A measure of chi Chen thinks that the statement, "Channels carry blood and chi, and circulate yin-yang; they moisten the tendons and benefit the joints," in The Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine is describing the communicative role that the meridians play in the body. The openness or obstructedness of these physiological communication lines is related to health and illness, and life and death.
陳國鎮認為，《黃帝內經》說的「經脈者，所以行氣血而營陰陽，濡筋骨，利關節者也。」就是指出經絡扮演的生理溝通的角色，生理溝通的暢通與阻礙，關係著生物體的健康、疾病、生存和死亡，所以古人才這麼重視經絡。