Paediatric finger diagnosis chart, from Youyou xin shu (New Book of Paediatrics) by the Song (960-1279) writer Liu Fang, in an edition dated '14th year of the Wanli reign period of the Ming dynasty, bingxu year' [i.e. 1586]. It shows the location and names of the Three Passes of the index finger - the Wind Pass (fengguan), Qi Pass (qiguan) and Life Pass (mingguan) -- on the left hand. The disease associations are as follows. Wind Pass: Black colouration in this area is associated with convulsions (jingxian); red is associated with heat in the heart; blue/green (qing) is associated with an attack of cold, which may be relatively mild if the veins are small and tight, but more severe if they are larger. Qi Pass: Purple colouration is associated with malnutrition accompanied by accumulation (ganji). Life Pass: This area is associated with wind in the lungs and acute and chronic convulsions (jing, 'fright'). If a vein passes through the Life Pass, it is often considered to be an indication of critical or incurable illness.
