Liver meridian pathway
The Liver meridian, foot Jueyin, begins at the big toe at the point Dadun. It is located either at the outer nail corner of the big toe or, as some say, in the small tuft of hair on the back of the big toe.
It rises on the foot between metatarsals M1 and M2. It then passes in front of the medial malleolus and in front of the Spleen meridian. It rises along the inner side of the leg, in front of the Spleen meridian, and 8 cun above the medial malleolus it crosses the Spleen meridian, passes behind it and ends up in the middle of the leg, between the Spleen and Kidney meridians. It rises along the middle of the inner side of the leg, knee and thigh.
It passes through the pubic hair and the pubis, encircles the external genitals, and enters internally to couple with the Gallbladder and connect with the Liver. It rises, crosses the diaphragm and passes through the Lung, where it sends a connecting branch to the Lung meridian (Yin-Yin connection); it rises and encircles the lips (inner side), then at the head it rises to connect with the eyes (Liver-eye relationship) and reaches the vertex (the top of the skull) internally.
At the level of the groin crease, a branch leaves the main pathway and rises along the abdomen and chest to end on the chest at the point Qimen, 6th intercostal space, below the nipple.
Liver meridian acupuncture points
The Liver meridian has 14 acupuncture points; here are the main ones
Liver meridian description
The Liver corresponds to the element Wood. It is the Yang within the Yin. It is the general of the army.
Its season is spring: the Qi of the Liver is then abundant; this is often when the Liver tends to overflow.
Its emotion corresponds to anger, its direction to east, its color to blue-green and its flavor to sour.
Its main physiological functions are:
- draining and dispersing;
- storing the Blood.
Its characteristics are:
- it likes to spread out; this is its main characteristic.
When the Liver can spread out properly, it can perform its functions properly. Liver Qi tends to rise. - it is said to be an inflexible organ, whose body is Yin but whose function is Yang.
➔ Yin body and Yang function - Yin Ti Yang Yong
The body of the Liver is Yin because it stores the Blood and has an important action on the Blood. Its function is rather Yang: it has an important action on the Qi because it is an ascending action, an idea of spreading out.
It can be straight but also curved, like wood. Generally inflexible and prone to excess, but it can also be supple or even shrivelled, prone to dejection.
It is a bit of a busybody: it keeps an eye on all the organ systems, it watches over everything.