Chinese/Japanese Pulse Image chart: Weak Pulse (ruomai)

Illustration of Weak Pulse 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 Weak Pulse (ruomai) is as follows. The rise and fall of the pulse can be felt only with a gentle touch; it is extremely soft, deep and thin, and feels like soggy cotton; if pressed, it virtually ceases. Weak Pulse is an indicator of lack of strength. When Weak Pulse is found at the cun (Inch) pulse sector of the wrist, it relates to spontaneous sweating and shortness of breath; at the guan (Pass) pulse sector, it relates to Qi deficiency (qi xu) and exogenous heat (kere) in the stomach; at the chi (Foot) pulse sector, it relates to deficiency of Qi and blood, and deficiency-heat (xure).