ge, Qi-Wei, et al. “On Modeling Internal Organs and Meridian System Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine.” BioPPN, 2015.
Harper, Donald. Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Transcripts. Routledge, 1998.
Hsu, Elisabeth. “Tactility and the Body in Early Chinese Medicine.” Science in Context, vol. 18, no. 1, 25 May 2005, pp. 7–34., https://doi.org/10.1017/s0269889705000335. Accessed 31 Mar. 2022.