Catherine Despeux is one France’s great Daoist scholars. Unfortunately many of her translations and essays are only available in French. In her introduction to a Treatise on Daoist Alchemy and Physiology by Zhao Bichen, she discusses different of aspects of Daoist views on physiology and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. This article is extracted from (Traité d’Alchimie et Physiologie Taoïste (Weisheng Shenglixue Mingzhi), Introduction, Traduction et Notes par Catherine Despeux. (Paris: Les Deux Océans, 1979), p. 27-47.

By Catherine Despeux   (translation by Tom Bisio