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Bih-Cheng Chen1* Ting-Yu Huang1
1School of Post-Baccalaureate Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
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This study reviews the ancient and modern perceptions on the intrinsic features of San Jiao and organizes the more commonly discussed issues which includes: Is there any significance in the intrinsic features of San Jiao? Is it tangible or intangible? What is the structure of San Jiao? However, we find that "tangible" and "intangible" should be recognized as a hypothesis in many various discussions, also, there is no consensus on the smallest structure to use when discussing the structure of San Jiao. Hence, we believe that by highlighting the following 4 key points will facilitate the communication between the researchers focusing on the studies on San Jiao: 1. Is San Jiao assumed as "tangible" or "intangible"? 2. What is the basic unit of discussion of "tangibility"? 3. What is the benchmark of "literature definition" for San Jiao? 4. What is the definition of "intrinsic features of San Jiao"? To illustrate the ideas above, we specifically apply the theory of “huang mo cou li” which refers to the skin and membranes as a base for the discussion on the intrinsic features of San Jiao. Under the hypothesis of the following 3 considerations: San Jiao is defined as tangible, molecular level is the basic unit of the tangibility, Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon) and Nan Jing (The Classic of Difficulty) being the benchmark reference, we identified that “huang mo cou li” meet the description of the intrinsic functions of San Jiao in many aspects. “huang”, the thin serosa that cover the organs, that permeable to fluid and Qi. “mo” includes the tissue membranes that permeable to fluid but its role in the transport function of Ying Qi (Nutritive Qi) and Wei Qi (Defense Qi) is unclear. In addition, “mo” also includes cell membranes which the membrane receptors and channels that are permeable to fluid, Ying Qi, Wei Qi and Original Qi. “cou li” is mainly referred as the subcutaneous layers of tissues which are permeable to fluid and Qi. Based on these points of view, San Jiao can be translated as "Triple membrane" from the perspective of its intrinsic features.
Keywords：San Jiao, membrane, intrinsic features, fat layer and serosa, subcutaneous
layer of skin
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212.3 論三焦實質之新探
