Chinese/Japanese Pulse Image chart: Unravelling pulse

Illustration of Unravelling pulse (jiegu mai) from Renyuan maiying guizhi tushuo (Pictorial Handbook of Pulse Images Based on the Person). This is a specialist text on pulse diagnosis attributed to the third-century master Shuhe, edited and revised by Shen Jifen in the Ming period (1368-1644). It discusses various pulse images and the medical conditions to which they relate, and contains 48 pulse image diagrams. This undated edition was engraved and published in Japan.

The text states: Unravelling pulse is one of the Sixteen Weird Pulses (guai mai). It is also known as Weeping Corpse pulse (ku shi mai). Its pulse image is thin and threadlike. It is faint at its arrival, lacks a head and proceeds tardily. After moving, it does not resume spontaneously. The presence of this pulse indicates that original Qi is exhausted, and the patient will die within one day.