Chinese/Japanese Pulse Image chart: Intermittent Pulse

Illustration of Intermittent Pulse (daimai) 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 Intermittent Pulse is as follows. It exhibits delay in arrival and departure beneath the fingers. The force of the pulse is relatively weak and it pauses at regular intervals. It relates to diseases of decline in visceral Qi. When Qi and blood are exhausted, Qi does not circulate continuously in the channels, leading to interruptions in the pulse, and no improvement is possible for a long period. When Intermittent Pulse appears, the prognosis is not favourable; therefore the ancients called it 'Indicator of Certain Death' (bisi zhi hou).