ABSTRACT
The eight auxiliary tracts differ considerably in importance, and also in frequency of use by acupuncture physicians. First, Tu Mo and Jen Mo are the only ones which have sets of named acu-points of their o,vn;b all the others intersect with the regular tracts so frequently that their points are in fact identical ,vith particular named hsueh on those. For example, Tai Mo's three points, the only ones used in practice, are the same as three on the podotelic felleic Shao-Yang tract (i.e. VF 26, 27, 28), coinciding on its way do",-n to the lo",~er extremity. The special position of Tu Mo and Jen Mo is recognised by their being classed with the 12 regular tracts in the phrase 'the Fourteen Tracts (shih-ssll Ching I )'. Another connection is that the Yang Chhiao Mo is regarded as a pieh l1l0 2 or branchc of the l'su ·Thai-Yang Ching (the podotelic vesical tract), \vhile Yin Chhiao Mo is a branch of the Tsu Shao-Yin Ching (the podogenic tract of the reins). Nevertheless the six minor auxiliary tracts were not regarded as on the n1ain line of the chhi circulation.
