The 12 Regular Meridians
Shi Er Jing Mai — the twelve primary channels that carry Qi and Blood in one continuous, closed circuit, each handing off to the next in a fixed sequence, cycling back to the Lung every 24 hours. Six Yin channels run on the body's interior/medial aspect, six Yang channels on the exterior/lateral aspect, paired into six interior-exterior couples.
Six interior-exterior pairs: Lung ↔ Large Intestine (Metal) · Spleen ↔ Stomach (Earth) · Heart ↔ Small Intestine (Fire, Sovereign) · Kidney ↔ Bladder (Water) · Pericardium ↔ Triple Burner (Fire, Ministerial) · Liver ↔ Gall Bladder (Wood). Each pair shares an internal Luo-Connecting link and is treated together in Yuan-Source/Luo-Connecting point combinations — see Special Points.
The Chinese organ clock: each channel has a 2-hour window of peak Qi activity, in the same circulation order above, starting 3–5 am with the Lung. A symptom that reliably flares in one specific window (e.g. waking 1–3 am, or afternoon Bladder-time headaches) is a classic diagnostic clue pointing to that channel/organ.
🫁 Lung→
🌀 Large Intestine→
🍽️ Stomach→
🌾 Spleen→
❤️ Heart→
🥣 Small Intestine→
💧 Bladder→
🫘 Kidney→
💗 Pericardium→
🔥 Triple Burner→
🍃 Gall Bladder→
🌳 Liver→
(back to Lung)
| # | Channel | Type | Element | Paired With | Peak Hours | Decks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🫁 Lung | Hand Tai Yin (Greater Yin) | Metal | Large Intestine | 3–5 am | |
| 2 | 🌀 Large Intestine | Hand Yang Ming (Bright Yang) | Metal | Lung | 5–7 am | |
| 3 | 🍽️ Stomach | Foot Yang Ming (Bright Yang) | Earth | Spleen | 7–9 am | |
| 4 | 🌾 Spleen | Foot Tai Yin (Greater Yin) | Earth | Stomach | 9–11 am | |
| 5 | ❤️ Heart | Hand Shao Yin (Lesser Yin) | Fire (Sovereign) | Small Intestine | 11 am–1 pm | |
| 6 | 🥣 Small Intestine | Hand Tai Yang (Greater Yang) | Fire (Sovereign) | Heart | 1–3 pm | |
| 7 | 💧 Bladder | Foot Tai Yang (Greater Yang) | Water | Kidney | 3–5 pm | |
| 8 | 🫘 Kidney | Foot Shao Yin (Lesser Yin) | Water | Bladder | 5–7 pm | |
| 9 | 💗 Pericardium | Hand Jue Yin (Reverting Yin) | Fire (Ministerial) | Triple Burner | 7–9 pm | |
| 10 | 🔥 Triple Burner | Hand Shao Yang (Lesser Yang) | Fire (Ministerial) | Pericardium | 9–11 pm | Points (16)No patterns deck |
| 11 | 🍃 Gall Bladder | Foot Shao Yang (Lesser Yang) | Wood | Liver | 11 pm–1 am | |
| 12 | 🌳 Liver | Foot Jue Yin (Reverting Yin) | Wood | Gall Bladder | 1–3 am |
Tap to zoom · circulation sequence, organ-clock time and point count for each channel.
Tap to zoom · the organ clock