张元素主客脉法探析

Analysis of ZHANG Yuansu’s Master-Guest Pulse Method

主客脉法是张元素于《洁古注王叔和脉诀》中首次提出的脉学理论,其目的在于处理主脉(反映患者自身气血运行规律的脉象)与客脉(反映外来邪气特点的脉象)相互作用的复杂情况。主客脉法与《脉诀》的七表八里之说关系密切,张元素在前代脉学理论对平人脉象规律与病脉规律总结的基础上进一步提出了主脉与客脉的概念,主客是一组相对概念,只有当外来邪气侵犯人体,主客脉的概念才会存在。当没有外邪侵犯时,孤立存在的主脉只能称为平脉,而主脉与客脉相互作用的结果才是患者实际表现出的脉象,这种理论的提出使得脉诊不再是纯粹的经验总结,也为解释临床上不同脉象产生的原因提供了理论依据。元明清时期,许多医家对《脉诀》持批判态度,主客脉法也受到牵连,流传不广。但其处理复杂、矛盾临床信息的思路对中医诊断学的研究有较高的参考价值。

The Master-Guest Pulse Method is a pulse theory first put forward by ZHANG Yuansu in JIE Gu’s Note on WANG Shuhe’s Pulse Classic,of which the purpose is to deal with the complex situation of the interaction between the master pulse(the pulse reflecting the patient’s own qi and blood circulation pattern)interacts with the guest pulse(the pulse reflecting the characteristics of external pathogenic qi).The Master-Guest Pulse Method is closely related to the seven exterior and eight interior theories in Pulse Classic.ZHANG Yuansu,summarized the regularities of normal pulse patterns and the laws of abnormal pulse patterns on the basis of the previous generation’s theory of pulse diagnosis.He further proposed the concepts of the master pulse and the guest pulse,which are a pair of relative concepts.Only when exogenous pathogenic factors invade the human body will the concepts of the master pulse and the guest pulse exist.When there is no external pathogenic invasion,the master pulse that exists alone can only be called a normal pulse.The interaction between the master pulse and the guest pulse is the actual pulse pattern that the patient exhibits.This theory suggests that pulse diagnosis is no longer purely an empirical summary,and it provides a theoretical basis for explaining the causes of different pulse patterns observed in clinical practice.During the Yuan,Ming and Qing dynasties,many doctors held a critical attitude towards Pulse Classic,and the Master-Guest Pulse Method was also implicated and not widely circulated.However,its thought of dealing with complex and contradictory clinical information has high reference value for the research of traditional Chinese medicine diagnostics.