Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin (LU)

tutor

[quote:6ba6609da1]
3.1. The Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin (LU) (see fig. 1)
[b:6ba6609da1]a) The meridian starts from the middle Jiao (energizer), the portion between the diaphragm and the umbilicus of the body activity, and runs downward to connect with the large intestine. Then it ascends along the upper orifice of the stomach and crosses the diaphragm before pertaining to the Lung.[/b:6ba6609da1]
b) It emerges from the Lung system transversely (at point Zhongfu, LU l) and runs down along the medial aspect of the upper arm and on the radial side of the Heart Meridian of Hand-Shaoyin and the Pericardium Meridian of Hand-Jueyin. Then it goes through the cubital fossa and enters cunkou (on the wrist over the radial artery where the artery is palpable) along the radial border of the medial aspect of the forearm. It continues to run along the thenar eminence and the thenar border and arrives at the radial side of the thumb tip (point Shaoshang, LU 11).
c) A branch starts from Lieque (LU 7) and runs along the radial side to the tip of the index finger.[/quote:6ba6609da1]

From this passage, specifically section "a)", am I to understand that the portion of the meridian discussed in "a)", which is not marked in the diagram (fig.1), is internal, and thus not marked on the diagram?
If so, is this because only the points which are closer to the surface (shown in fig.1) can be treated by external means?

Thank you
_________________
~Ian Harwood

tutor

Dear Ian,
Nice to have you here in the Forum!
I should make it clear that the acupoints of each meridian are only on the surface part of the meridian, so internally there could be the running courses of the meridians which however are only responsible for the flow/circulation of the meridian Qi.
I agree with you that the reason why the internal part of the lung meridian is not marked in the diagram is because it's internal and it has no acupoints.
Personally I think the diagram should have despicted a bit of the internal part of the meridian, but it would work well without.