Among existing literature

Tianhui medical bamboo slips

first explicitly proposed the diagnostic examination of "

shu

" (acupoints). This pa

per interprets the connotations of three acupoint diagnosis methods recorded in

Tianhui medical bamboo slips

"ying shu"

"ze ji" and "ze shu sheng"

and investigates their evolution in later generations. It is pointed out that "ying shu" refers to the pain alleviation after palpation upon acupoints

which

with acupoint tenderness diagnosis included

constitutes the original connotation of "

ashi

diagnostic method" recorded in

Beiji Qianjin Yaofang

(

Important Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces for Emergency

). "Ze ji" refers to the palpation and detection of the tension on the body surface at acupoints

which later developed into the diagnosis of "firmness and softness" of acupoints. "Ze shu sheng" refers to the examination of the fullness on the body surface at acupoints

which is often combined with "ze ji" to identify the deficiency or excess of diseases based on acupoint morphology

and this method has been widely applied in Japanese abdominal palpation diagnosis. This paper presents the experience and inheritance of acupoint diagnosis in early literatures

sorts out its evolution from therapeutic palpation to syndrome differentiation based on acupoint diagnosis

and provides clinical enlightenment as well as textual and theoretical support for advancing the theory of acupoint diagnosis.