Chinese/Japanese Pulse Image chart: Relaxed Pulse (huanmai)

Illustration of Relaxed Pulse (huanmai) 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:The pulse image of Relaxed Pulse is as follows. It feels extremely large against the fingers. It is slow in both arriving and departing. When palpated lightly (ju, lit. raised) it feels diffuse, floating, and choppy. Relaxed Pulse relates to paralysis. When found at the cun (Inch) pulse sector of the wrist, Relaxed Pulse relates to numbness of the skin; at the guan (Pass) pulse sector, it relates to stomach insufficiency (xu) and inability to eat; at the chi (Foot) pulse sector of the wrist, it relates to weakness in the legs, swollen legs and feet, and difficulty in urinating.