Flooding Pulse / Hong Mai
Updated 2026-08-01
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
A classical pulse quality in Chinese medicine: the pulse comes large and forceful, rising sharply and falling slowly, like a flood breaking over a dike. It indicates exuberant heat, especially heat at the qi level such as high fever, and it is also a normal seasonal pulse in summer. The vessel is dilated and the amplitude of the beat is large, reflecting a body pushing blood outward at full capacity to discharge heat. The Yangming heat pattern, classically treated with Baihu Tang, is the textbook presentation.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
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- Read the Surge: treat a large forceful wave as a sign the system is running at maximum output - Split Size from Force: check whether the beat is forceful or weak to tell excess heat from deficiency - Expect the Crest: anticipate that the surge will recede once the heat is cleared
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Heat dilates the vessels and drives the heart to eject more blood per beat, so the pulse climbs to a high wide peak while the fall is slower, producing the flood-like contour. Because output is increased, force is preserved, and when the heat comes from deficiency the dilation still occurs but force drops; the same size with different force therefore points to different causes. Clearing the heat removes the drive and the pulse narrows again, which is why the quality is read as an effect rather than a disease.
MINIMUM ACTION
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