Name

Features

Clinical significance

Floating

type.

Floating pulse

Sensible under light pressure, weak and constant beating under heavy pressure.

External syndrome, internal asthenia syndrome.

Full pulse

Wide size and full content, beating like roaring waves and sensibility under light pressure

Exuberant internal heat

Soft pulse

Superficial, thin and sensible

Insufficiency of qi and blood, dampness syndrome

Scattered pulse

Rootless, arrhythmic and disappearing under pressure

Depletion of primordial qi, visceral essence will exhaust

Hollow pulse

Floating, large and hollow like the leaf of scallion

Loss of blood and yin

Sunken

type.

Sunken pulse

Sensible only under heavy pressure

Internal syndrome

Feeble pulse

Deep, thin, sensible and weak under heavy pressure

Insufficiency of both qi and blood

Slow

type

Slow pulse

No more than 4 beats in a cycle of breath

Cold syndrome

Moderate pulse

Moderate and powerful, beating 4 times in a cycle of breath. Moderate and sluggish beating 4 times in a cycle of breath

Damp disease; weakness of spleen

Astringent pulse

Beating in an inhibited way, like scraping a piece of bamboo

Qi and blood stasis, lack of essence and insufficiency of blood

Slow and

intermittent pulse

Slow with occasional and irregular intermittence

Predominance of yin, qi stagnation, retention of phlegm and blood stasis

Fast

type

Fast pulse

Over 5-6 times in a cycle of breath

Heat syndrome. or external floating of aesthetic yang

Rapid and intermittent pulse

Fast with occasional and irregular intermittence

Hyperactivity of yang heat, qi stagnation, blood stasis

Swift pulse

Over 7 times in a cycle of breath

Loss of control of hyperactive yang, declination of kidney yin and near depletion of primordial qi.

Asthenia

type

Weak pulse

Weak beating of the pulse at all the cun, guan and chi

Asthenia syndrome, asthenia of both qi and blood

Indistinct pulse

Very thin and soft, almost insensible under pressure

Deficiency of qi, blood and yaingqi

Thin pulse

Thin as a thread, weak and sensible under pressure

Asthenia of both qi and blood, various overstrain and diseases due to pathogenic dampness

Slow-

intermittent-

regular pulse

Slow, with regular and longer intermittence

Declination of visceral qi and asthenia of primordial qi

Short pulse

Shorter than the normal cun, guan and chi

Short with powerful pulse indicates qi stagnation; short and weak pulse signifies qi asthenia

Sthenia

tpye

Powerful pulse

Powerful sensation of pulse beating under superficial, moderate and heavy pressure

Sthenia syndrome

Slippery pulse

Freely, smoothly like the movement of beads of an abacus

Retention of phlegm and fluid, dyspepsia and sthenia heat

Tense pulse

Like pulling of a rope and flicks the finger when pressed

Cold syndrome, pain syndrome and retention of food

Long pulse

Surpassing the range of cun, guan and chi

Yang syndrome, heat syndrome and sthenia syndrome

Taut pulse

Straight, energetic and hard, like the feeling of pressing the string of violin

Disorder of the liver and gallbladder, pain syndrome, retention of phlegm and fluid