Name | Clinical Significance | Feeling | Kind | Aspect | Body Psych |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Floating (Fu) | Invasion of external WindYin deficiency (interior conditions) | This pulse can be felt with a light pressure of the fingers, just resting the fingers on the artery. | FloatingDeepSlowRapidEmptyFull | depthratestrengthsizelengthshaperhythm | Yin (deficiency)Exterior |
Deep (Chen) | Pathogenic factor in the Interior (Deep-Full)Yang deficiency (Deep-Weak) | This pulse is the opposite to floating: it can only be felt with a heavy pressure of the fingers and is felt near the bone. | Deep | depthratestrengthsizelengthshaperhythm | Yang (deficiency)Interior |
Slow (Chi) | Cold patternEmpty-Cold (Slow and Weak)Full-Cold (Slow and Full) | This pulse has three beats per respiration cycle | Slow | rate | ColdExcess ColdDeficient Cold |
Rapid (Shu) | Heat patternFull-Heat (Rapid and Full)Empty-Heat (Rapid and Floating-Empty) | This pulse has more than five beats per each respiration cycle | Rapid | rate | Excess HeatDeficient HeatHeart-FireLiver-Fire |
Empty (Xu) | Qi deficiency | The Empty pulse feels rather big but soft. | Empty | strength | Qi deficiency |
Full (Shi) | Full patternFull-Heat (Full-Rapid)Full-Cold (Full-Slow) | This pulse feels full, rather hard and rather long. | Full | strength | Full (excess)Excess HeatExcess ColdHeart-FireLiver-Fire |
Slippery (Hua) | PhlegmDampnessRetention of foodPregnancy | A Slippery pulse feels smooth, rounded, slippery to the touch, as if it were oily. It slides under the fingers. | Other | shape | Damp |
Choppy (Se) | Blood deficiencyExhaustion of Body Fluids | This pulse feels rough under the finger | Other | shape | Blood deficiency |
Long (Chang) | Heat pattern | This pulse is basically longer than normal | Full | length | Excess HeatDeficient Heat |
Short (Duan) | Severe Qi deficiencyStomach-Qi deficiency | Occupies a shorter space than the normal position | Empty | length | Qi deficiency |
Overflowing (Hong) | Full-HeatEmpty-Heat (Overflowing-Empty) | This pulse feels big, extending beyond normal pulse position. | Full | size | Excess HeatDeficient HeatHeart-FireStomach-Fire |
Fine (Xi) | Blood deficiencyDampness with severe Qi deficiency | This pulse is thinner than normal | Empty | size | Blood deficiencyDampQi deficiency |
Minute (Wei) | Severe deficiency of Qi and Blood | It is extremely thin, small and difficult to feel | Empty | size | Qi deficiencyBlood deficiency |
Tight (Jin) | ColdExterior Cold (Tight-Floating)Interior Full-Cold (Tight-Full-Deep)Interior Empty-Cold (Tight-Weak-Deep)Pain | This pulse feels twisted like a thick rope | Full | shape | ColdDeficient ColdExcess ColdInteriorExcess PainDeficient Pain |
Wiry (Xian) | Liver disharmonyPainPhlegm | This pulse feels taut like a guitar string. The Wiry pulse really hits the fingers. | Other | shape | Excess PainDeficient PainLiver-Fire |
Slowed-down (Huan) | This pulse has four beats for each respiration cycle | Slow | rate | ||
Hollow (Kou) | HaemorrhageForthcoming haemorrhage (Hollow and Rapid) | Empty in the middle, felt superficial and deep. | Floating | shape | |
Leather (Ge) | Severe deficiency of Kidney-EssenceSevere deficiency of Kidney-Yin | This pulse feels hard and tight at the superficial level and stretched like a drum, but it feels completely Empty at the deep level. It is a large pulse, not thin. | Floating | depth | Yin (deficiency) |
Firm (Lao) | Blood stasisInterior Cold (Firm and Slow)Pain | Wiry pulse at the deep level | Deep | shape | InteriorColdExcess PainDeficient Pain |
Soggy (or Weak-Floating) (Ru) | Dampness with Qi deficiencyDeficiency of YinDeficiency of Essence | The Soggy pulse feels very soft and is only slightly floating. | Empty | other | DampQi deficiencyYin (deficiency) |
Weak (Ruo) | Yang deficiencyBlood deficiency | Felt only at the deep level | Empty | strength | Yang (deficiency)Blood deficiency |
Scattered (San) | Severe deficiency of Qi and BloodSevere deficiency of Kidney-QiSerious condition | This pulse feels very small and is relatively superficial | Empty | strength | Qi deficiencyBlood deficiency |
Hidden (Fu) | Severe Yang deficiency | This pulse feels as if it were hidden beneath the bone | Deep | depth | Yang (deficiency) |
Moving (Dong) | Shockanxietyfright | The Moving pulse has a round shape like a bean; it is short and it ‘trembles’ under the finger | Rapid | length | Excess PainDeficient Pain |
Hasty (Cu) | Severe HeatDeficiency of Heart-QiHeart-Fire | This pulse is Rapid and it stops at irregular intervals | Rapid | rhythm | Excess Heat |
Knotted (Jie) | Cold with deficiency of Heart-Yang | This pulse is Slow and it stops at irregular intervals | Slow | rhythm | ColdYang (deficiency) |
Intermittent (Dai) | Serious problem in Internal OrganHeart problem (in Western medical sense) | This pulse stops at regular intervals | Other | rhythm | |
Hurried (Ji) | Fire exhausting Yin | This pulse is very rapid, but it also feels very agitated and urgent | Rapid | rate | Yin (deficiency) |