Pulse: Revived in ‘The Pulse of Asia’

Blood flow in arteries is pulsatile, and palpating arterial pulse has a long history and is full of brilliant surprises. The finding that very ancient physicians applied this technique when diagnosing and treating sick people dates back to 600 BC in Eastern countries. It is thought that arterial pulse was first mentioned in the ‘Classic of Internal Medicine’ Nei Ching written by the Yellow Emperor Huang Ti (698–598 BC) in the same period of time [1] . Ancient Asian physicians in China, Korea, and other countries developed the ability and techniques of feeling the arterial pulse and treated patients by using them. When it comes to the techniques, the examination was performed by feeling the pulses on both wrists, which has three parts: cun, guan, and chi [2] ( fig. 1 ). The Egyptians’ notion of the pulse is similar to or older than that of Eastern Asia. As shown in the ‘Edwin Smith Papyrus’ (1600 BC), ‘The Therapeutic Papyrus of Thebes’ (1552 BC), and the ‘Ebers Papyrus’ (1550 BC) [3] , ancient Egyptians as well treated Published online: March 11, 2013