Meridians are the passages through which qi and blood circulates. There are two kinds of meridians. Channels are the trunk passages and collaterals are the branches, like a network going anywhere to connect internally with the five zang-organs and externally with the four limbs and skeletons. The meridian is a special system to communicate the exterior and the interior, the upper and the lower parts, and to connect viscera and other organs. The method of syndrome differentiation based on the meridian theory is the meridional syndrome differentiation. The governor vessel runs along the midline of the head, nape and back, governing all yang meridians of the body. So, fracture and dislocation of vertebrae complicated by paraplegia may be regarded as a severe lesion of the governor vessel.

The liver meridian of foot-jueyin goes along the medial aspect of the lower limb upward, curving round the external genitalia, branching out in the two costal and hypochondriac regions. So, lesions in the progenital area and the two costal and hypochondriac regions may be related to the liver meridian. If the pain of waist radiates along the paravertebral line and posterior aspect of the thigh to the leg and the dorsum of foot, this disorder has already involved the urinary bladder meridian of foot-tai-yang. For the lesions involving meridians, the treatment should be promoting blood circulation to remove stasis and dredging meridians for an excess syndrome, and nourishing qi and blood and warming and activating meridians for a deficiency syndrome.